CA CRNA programs??

Never applied, don't know an awful lot, but our Director at Rush says that Samuel Merritt in Oakland is an excellent program. This has been confirmed by various other sources since I started looking about 3 years ago. Good luck in your search!

rockabye06

Thanks Rockabye. There will be a lot of researching between now and when I apply!

i atttend kaiser/csuf in pasadena. you cant beat the education for the money. plus we go to about 20 different hosp for clinicals, so there is little competition for cases. excellent instructors.

d

http://www.kpsan.org

Southern Cal's program is very good too. It is based in the school of medicine now and you get a great education. The instructors i have spoken with there really like the program and you don't have to drive all over southern cali for clinical sites.

I just did a little reasearch into Oakland's program. Can I say WOW! I can't believe all the clinical sites you are expected to go to. I guess this is good on one hand, and bad on another. I am headed to look into the other CA schools.

gaspassa~ Can I ask you how competetive it was to get in? Do you know the ratio of applicants to seats?

when i applied last year it was approx 600 or more inquiries, approx 250 actual applicants and 80 interviews, for 25 spots, 10 spots were holdovers from the previous year. i heard so far this year it was 680 inquiries, 250 apps already *deadline nov 30* with 8 spots from interviews last year so that leaves about 27 spots this year. no mat or gre, about 13000 for the whole program. excellent clinical rotations but you do have to drive alot during the program.

pm if you have any more specific questions.

d

There are only four schools West of the Rockies (Gonzaga in Spokane, Washington; Samuel Merritt in Oakland; Kaiser/CSUF in LA, and USC in LA). Competition for the limited number of slots is very tough. All the schools are excellent, but they are distinctly different from one another, so taking the time to research these programs is time well spent.

Only Gonzaga, in Spokane, Washington, fits your priorities if you do not want to travel to clinical sites and/or live in an urban setting in California. If you don't want to spend time behind the wheel of your car, the California programs are not for you.

Going to different clinical sites has a number of drawbacks, but the distinct advantage it offers is learning the myriad ways to accomplish anesthesia. There are many, many ways to "skin the cat" in anesthesia. Getting exposed to a variety of techniques and methods while you are a student will serve you well in practice; admittedly, it can be time-consuming and difficult.

FYI - Directors and admissions offices are usually inundated with requests for information and questions from applicants in the current cycle during this time of the year. Research schools on the web and receive the informational packet from the program first.

Sorry I did not get back sooner, I put in a 12+ hour shift in the O.R.

Thank you for your responses. While I would love to stay out here on the West Coast, I will gladly relocate wherever I may get accepted. I don't mind driving to clinical sites, just a little worried I may get lost along the way :chuckle

In the mean time I would just like to gather as much information as possible and prepare myself ahead of time to the best of my ability.

Thank you everyone for your insight, I am sure I will be needing a lot more of it:)