As a dedicated youth athlete, Shannon Allmann-Benoit was often injured. “I spent a lot of time working with the athletic trainers, and I found myself getting interested in going into physical therapy,” says Shannon, who grew up in a military family and wound up graduating high school in El Paso, Texas.
When Shannon went to college at the University of Texas El Paso, she studied kinesiology and sports studies. She was an athletic trainer for the football and track teams and intended to pursue a master’s degree in physical therapy. However, when her physical therapist mentor, with whom she’d been completing volunteer hours lost his job suddenly due to an organizational realignment, it put some doubt in Shannon’s mind. “I didn’t want to get a master’s degree where I might have any issue getting a job,” she says. She researched fields that were currently in demand and might offer the possibility of job security. That led her to nursing.
A Switch to Nursing School
Shannon finished her bachelor’s degree in 1997 in kinesiology and sports studies and enrolled in nursing school at Galveston College. While finishing her degree at UT El Paso, she worked as a receptionist for NASA, and the job turned out to be an incredible networking opportunity.
“I got to know the astronauts, who knew about my background, and I was asked if I would like to be an astronaut strength, conditioning, and rehabilitation trainer,” she says. During her last year of nursing school at Galveston College, Shannon joined Wyle Laboratories. The company provides biomedical, medical, and health services in support of all human spaceflight programs at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. She was part of the team responsible for ensuring crew health, safety, and performance.
An Amazing Opportunity with NASA
Although Shannon finished the Associate of Science in 2001 and became a Registered Nurse, she set aside her plans for a nursing career for the time being. She started a training business too, creating an advanced military-style boot camp for NASA employees. “I ran that for 11 years and offered it at their onsite fitness center before and after work, which worked well when I started a family,” says Shannon, who has two daughters.
After the February 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and the loss of all seven astronauts on board, NASA suspended all space shuttle flight operations for three years. Shannon decided to be a stay-at-home mom and continue running her boot camp training business for NASA employees. When her children entered preschool, she started making plans to resume the nursing journey she had put on pause.
Oncology Nursing and Further Education
In 2005, Shannon joined a small oncology practice as a part-time nurse—her first nursing position. She then had the chance to join Texas Oncology, which has 280 locations across the state. There, she grew her skill set and experience. When the company was purchased in 2014, Shannon joined Oncology Consultants, where she managed its outpatient oncology and hematology clinic and served as the clinical team lead.
“Oncology is a special environment, and I love the patients,” she says. “I became close with many of them and I’m still close to them today.” Eventually, Shannon started thinking about furthering her education. She wanted to become a nurse practitioner, but to do so, she needed to earn a bachelor of science in nursing first. While continuing to work, she earned a BSN at Fort Hays State University, graduating in 2021.
Post University Nurse Practitioner Specialization
In 2021, Shannon started researching Master of Science in Nursing – Nurse Practitioner Specialization programs and found Post University’s program through the American Sentinel College of Nursing and Health Sciences. The benefits for military members, veterans, and their families caught her attention initially, and after thoroughly vetting the university, she decided to enroll in the Master of Science in Nursing – Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Specialization (MSN-AGPCNP) in 2022.
Shannon will complete the MSN – Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Specialization in early 2025. She balanced school and work at the oncology and hematology clinic until 2023 but left when she started participating in clinicals to give her rotations her full attention.
Excited for a New Chapter
Trying new things in her career has never intimidated Shannon. Once she becomes a nurse practitioner, she would like to follow a newfound passion that she developed as an oncology/hematology nurse: helping women with iron deficiencies. “I’ve seen firsthand how many symptoms women have that are attributable to iron issues, and it’s not something that all family practitioners or OBGYNs even test for,” she says. “I’d like to start a clinic that treats women with iron deficiencies.”
In the near term, Shannon is already making plans to start her nurse practitioner chapter. One of her daughters lives in Idaho, and Shannon started her next clinical rotation at a family clinic in Idaho in May 2024. Whatever the future holds, she is looking forward to it—and feels gratitude toward Post University. “I can’t say enough great things about Post,” she says. “They make the program affordable, and they structure the program so that the workload is manageable for busy adults.” The clinicals have been great and I feel that by the time I graduate, I’ll be very ready to practice. Every part of the program has a purpose behind it.”