Rate My Professor Kristen B. Schnurman

Kristen B. Schnurman, MSHS, PA-C, serves as Interim Program Director and Assistant Professor in the Physician Assistant Program at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. A certified physician assistant with more than 10 years of licensed practice, she possesses extensive clinical expertise in emergency medicine, cardiology, addiction medicine, and hospitalist medicine. Schnurman maintains her clinical engagement as a Hospitalist Physician Associate with Intermountain Health, integrating frontline experience into her educational responsibilities. Her academic credentials include an Honors Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Utah and a Master of Science in Health Sciences from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

In her full-time faculty role within the School of Health Professions, Kristen B. Schnurman demonstrates a profound commitment to physician assistant education. Previously, she contributed to two Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant-funded initiatives that expanded curricula to bolster physician assistants' knowledge and competencies in treating substance use disorders. This involvement reflects her specialization in enhancing educational content for addiction medicine. Schnurman's leadership at Rocky Mountain University has been distinguished by the 2025 Presidential Prominence Award of Excellence, awarded on April 23 for her transformative impact on the Physician Assistant/Associate Program (Master of Medical Science). She earned recognition for cultivating student trust, emerging as a preferred professor, instilling gratitude and fostering team building in faculty meetings, and enacting workload redistributions to alleviate program stress. Passionate about destigmatizing healthcare, she champions a holistic patient-centered approach, viewing individuals as complete persons rather than mere collections of diagnoses. Through her blend of clinical proficiency, educational innovation, and administrative acumen, Schnurman exerts considerable influence on the field, shaping competent and compassionate future physician assistants.