Will send cookies for good advice!

[what2donow]

Please help! I have been accepted to Frontier's CNEP program and I was initially ecstatic. However, now I am starting to second-guess myself, and I need to give them confirmation of my enrollment in 2 days! My dilemma is this: There is a nurse midwifery program near me that is apparently ranked a bit higher than Frontier, which I didn't care too much about, but now after looking into things a bit, I found that this school provides 1320 hours of clinical practice, while Frontier has 675! Nothing is as important to me as feeling fully ready and capable when I graduate, and that seems like a big difference.

The reason I did not initially apply to this school was that it requires OB experience which I do not have and am having an impossible time getting, whereas Frontier just requires nursing experience. And I want to get started! But now I am thinking that I should just keep trying to get an OB job and eventually apply to my local University when I have the required experience.

I would appreciate any sincere advice so much. Please! The clock is ticking! Thank you in advance.

[Barkow]

Only you can make this decision, but I will tell you that I am finishing up my first semester at Frontier and it is nothing special. There are the same politics and frustrations that you will find at any program. If I had a brick and mortar program near me that wasn't too expensive, I might not be going to Frontier. In your case, it may be worth it because you'll probably save a couple years trying to get an OB job and experience to apply to the local school. Good luck with your decision!

[what2donow]

Thanks for your reply, Barkow. Do you feel like elaborating on these "politics and frustrations"? I'd love to hear what you think about the program.

[Barkow]

Frontier seems to want to endlessly expand. A brick and mortar school can only get so big due to physical constraints like class size, local clinical sites, and number of instructors, and through these means they maintain selectivity. Because Frontier is in this nebulous online world, it's easy enough to load people into online classes and have everybody find their own clinical sites. However, my academic adviser probably has hundreds of advisees, and I'm not exaggerating. There seemed to be some tension on the clinical credentialing side of things, because they literally had one woman keeping track of every student's clinical sites and preceptors. There also seemed to be some turnover with the regional coordinators who are locally responsible for accrediting all the individual clinical sites. The intimacy and traditions of Frontier are what make it special, and I worry that if they keep growing those things will be lost.

On the other hand, as a school it does its job for me at this point. I am able to do distance education which allows me to continue to work full-time and not have to re-shape my entire life around school. For the bridge students it offers a valuable option that most other programs do not provide. My classes seem as fine as online classes can be and the instructors are accessible. Again I've only had one semester of classes, so perhaps someone who has been there longer can elaborate further. I just wanted to provide a slightly different opinion in light of all the Frontier praising that happens in this forum. It's a great school, but like every other institution it's not without issues.

[what2donow]

Want to send me your address, Barkow, for the cookies? Looks like you are the only taker. Ha.

[mommy2boysaz]

I am a Frontier student in the Bridge program for CNEP (CNM). I will begin clinicals in the Fall. My preceptor is a Frontier alumni also. I have thoroughly enjoyed the program and feel I will be well qualified for practice after graduation. I know my preceptor is an excellent midwife and loved her experience with Frontier as well. Another CNM that practices with my preceptor attended a different school and said she feels that she was not as well prepared for practice, including the business aspects of it. Frontier does a good job of teaching you about more than just the clinical things, but also the psychosocial and business aspects.

Just another opinion! Good Luck with your decision!