[epiphany]

Originally Posted by zahryia

Can you give me an idea of how much the starting salaries are for the positions you've seen? Also, are the posted positions just for the Philly area or in the Northeast region?

Mostly Philly, but also NJ, Delaware, some New York but mostly near Philly. Salaries range from 70K to 90K.

[huskiesnu06]

I just applied to UPENN for summer 09-they told me I should hear within 6 weeks since I am applying so early (did you find that to be a correct time frame) Also I was interested in hearing about your experience during the interview-what type of questions did they ask? I was also interested in hearing how you feel your clinicals have been-do you feel that they have good clinical placements? Finally do you feel that you made the right choice going to UPENN-
Thanks!

[epiphany]

Originally Posted by huskiesnu06

I just applied to UPENN for summer 09-they told me I should hear within 6 weeks since I am applying so early (did you find that to be a correct time frame) Also I was interested in hearing about your experience during the interview-what type of questions did they ask? I was also interested in hearing how you feel your clinicals have been-do you feel that they have good clinical placements? Finally do you feel that you made the right choice going to UPENN-
Thanks!

If they say you are applying early, they are probably right. I was just as anxious as you, but they took their time getting back to me, too.

I highly recommend you attend their open houses ( on their website) because you can ask for an interview at that time. Once they've put a face to you, they'd treat you less like a stranger. That's been my experience.

Interview: no particular questions, just chatting. I highly suggest you come up with some very innovative questions and so that you won't feel at end of a pointed gun. It really does help the interview environment to be more of a discussion.

All our clinical placements have been hit or miss. They ask you in the beginning for you site of preference but this is all in order to make them look good on paper. The person in charge of placement randomly assigns you, regardless of what you ask for. So one semester you can have a nightmare experience and the next a decent one. Don't believe a word they say about trying to fit you with the right site. They don't have enough sites to have that luxury, and they don't really bother looking. I know that because some sites who would have been happy to take students don't even get asked. I haven't even been given my final integration site yet and it's coming up real soon.

Finally, have I made the right choice? I don't know because I don't have anything to compare with. I can say that UPenn does not deserve to be one the top ranked schools. I chose this school because it didnt require a GRE and because I thought, well, how bad can it be if it's ranked up there? Well, it's not been the "ivy league". The Nursing department is not called the Anus of Upenn for nothing. It started well because I was doing basic curriculum, but when it comes down to the real midwifery program, I've changed my mind.

[zahryia]

Originally Posted by epiphany

If they say you are applying early, they are probably right. I was just as anxious as you, but they took their time getting back to me, too.

I highly recommend you attend their open houses ( on their website) because you can ask for an interview at that time. Once they've put a face to you, they'd treat you less like a stranger. That's been my experience.

Interview: no particular questions, just chatting. I highly suggest you come up with some very innovative questions and so that you won't feel at end of a pointed gun. It really does help the interview environment to be more of a discussion.

All our clinical placements have been hit or miss. They ask you in the beginning for you site of preference but this is all in order to make them look good on paper. The person in charge of placement randomly assigns you, regardless of what you ask for. So one semester you can have a nightmare experience and the next a decent one. Don't believe a word they say about trying to fit you with the right site. They don't have enough sites to have that luxury, and they don't really bother looking. I know that because some sites who would have been happy to take students don't even get asked. I haven't even been given my final integration site yet and it's coming up real soon.

Finally, have I made the right choice? I don't know because I don't have anything to compare with. I can say that UPenn does not deserve to be one the top ranked schools. I chose this school because it didnt require a GRE and because I thought, well, how bad can it be if it's ranked up there? Well, it's not been the "ivy league". The Nursing department is not called the Anus of Upenn for nothing. It started well because I was doing basic curriculum, but when it comes down to the real midwifery program, I've changed my mind.

I appreciate your honest feedback. I almost got caught up in the name versus the experience. I still question myself sometimes, but your post puts everything in perspective

[Belinda-wales]

Originally Posted by epiphany

If they say you are applying early, they are probably right. I was just as anxious as you, but they took their time getting back to me, too.

I highly recommend you attend their open houses ( on their website) because you can ask for an interview at that time. Once they've put a face to you, they'd treat you less like a stranger. That's been my experience.

Interview: no particular questions, just chatting. I highly suggest you come up with some very innovative questions and so that you won't feel at end of a pointed gun. It really does help the interview environment to be more of a discussion.

All our clinical placements have been hit or miss. They ask you in the beginning for you site of preference but this is all in order to make them look good on paper. The person in charge of placement randomly assigns you, regardless of what you ask for. So one semester you can have a nightmare experience and the next a decent one. Don't believe a word they say about trying to fit you with the right site. They don't have enough sites to have that luxury, and they don't really bother looking. I know that because some sites who would have been happy to take students don't even get asked. I haven't even been given my final integration site yet and it's coming up real soon.

Finally, have I made the right choice? I don't know because I don't have anything to compare with. I can say that UPenn does not deserve to be one the top ranked schools. I chose this school because it didnt require a GRE and because I thought, well, how bad can it be if it's ranked up there? Well, it's not been the "ivy league". The Nursing department is not called the Anus of Upenn for nothing. It started well because I was doing basic curriculum, but when it comes down to the real midwifery program, I've changed my mind.

I would not be hard on your self or worry to much about it as long they give you enough information to qualify - the school and the experience that they give you is what it is - the person thats makes the midwife has ability to investigate and use experience to reflect that will help you grow.
No novice midwife comes out of school the true midwife they are going to be - you are just at the start line some of you may feel a little fitter due to your pre race training but even the fittest will struggle and come up against challenges. What am I trying to say yes the School dose not make the midwife the person makes the midwife. This is not to say that a good dose not help - but even a good school cant made the midwife if the person is not right.

[epiphany]

Originally Posted by Belinda-wales

I would not be hard on your self or worry to much about it as long they give you enough information to qualify - the school and the experience that they give you is what it is - the person thats makes the midwife has ability to investigate and use experience to reflect that will help you grow.
No novice midwife comes out of school the true midwife they are going to be - you are just at the start line some of you may feel a little fitter due to your pre race training but even the fittest will struggle and come up against challenges. What am I trying to say yes the School dose not make the midwife the person makes the midwife. This is not to say that a good dose not help - but even a good school cant made the midwife if the person is not right.

A lot of what you say - that the kind of midwife you are going to make may not reflect the schooling is true, but I will have to disagree in some respects, now that I'm going through the program.

Yes, a lot of internal resources is important in being a midwife, but power and autonomy that a school can provide you, as well as the positive experience can give a good head start - and in midwifery as in life a good head start can influence your practice in huge way. For instance, the thing that was good about UPenn was the fact that we needed to rely on research heavily, which shapes my thinking in many ways. That was a good thing about this school. I know that if I had been in a school that didn't rely so much on research, I dont know how I would ever get to be research savvy on my own. I know I could look at research, but now I actually look at it critically for strength and weakness. This, however, was not the actually midwifery component. The midwifery component IMO is weak in providing consistently good clinical experience. The theory part is superficially at best.

I don't think everyone in my class agrees with me completely but I can tell you that EVERYONE is going through duress at clinicals. The feeling of powerlessness and hazing and harassment that you go through at the wrong site is indescribable. Why would you want to waste 2-3 years, or however long it takes of a pivotal part of your journey experiencing something unpleasant? The problem is that you never know until you get there. I can only hope people understand to take my advice base on my personal experience and know that everyone's different.

I understand why people come here searching for answers and I try to be honest about it, but my advice to everyone in general is - do you research, give yourself time to think through your decision, make up your mind, take the jump, and don't look back. And take comfort in what Belinda has said on the flipside of my view - you can be the midwife that you want to be if you keep at it.

[Belinda-wales]

I hear what you are saying I still feel that you are being a little hard on your self - when I trained as a midwife the first time there was good and bad in the school I trained but I new what I wanted out of it and manged to achieve that- many people have asked how could I even consider going through the whole training again - but it is a hoop I have to jump through I will gain something from the experience.
I sorry that your experience is not what you want but hold on to your dreams and you will soon me the midwife you want to be.

[huskiesnu06]

Hey guys,
I was just offered an interview for UPENNs midwifery program (May 2009). First does anyone know if everyone is given an interview-or only those they are interested in? Also They told me the interview will be between 60-90 minutes, is there anyone who can give me some tips-perhaps someone who has already been through this process.
Thanks!

[epiphany]

Originally Posted by huskiesnu06

Hey guys,
I was just offered an interview for UPENNs midwifery program (May 2009). First does anyone know if everyone is given an interview-or only those they are interested in? Also They told me the interview will be between 60-90 minutes, is there anyone who can give me some tips-perhaps someone who has already been through this process.
Thanks!

All I can say is go for that interview. No one really understands the process, but I do know that you can wow them face to face so here's your chance. There is no set time for interviews in reality. It's really just a rough guide. I wrote about the interview process a few posts ago. There is no magic formula - humans are hard to read and chemistry is different - there's no telling, but be assured they want to approve of you when they talk to you face to face - they don't want to look for a bad qualities in people. Three tips:

Be yourself.
Be yourself.
Be yourself.