[Notanurse]

Has anyone graduated from the Medical College of Ga's CRNA? If so, please rate and give your experience.

[alansmith52]

I havn't heard much about it. but, I applied there also.

[AL bug]

sorry to be of no help, but I didnt' apply there because out of state tuition was $42,000.

[blazeboy97]

I have just begun the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) nurse anesthesia program. The school boasts a 90% graduation rate and 100% pass boards rate. The program is front loaded, two semesters of didactic study with clinicals beginning in the third semester. They are the only nursing school with a simulator that allows the students to "practice" real live situations before ever going into the OR.

They generally have about 100-120 applicants per year. From that they choose 40 to participate in the interview process. They admit 12-13 each year. As for tuition, out-of-state students (such as myself) receive a tuition waiver that allows us to pay in-state tuition ($140/hr vs. $558/hr).

The juniors and seniors that I have talked with like the program very much. I do have to tell you that it is somewhat web-based and you will use the computer alot (esp. Word and Powerpoint).

I will try to answer any questions you might have.

[alansmith52]

very good info. thankyou very much. please keep us posted with new info as well as your personal likes and dislikes regarding the program.

"They are the only nursing school with a simulator that allows the students to "practice" real live situations before ever going into the OR".

you might want to quailify this statement. my understanding is that there are diffrent grades of simulators. on one hand you have the kind that takes an engineer and several computer to run. the dummy can show the signs just by punching in the Dx. (millions) on the other hand you have a lower but also effective grade. (sim-man) is capabe of doing much but not all. (hundreds of thousands)

can anyone else shed light on this.. kevin?

[Notanurse]

I don't know how much light will be shed, but check out MCG's CRNA site http://www.mcg.edu/SON/NAPcontents.html and then if you can view it, there's a television station's segment from a newscast here locally that highlights the "dummy".

[alansmith52]

Yeah. I've seen thats stuff. they have a very impressive web site which is one reason I was so intriuge orginally.

[blazeboy97]

At present we don't know much about the simulator except that it can do all sorts of things. It scans barcodes on syringes for drug and quantity and they can program it to act (lungs) like patients with asthma, COPD, ARDS, heart failure, etc. You can train on fiberoptic intubations with it and see down into the bronchioles. It will be late November before we will be starting to use it. At that time I can let you know more about it.

[nilepoc]

Blaze,

I would be careful making generalized statements like that. there are many programs with simulators. We have two, and ours has been featured on NBC news. GUS is the simulator and I believe we are naming the new one soon. While not everry institution has access to a simulator, they are far from rare. At my last place of employment, we taught all ACLS students on a simulator.

Now I do believe there is a paucity of programs with actual cadavar labs. This is something I am interested in seeing if it is a true thought. Do you have cadaver labs?

Craig

[blazeboy97]

MCG has a cadaver lab but this will be the first year that the nurse anesthesia students will be able to utilize it since the program began in 1995. I also know that the University of South Carolina has a cadaver lab that the nurse anesthesia program there utilizes.