Direct-Entrty Anesthesia Programs

Columbia University DEFINITELY has a direct-entry to MSN Nurse Anesthesia specialty. The total program is 3.5 years and I believe incorporates the mandatory year of critical care experience. They do not have a prerequisite of one year of critical care...yet they have a 100% pass rate for new CRNA graduates. Perhaps because its NYC and the clinical rotations are in the likes Kings County and/or the most ridiculous urban hospitals in the country...the students see and do more. I am just speculating. At any rate, since this one existed and G'town..I was just wondering whether there were others out there. By the way these programs do require degrees in the sciences.

I'm not surprised its not familiar...its really new.

"Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies is pleased to announce it's new Direct Entry to Advanced Practice program beginning January, 2003. This program is for individuals with a Bachelor's Degree in another field of endeavor who wish to enter nursing and ultimately have an advanced practice role in mind. It builds upon our previous experience with our Second Degree Bachelor's program (see Undergraduate Programs) and provides a slightly more streamlined path to advanced practice. Students in this program will be eligible to sit for the nurse licensing examination (NCLEX) after 16 months of the program and will then progress to the Master's track of their choice:

Family Nurse Practitioner

Nurse Midwifery

Clinical Care Clinical Nurse Specialist

Acute Care Nurse Practitioner

Nurse Anesthesia

NOTE: The Nurse Anesthesia Program will consider Direct Entry applications for a very limited number of slots from those applicants who meet the following requirements:



Applicants must have a Bachelor of Science degree in a science (i.e. chemistry, biology, microbiology, etc.) or an advanced clinical degree (i.e. Physical Therapy, Respiratory Therapy, Doctor of Dental Science, etc.)
Must have very strong undergraduate GPA (minimum of 3.2 - prefer higher)
Must have work experience in a clinical setting"

To Brenna's dad...I am not sure you are looking at the program length accurately. In reality most BSN programs are 8 semesters finished over 4 years, mainly because summers are off...as are most 4 year colleges. The first 4 semesters(2 years) are at the pre-nursing/preprofessional phase...essentially putting the "Bachelor" in the BSN. The second 4 semesters begin nursing work. Basically what an accelerated BSN program is 4 semesters of work with no breaks, finished in 16 months(4 months per semester). Looking at it accurately, I don't see a problem with doing a second degree BSN in 16 months...especially for those folks with a BS in a science area. Let me not forget to add that these programs still require prereqs prior to starting...A&P, micro, nutrition, stats, and psych usually.

Now I will not pretend to know anything about accreditation. I am not a nurse...just someone interested in the profession and asking questions for a friend that is currently a student but for some reason can't access this board. But from the snobbish perspective(I graduated from an Ivy League Institution)....I can't believe that Columbia would have a program that was churning out subpar CRNAs and/or not meeting far beyond the expectations of the accrediting standards. Their program is fairly established, while G'town's is new. I find it hard to believe that these programs wouldn't be good...despite the time frame.