45-Hour Differential Diagnosis
Across the Life Span Course

Dr. Thomas W. Barkley, Jr. has been instrumental in providing national and international nurse practitioner continuing education. He is the President of Barkley & Associates, Inc. and Professor Emeritus of the Patricia A. Chin School of Nursing at California State University, Los Angeles. During his 26 years in academe, Dr. Barkley held numerous leadership positions: Coordinator of the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program, Director of Nurse Practitioner Programs, Director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, and Director of Graduate Programs.

Dr. Barkley received his Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of Alabama, a Master’s degree in Critical Care Nursing from the University of Virginia, and his Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing degree with a specialty in nursing education and nursing education administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He completed his post-Master’s certificate dual preparation as an adult primary and acute care nurse practitioner from the University of South Alabama.

Dr. Barkley has published over 100 refereed works related to acute care nursing practice, nursing education, and multicultural HIV/AIDS prevention, including articles and book chapters. He is the primary editor of Practice Considerations for Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioners (3rd ed.), and the editor of three additional nurse practitioner specialty texts.

In 2002, he established Barkley & Associates, Inc., which provides the nation’s foremost continuing education expertise for family, adult-gerontology primary care, pediatric, adult-gerontology acute care, psychiatric/mental health, women’s health, and emergency nurse practitioners. As a dynamic and engaging speaker, he has provided hundreds of continuing education courses in the United States and abroad to thousands of nurse practitioners since 1998.

Over the years, Dr. Barkley has received numerous honors. In 2011, he was inducted as a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and in 2019, he was inducted into the Alabama Nursing Hall of Fame. In 2021, Dr. Barkley was named a University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing Visionary Leader recipient. In 2024, he was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.