Minneapolis School of Anesthesia

seansanf120 · May 15, 2010

Hello,

I am planning on applying to the program for 2011 as well. I have heard nothing but great things about the program, and the instructors. I know that you go to five different clinical sites which includes a rural facility, and a pediatric facility. I have worked with other SRNA when I was an Anesthesia Aide, and they say it's not fun, but they're very happy to have been a part of MSA. If you go to www.nurseanesthesia.org then you will find out what the program consists of and what you need for a completed application.

Where are you from? I work here in St Paul in the PICU at Childrens. Let me know if you have any other questions, and maybe with a little luck we will be classmates.

seansanf120

JOONKA · May 17, 2010

Thank you for the info Sean,

I am actually on the east coast, Philadelphia, 5 years CTICU/ SURGICAL TRAUMA ICU

I am actually in the process of finishing up my BSN, will be done december 2010, but I am planning to apply this August.

I have read a few threads about MSA, BUt they were all old from a few years ago, it seems info about MSA in this forum is very scarce.

Please mention cost of living, any impressions you have gathered from former students about the interview process etc. Simply any info you can think of as maybe being helpful about the twin cities etc please convey.

Thank you

seansanf120 · May 19, 2010

The Twin Cities are awesome! The weather is variable at best, and the 4 months of winter are brutal, but the rest of the seasons are beautiful. The people are really friendly, and there's tons of stuff to do if you down time in the program.

The interview is a lot of "tell me about yourself" "why do you want to be an anesthetist?" There aren't a lot of quiz questions or anything like that like some programs have. I am simply telling you what I've heard, and I can't say for sure so don't quote me on it. All of the students that I've talked to have told me that they would do the program over in a heartbeat, so that's good enough for me.

Let me know if you have any other questions that I might be able to answer.

seansanf120

MNSRNA · May 31, 2010

I am currently in the program. It is a 27 mo program and I will be done this December. I can tell you it is an excellent program. It takes an integrated approach, the first 3 months are all diadactic, then they slowly start introducing you into clinicals. As the program progresses you will transition to less class, more clinical until you 40 hr/week clinical with maybe one or two classes each month. The program is very challenging, some people try to work during the program, but that is discouraged, and most of my classmates could only do that for a few months. You have 6 rotations, 6mo, 5mo, 4mo X 3, 3 mo. The last one you request which hospital you will attend, people often try to go where they will work. During the 2nd year of the program you get to do a 2 wk peds rotation, and 2 different 3 wk rural/regional anesthesia rotations.

The interview process is similar to what is previously described. A lot of "tell me about yourself" type questions. I was not asked any clinical type questions at all. It feels like they are trying to get a feel for your personality, comfort in talking and expressing yourself, and confidence level.

As per cost of living, I am married and my husband is works, this is helfpful, so I can't really tell you exactly how much cost of living is. I know you can find places to rent (craigslist, apt websites, roommate finder, etc) that range from 400-1000/month.

Like I said, it is a challenging program, but I love what I am doing and can't wait to get out in the working world.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

MNSRNA · May 31, 2010

Oh, and they seem to like if you have done some job shadowing. It demonstrates that you know what you are getting into. I think I had 40 hours of shadowing or something like that. Usually you can set up shadowing experiences by contacting the anesthesia department at the hospital you are interested in shadowing at.

CourtneyM16 · Jun 5, 2010

MNSRNA,

I was wondering if you could give me some info on your stats and/or the average stats of students accepted to msa such as gpa, science gpa, years of experience, area of experience, etc.? What do they look for in your letters of recommendation?

Also, how many students on average apply to the program and how many are offered interviews and how many do they accept each year?

My husband and I are interested in applying. I have a 3.55 gpa, 3.9 nursing gpa (last 60 hours), just graduated and I am working in a cardio-thoracic ICU. My husband has a 3.4, 3.5 nursing (last 60 hours), a year experience in a multi-organ transplant ICU, balloon pump cert, CRRT cert., and plans on obtaining his CCRN this summer. We both plan on getting as much shadowing experience before applying as possible. We were wondering in your opinion if this is good enough to get an interview and/or receive an offer to the school?

How many hours a week does a msa student have towards class and clinicals?

Sorry about all the questions, but there really isn't all that much info out there about this school and we are very interested in learning more!

Thanks in advance :)

iLovemyJackRT · Jun 6, 2010

I am also considering applying to this program. JOONKA, I'm from Philly as well!! Do you work in the city?

MNSRNA · Jun 9, 2010

I really can't comment on the average GPA's or such of my classmates. I can tell you that your GPA is above the minimum requirement ( I think its like 2.7 or something like that) for the program, and that will be fine. I know of some former graduates from the program who barely made the minimum requirement and were accepted. That just goes to show that your undergrad GPA is not all the school cares about. They do like to see that you did well in sciences, since a lot of anesthesia is an application of basic sciences and A & P. My class has people from a variety of backgrounds. A lot of people with CV surgical ICU experience, but several with PICU/NICU and Neuro-trauma, MICU. Some people only had the minimum ICU experience, others had worked for 5 years or more.

I can't really say what they look for in the letters of recommendation, I just had people who I felt could speak toward my work ethic, competence, and care for my patients write mine. I have no clue what they wrote. I can tell you that I did spend a lot of time on my essay. I made sure it took up the full page and was well written, every sentence was important, no grammatical errors. I had tons of people proof-read it.

I think the CCRN helps, but doesn't make or break it, my class may have about 30% or so who had their CCRN. I do think it demonstrates that you are dedicated to continuing your education, and it certainly wont help. It seems like you and your husband meet the requirements for application and I would think you would be offered an interview. After that its really up to you. I think they must place a strong emphasis on what they learn about you in the interview.. because if you think about it, all the other things are pretty similar about applicants (decent grades, ICU experience, I am assuming good letters of recommendation). They ask you a fair amount of tell me about yourself type questions. I do expect if you and your husband interviewed, especially on the same day.. they may ask you "What if one of you is accepted and the other is not.." They did ask me what I would do if I were not accepted to the program.

I am not sure how many people apply each year, I am sure that it varies. The run interviews from November to February and do them essentially all day (9-4) on the days that they are interviewing. Each person interviews with 2 of the 3 main directors at the school. I can't remember them saying how many interview they did though, sorry. If you called the school and asked they might tell you..and you wouldn't have to tell them your name. They do accept 33 students each year, from all parts of the country. Usually you will hear whether you were accepted or not around valentine's day. They tell you when to expect to hear from them in the interview.

Each week your commitment is 40 hours. Split between class and clinicals. For the first 3 months or so it is straight class. 9a-4p (sometimes you get out a little early). Then they start integrating clinical slowly and taking away class time, until you are essentially doing 40 hours a week of clinical with monthly review exams over assigned readings (4-6 chapters from a text book each month). They do not expect you to go to the hospital the night before and learn everything about your patient and the case or anything like that.

I think its a great program, and I cant try to answer any more questions that you may have. Sorry about the questions that I couldn't answer.

JOONKA · Jun 11, 2010

hey brook, drop me a pm am looking at msa too

JOONKA · Jun 11, 2010

MNSRNA,

Thank you for some very useful info, Could you please dicuss cost of the program at some point?

Pleasem let me know if there are any financial aid programs offered by the school or its affiliates or is it all federal student aid.

How many months expect to actually be in school?

Thank s in advance

MNSRNA · Jun 13, 2010

No problem, I am happy to answer questions.

The program is 27 months long from the last week of August to the end of November, graduating in early December usually. You can take 80 hours of vacation in the last month of the program if you have saved enough (I think you start with 30 personal days..I cant remember) to have extra time to study for boards.

The program cost for me was about 25,000, this includes books and such. I think it goes up a little each year. In the interview they will let you know the cost for the year you are applying. The payments are divided into trimesters so they are spaced out. The school does have a few scholarships you can apply for through the AANA, but only a few people will get awarded them and you have to have a need for financial aid. Otherwise you can apply for federal student loans.

MNSRNA,
Thank you for some very useful info, Could you please dicuss cost of the program at some point?
Pleasem let me know if there are any financial aid programs offered by the school or its affiliates or is it all federal student aid.
How many months expect to actually be in school?
Thank s in advance