CGFNS CES report for a foreign (4 years) Midwifery Degree

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Dear all,

I have ben browsing through this great website to see if there is anyone out there who has a midwifery degree (earned outside the US) and had tried to be an RN here so I can learn from their experiences....however, it appears to be there is no thread on this. So, I thought I should share my hiatus on this with the hope of getting your help and feedback, and also helping prospective foreign midwifes who want to practice in the US.

Here is my story and question:

I graduated with a BSc in Midwifery from Ethiopia in July 2015. This is an intensive four year program with a lot of clinical hours, spending a month or so of every semester at government run hospitals (I studied at one of the state-owned universities in the country), having assisted delivery of over 20 sweet babies! Although the curriculum is primarily for midwifery degree, I have taken almost all courses taken by a standard nursing BSN student in the US, some of them even with a higher credit hour than is normally given here. Then I moved to the US soon up on graduating, on immigrant visa. I knew that practicing as a certified midwife in the US requires a masters degree, as apparently Midwifery is not given at a BS or lower level here. So I decided to go the route of first becoming an RN and then moving to my dream job of midwifery later. So, I submitted my credential to CGFNS for evaluation, and the report is out. I was pretty certain that CGFNS would deem my degree to be comparable to at BSN, until I saw the report, that is. Lo and behold, here is what the comparability bit of the repot stated "there are no comparable program of education in the US, since entrance into midwifery program in the US requires completion of a general registered nurse program". The rest of the report is perfectly fine, including the detailed course breakdown and the clinical hours, even stating that "the degree could let me get admission to postgraduate schools in most US universities", etc.

Do you guys think it makes sense for me to even try to submit to the SBON for RN, given that bloody CGFNS think my degree is comparable to nothing in the US? Please share your thoughts and experience on this.

Thank you!

I think the problem is this:

Your degree program in Ethiopia was in midwifery and not in nursing. Therefore , even though some courses may seem comparable to BSN classes, they apparently are not. I doubt that the BON will allow you to sit for the board but if you want to contact the board you can check out which BON it is in your state and send them an email.

This is the thing with immigration - education is not always comparable and the job of the CGFNS is to figure out how your education compares - the system is just very different it seems. I am an immigrant myself. But I went through a nursing program in my country - although I had much more clinical hours and theoretical hours in total than most BSN students it was deemed comparable to the Diploma RN. I was allowed to sit for the NCLEX and passed. However, I went back to school here in the US to finish my BSN and now I am in graduate school for my MSN. All along I have been working as a RN.

If your education at this point does not compare to the nursing education in the US but you want to become a nurse I guess the next step would be to find out if you can go back to school and finish the BSN education or perhaps there is even an option of a direct entry program since it seems you have a BS degree.

Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

As mentioned training as a midwife isn't the same as training as a RN. At the end of the day it is the BON that makes a decision based on information provided

Hi, I need a help. I am from Nepal and i have already passed NCLEX -RN from Newyork board of nursing. now i am trying to endorse my license to Mississippi. My ces report from cgfns has been issued and the report states that ''No comparable program in the United States as theapplicant completed a total of thirteen years of primary,secondary and nursing education.'' But the proffesional registration states ''Comparable to the registration of a first-level general(Registered) nurse in the United States''. MS BON is contacting to CGFNS again. I dont know what to do next. One of my friend is working as an RN here in MS with the same degree. I am so much afraid if they will give me license from MS or not . I have gone through many obstracles before and finally i passed my exam now i am having problems again. Please help

hello, im dealing with the same issue. i am currently in the cgfns certification program. i really want to get a masters degree, but i am ot sure if cgfns certification will allow me to do that. Any idea on the topic?

I know it's been a long time since this thread started. I just wanted to know how it all worked out. ( I'm facing the same problem)

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