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Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) /

DO (school) in anesthesiology or CRNA school



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Mar 11, 2004 06:21 PM

DO (school) in anesthesiology or CRNA school


I am a new member. Discovered you guys about a year and a half ago and tap in every now and then and read discussions. Great site! Great discussions. I have a question I am hoping you can help me with. First a little background. I am 46 and my wife is 41. After years of working in the computer industry my job was sent to India! My wife has never worked out side the home. After much research and debate we both decided to go back to school and we are currently enrolled in a ASN program. We decided to become nurses for two reasons. One - we wanted to be able to come home each day and know that we really made a difference in peoples lives, (I have spent months working in the past without being able to answer yes to this question). Two – You can not send sick people to India!!! (Job Security). Since being in nursing school we have found we love it. We love the clinicals and working with patients. My wife even more! She is getting straight A’s in every class. (She had no previous college experience)! Well this is our background. Sorry for the wordiness. Here is the $60,000 dollar question. As far as difficulty getting into school – which would be easier, DO in anesthesiology or CRNA. From reading your discussions it seems virtually impossible to get into a CRNA program, whereas there are a lot of doctor of osteopathy programs out there. It seems to me that it would be easier to get into a DO program and upon graduation become an anesthesiologist – and you would make more $ too! Am I off base on this?? Look forward to your comments.


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70 Comments
No. 1
from crazyivan
Old Mar 11, 2004, 07:17 PM

I believe DO school would require the following: 4 years of undergrad, 4 years DO school, and I think maybe 6 years of residency (unsure of this one) also anesthesiology slots are very very competative at the MD/DO level.
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No. 2
from zambezi
Old Mar 11, 2004, 07:28 PM

I wish you luck. Either way you have alot of school ahead of you. If you went the CRNA route: 2 years ASN, 1-2 years for BSN, at least one year critical care nursing full time ( I say full time because you could potentially work while getting your BSN but that leaves you not alot of time for family, etc). After at least that year, you have two years CRNA school.
For the DO you have to have your four years undergrad, four years medical school, residency (which I am not sure how long that is...)

Either way, you are looking at at, minimum: 5 years CRNA and assuming you already have a bachelors in something probably 5-9 years DO with anesthesia residency. Anyway, I wish you luck. I think that both ways would be tough to do. I am sure that others will have more information for you with thier experiences.
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No. 3
from suzanne4
Old Mar 11, 2004, 08:06 PM

I would highly recommend that you try to "shadow" a CRNA for a day and see if you really like it first of all. You may actually find that you like another area of nursing that you prefer while you are completing your nursing program.
Either way, you should consider age also into this. You have been used to working the same hours all of the time in a set schedule, with anesthesia that goes out the window. You will be bouncing all over in terms of hours worked, and shifts worked. At many hospitals, they also have twenty four hour shifts. Do you feel that this is something that you would be able to handle? I have nothing against age, I am in the same ball park as you, but I would seriously reconsider a specialty at this point. Remember that during your CRNA program, you will not have an income coming in, same thing if you decide to pursue the DO/MD route. But you will also have the living expenses and tuition fees. This is something else to consider.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
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No. 4
from zinnia27
Old Mar 11, 2004, 08:19 PM

In my experience I do not recall ever seeing a DO anesthesiologist. You would be more marketable if you completed crna school or med school. Residency for anesthesia is 1 year of general internship and then you do 4 years of anesthesia. Good luck.
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No. 5
from duckboy20
Old Mar 11, 2004, 08:43 PM

I would also recommend shadowing a crna/md to see if you really like anesthesia before that is what you decide to do. Like they said it is a lot of school either way, what you could do is get your BSN then apply to both. You do have to work at least one year critical care before CRNA school though. Good Luck!
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No. 6
from jrvb
Old Mar 11, 2004, 09:13 PM

Zinnia-

What do you mean by saying "Youd be better off going to med school"? What do you think a DO is? I have worked with two DO anesthesiologists. They are just as qualified so your choice would be, "do I want to be a doctor or crna?".

Mantibob-
Instead of figuring out what would be easier to get into why dont you decide what you want to do. Maybe you should graduate from your ASN program and see if you even like patient care. If your wife is getting straight A's maybe she should apply-not you.
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No. 7
Old Mar 11, 2004, 11:29 PM

I agree with with jrvb, you have to decide whether you want to be a doctor or a nurse. Personally, I think since you are in an ASN program, you should finish your BSN, work in ICU and apply to CRNA school. CRNA school is very competitive, but so is medical school and getting into an anesthesia residency.
One of my questions in my interview for CRNA school was if I knew the difference b/w CRNAs and Anesthesiologists roles. Learn the answer to this and you may be better able to decide what you want to do.
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No. 8
Old Mar 12, 2004, 01:07 AM

MDA residency is 4 years + fellowship = five.
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No. 9
from suzanne4
Old Mar 12, 2004, 04:03 AM

One thing that always puzzles me about many of these questions, before which deciding what route to take...................have you ever been inside of an actual operating room and aware of what goes on in there or picking anesthesia because of the salary and perks? I think many of you that are applying to CRNA programs really should spend time in an OR and see if you really like that type of thing to begin with. I love the OR and prefer it over everything else, but I am also aware of all of the different areas and have experience in most (except Land D). Anesthesia is what I wanted to do when I chose nursing school and left my pharmacy school program half way through. But, back then once I finished and while I was getting my year experience, I found that I liked the ER much better at the time. Pick something that you like because you love what you are doing, not because of the paycheck. You will be much happier.
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