Dr. Benjamin Smallheer joined DUSON’s faculty in 2016. He served as the director of the adult gerontology nurse practitioner-acute care major within the MSN program and is now the assistant dean of the Master of Science in Nursing program. Smallheer earned his BSN degree at Florida State University and his MSN degree and PhD degree from Vanderbilt University. He also completed a post-master’s certificate in family practice from Tennessee State University in 2016. As a nurse practitioner, Dr. Smallheer has practiced in a variety of clinical settings, including the emergency department, high-acuity medical-surgical intensive care, and long-term acute care and has been the lead responder on a nurse practitioner-based rapid response and code team. He currently practices as an acute care clinician in the critical care unit at both Duke Raleigh Hospital and Duke Regional Hospital, within the critical care medicine teams.