Chronicles of a VA APRN Resident

I interviewed today and was offered one of six resident positions. I lost it. The panel laughed and said my reaction was the best one so far. ?

I was asked nine questions. They were along the lines of "Tell me about yourself; How will you contribute to VA care; Flexibility and describe a time when it was required; Career goals; Rate yourself 0 - 10 in the following aspects, etc.". I was sweating the whole time, but displayed a cool (I think) exterior.

It starts towards the end of September, so plenty of time for me to go over all my material from school and beef up my knowledge so I don't look like a total dunce.

I will periodically update this thread with all my trials and tribulations for those who are interested in applying for a spot in the future and want to know what the year will look like.

[Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP]

On 10/16/2022 at 7:00 PM, prettymica said:

Yes. Also, If you leave and come back; you can buy back your time, not quite sure how that works. I don't know about what step on the pay scale, but they did get a new payscale for NPs.

Not sure if you'll know the answer to this one, but here it goes:   Let's say you get hired as a FNP in one place at the VA for $60K/yr.  After one year (or whatever the min. time is) decide to transfer to another place, where the next pay grade/scale is actually lower at $50K/yr.  Do they actually cut your salary to meet the local pay?  Or are you able to stay at what you were paid originally at the first place?

[Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP]

On 10/20/2022 at 4:18 PM, Freckledkorican said:

UPDATE:

Hello all!

Almost finished with my fourth week of residency. The first week was a mess because of Hurricane Ian. Barely got anything done. The second we......

My preceptor was out today, so I spent the day with one of the docs. I loved it! He gave me a little more free rein with patients and I am glad I have been studying during my free time because he asked me questions throughout the day. In front of patients........

I hope everyone is doing well in their residencies!

How do they assign your group to the various clinics?  Is it usually just one of you in whichever speciality clinic they assign you to?   Or do they place two of you in the same clinic?  Just wondering if the VA prefers to have two newbies together with one preceptor or is it truly one-on-one?

Also, we all know after school ends/ended, we all come out at various levels of understanding, knowledge, etc..  Would you rate the VA at being very attentive at working with each individual at his/her own level?  Or is it cut-throat?

[Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP]

4 hours ago, Freckledkorican said:

The 5 of us (soon to be 6) are assigned to clinics in different locations. 2 are in a VA hospital, 2 are in a new outpatient clinic, and I am the only one in a more rural outpatient clinic. The two in the hospital share one preceptor, but can work with other providers if they are available, the two in the new outpatient clinic are 1:1, and I have my own preceptor.

I can only speak for my residency program. Mileage may vary. My program is excellent so far.....

I wholly recommend my program to everyone. The director, coordinator, and lead faculty are superb.....

This sounds amazing!  Thank you for the information.  I just hope all the residencies across the U.S. run this way.

I know the one great thing about the residency is the chance to be exposed to various specialties, of course depending on availability.  Besides being put in a general clinic, do they ask you what specialities you might be interested in? I saw on one of the residency announcements they had some specialties listed such as G.I., Nephrology, Orthopedics, ER, etc. that you might be able to go through.  Does everybody have to go through each specialty or can you pick a few?  

Also, will you be switched at some point with the others (somebody else goes to rural and you go to the new outpatient clinic etc..)?

[Hotlando, MSN, APRN]

Sounds great. Still nothing for us here in Orlando. They are saying possibly Nov 7, but not holding my breath. Extremely disappointed. I have used all my savings and credit cards to keep afloat waiting. But at this time, I think it will be a pass for me. If this is how it is to get in, I can only imagine what it will be like once we start.

[Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP]

I've been looking throughout AN, checking out the government/military section and it looks like if you are going to work for the VA, you have to take a physical.  Was this also the case for the residency?  What was the physical like?  Are they really inspecting and you have to be in a gown?  Or is it mainly can you bend, push, pull, reach and breathe,  and you pass?  LOL

[Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP]

Just checking to see how everybody is doing in their residencies.  Thank you all for sharing details, experiences, etc.. ?

[prettymica, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN, APRN, NP]

Hello all,

I am on my  second rotation at another clinic, we went from geriatrics to primary care. It's so different on the things that you do at each place, no two places are the same. I should move to another clinic at the end of January. I am ready to go to a specialty area and see what that is like.

[Tegridy]

I couldn’t imagine spending an entire year at the VA

[momathoner09, BSN, MSN, APRN]

I started in the fall and am halfway through my second rotation. We rotate every 2 months for the first 6 months. The second 6 months we have specialty rotations (not quite sure how this is going to work honestly). Anyway at first it was a lot but I think I’ve found a rhythm. It’s as much or as little as you want to get out of it. I have really tried to do what I can an utilize all the resources that we have available. For our residency we are in lot of different clinics throughout the week. So right now I am in CLC, POSH, COACH, and Geri Pact clinic. For Geri pact we have a panel and we are the PCP. That for me has been the most work beyond that clinic appointment. Lots of f/us, consults, med refills, med changes, etc. But I feel like I have learned the most from that rotation. 

[Tegridy]

3 hours ago, momathoner09 said:

Did you come here just to leave a snarky comment ?

Yes it’s the VA. Literally the most inefficient hospital system in the county full of red tape and admin who collect w check for nothing. I dress the two months a year I have to spend there versus the private hospital systems. 

[Tegridy]

3 hours ago, momathoner09 said:

I started in the fall and am halfway through my second rotation. We rotate every 2 months for the first 6 months. The second 6 months we have specialty rotations (not quite sure how this is going to work honestly). Anyway at first it was a lot but I think I’ve found a rhythm. It’s as much or as little as you want to get out of it. I have really tried to do what I can a utilize all the resources that we have available. For our residency we are in lot of different clinics throughout the week. So right now I am in CLC, POSH, COACH, and Geri Pact clinic. For Geri pact we have a panel and we are the PCP. That for me has been the most work beyond that clinic appointment. Lots of f/us, consults, med refills, med changes, etc. But I feel like I have learned the most from that rotation. 

LOL we have to do CLC for two weeks during our medical residency and all I can say is I’ve never been somewhere where they can turn a list of 12 nursing home patients into a full days worth of work. 

[Mergirlc, MSN, APRN, NP]

21 hours ago, momathoner09 said:

I started in the fall and am halfway through my second rotation. We rotate every 2 months for the first 6 months. The second 6 months we have specialty rotations (not quite sure how this is going to work honestly). Anyway at first it was a lot but I think I’ve found a rhythm. It’s as much or as little as you want to get out of it. I have really tried to do what I can an utilize all the resources that we have available. For our residency we are in lot of different clinics throughout the week. So right now I am in CLC, POSH, COACH, and Geri Pact clinic. For Geri pact we have a panel and we are the PCP. That for me has been the most work beyond that clinic appointment. Lots of f/us, consults, med refills, med changes, etc. But I feel like I have learned the most from that rotation. 

It definitely sounds they have you doing exactly what happens at a typical primary care appointment.  That's excellent!  Thank you so much for sharing.  Best of luck to you!