[difficultdecision]

I am in a unique position of having been accepted to both Barry university's and University of North Florida's Master in anesthesia programs.
But now I have to decide between the two.

Is anyone out there a graduate of either program or does anyone have any advice?

[TangoLima]

I am a BSN student at UNF graduating this May. UNF's program hasn't graduated their first CRNA class yet, so you won't hear from any graduates. I don't know a whole lot about the program vs. other programs.

I can tell you that the UNF campus is nice, and they are doing a major upgrade to the College of Health facilities. It is supposed to be finished for the Fall 2008 semester. They are also sinking a lot of money into upgrading other facilities on campus. It seems the powers that be are trying to turn UNF into a school on par with UF, FSU, or other large schools.

There are a lot of hospitals in the area, so you should have good clinical sites. Other than that, I don't know many specifics of the program itself.

Hope that helps.

[MistaV]

Hey diffcult decison, I am going to eventually apply to UNF's CRNA program. Being from Jacksonville, that's probably the ideal situation for me. What was your GPA, GRE, and years of critcal care experience?

[scorpiontail]

I am from South Florida and I hear that Barry's program is very tough, very expensive and a very reputable school for excellence. It is one of the original Anesthesia Programs in Florida. I here that it is very personable and conducive to graduating their students. Everyone I talk to about the program is very pleased and have no regrets about their decision to attend Barry U. They offer a Master's of Science degree so there is a little more emphasis on the sciences like Biochemistry etc. Strongly considering myself. The choice is ultimately yours.

[Happy Halothane]

To give you an idea: Barry accredits the other programs when they start up. Also, the clinical faculty has been on the FANA board almost every year. Since they've restructured, they've had a near 100% pass rate on the boards.

UNF is a new program, but established by a CRNA well experienced in starting new programs.

Barry is more scienced based...heavily into organic chemistry/biochem...preparing for 3 additional semesters of pharmacology.. UNF seems to be more nursing-practice based...if that's a proper way to describe it. UNF also is promising a "forward-lean" on the upcoming DNP.

[JumpNurse]

Schools don't accredite other schools. This is the domain of the Council on Accreditation.

See here:
http://www.aana.com/Credentialing.as...enuID=6&id=118

[zrmorgan]

Barry grad myself...thought it was an excellent program. I was in Orlando, easily doubled the casecounts and hours required by AANA by graduation. Don't know much about UNF...the new graduates from the program there will be the example for years to come. I would recommend Barry...obviously because I am biased. The faculty and staff there were very supportive to me and my family (transplanted from west coast to go to school there), and they were very involved with the state and national associations.

Good luck, if you go to Barry, tell them I said hi.

zrmorgan

[Happy Halothane]

Originally Posted by zrmorgan

Barry grad myself...thought it was an excellent program. I was in Orlando, easily doubled the casecounts and hours required by AANA by graduation. Don't know much about UNF...the new graduates from the program there will be the example for years to come. I would recommend Barry...obviously because I am biased. The faculty and staff there were very supportive to me and my family (transplanted from west coast to go to school there), and they were very involved with the state and national associations.

Good luck, if you go to Barry, tell them I said hi.

zrmorgan

let me re-iterate: the program director for Barry is the current FANA president.... The FANA is partially responsible for accreditation. Barry has the strongest presence in FANA, which is the association looking out for all of Florida's nurse anesthetists.

[JumpNurse]

Originally Posted by Happy Halothane

let me re-iterate: the program director for Barry is the current FANA president.... The FANA is partially responsible for accreditation. Barry has the strongest presence in FANA, which is the association looking out for all of Florida's nurse anesthetists.

That's not true either. The Council on Accreditation is a stand alone agency. While it is housed within the AANA headquarters, it is legally its own entity to prevent a glaring conflict of interest. Giving state associations a say in accreditation would undermine the authority of the COA in regulating new programs.

[loveanesthesia]

The COA-Council on Accreditation-has sole authority for the accreditation of nurse anesthesia educational programs in the US. The COA does select site visitors from the pool of educators in nurse anesthesia, so it is common that 2 or 3 educators from other nurse anesthesia programs conduct the accreditation site visit. The site visitors then write a report that is presented to the COA, and then the members of the COA approve (or not) the accreditation of the programs. The professional organization-AANA and state associations-has not been involved in the accrediation of the programs since about late 1970's-1980 when the COA was created. The Federal Department of Education requires that the accrediting body be a free standing body.