Advanced Community Health or International Health CNS

Specialties CNS

Published

Hello,

I am a recently accepted student to UCSF for the ACHIN program. I haven't met too many other Advanced Community or International Health Nurses and I was wondering if you're out there, what you do, how you got into this specialty, and any interesting things?

Specializes in Community Public Health Primary Care.

The specialty at UCSF is now called APPHN, they dropped the Global Health Component as a foundation of the program, but you can minor in Global Health and UCSF has an MPH program through the Global Health Sciences Program Masters Program | Global Health Sciences but you apply separately (it's nearly the same as the APPHN, coming from someone who has an MPH already). I doubt it's the only one of its kind emswan, you can probably google it. Apparently ranks in the top 4 in the country according to US News UCSF Ranks Among Nation's Best Medical, Nursing Schools | ucsf.edu.

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cristaleena-So what do think about the APHN program at UCSF over a year later? I just sent my application in. I'm a registered nurse with a fair amount of international work completed. My bread and butter is hospital inpatient, but want to expand my horizons. Do tell.

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Specializes in Community Public Health Primary Care.

I never did the specialty. I graduated with a General Nursing MS because the APPHN was so similar to my MPH, I decided that it was not worth pursuing. I know that several of the students who started out in that program eventually went the route I did. The few who stayed enjoyed their program, but there are no APPHN jobs and the nurses that I know that graduated don't work in Public Health either. Also, none of the faculty are nationally certified as APPHN. I was honestly disappointed with the program and school in general. They aren't very supportive of students on several levels and there is constant flux within the faculty, disorganized with classes, and are moving more towards online learning, which is disappointing for the large sum that you pay to attend a "prestigious" university like UCSF. I'd save my money and go to SFSU, which has a more flexible schedule and I've heard is very supportive of students.

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Thank you very much for the information. That is rather disappointing and discouraging news to hear. Having experienced and graduated from the UC system previously, I would expect much more from their program-especially for the cost. I have also read in previous links it lacks any international aspect, which further makes me reconsider this CNS program. I was looking more to use this specialty as an adjunct to work I already do (in Haiti). From what you describe, the program sounds fairly scattered-i.e. they wouldn't consider the student mapping out their own course of independent study. There is a MS in Global Health at UCSF, but that is prohibitively expensive. What do you know about SF's program in PH of hand? I'll do some research. Thanks again for the prompt and honest eval of the program!

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Specializes in Community Public Health Primary Care.

I can't speak to the quality of the program. The online degrees at UCSF are just to make money to essentially fund the live attendance programs. If you want to do the APPHN-CNS, there is a global health fellowship that is worth pursuing, you may also be able to do it with the online programs, I'm not sure. I've heard excellent things about the GHF program as it is an interdisciplinary program with the other schools of medicine and pharmacy. You can do more international work with them and I wish I had thought about pursuing that more, but I'm finally at a job where I feel that I do community work that makes a difference. You may look into Berkeley's MPH program because I believe they have a connection to UCSF as well...

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