CRNA's! Did your program have a strong clinical component?

Qwiigley, BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, CRNA · Jan 3, 2010

I've been out for over 5 years, but when I was at Cal State Fullerton/Kaiser School of Anesthesia we obtained OVER TWICE the required amount of cases. There was specialty clinicals at the Navy in San Diego for Regionals (great opportunity) as well as significant rotations in Cardiac (as well as open heart), Neuro, and Pediatrics (at Childrens Hospital of LA).

My only complaint was how may sites I had to go to within the 24 months. But in the long run it gave me much mroe experience. (As soonas you would gain the trust of a preceptor, you would be rotated out).

sleepyrasrn · Jan 7, 2010

Thanks for the reply. I've heard many good things about Cal State's program and I'm considering applying there. Can anyone speak to Barry's clinical experience in Florida or Charleston Area Medical Centers rotations now that the doctoral program has been started? Thanks a ton!

eric the half-bee · Jan 8, 2010

I'm a Mayo alum and we had 2-3x the req'd cases in our clinical rotations. IIRC, 1st 2 months in the OR was 1:1, then 1:2 for 2-3 months and then pretty much counted as staff. Sink or swim is a quick way to remove the faint at heart. Compared to programs that are 1:1 or 1:2 though the entire run, I prefer to be thrown in w/the sharks early...

aCRNAhopeful · Jan 8, 2010

How can you find out about a schools clinical experience? I have a school I want to apply to and would be very convenient, but I have heard that they have had trouble in the past with changing directors and you sort of "get out what you put into it". Whats the best way to assess a school?

sleepyrasrn · Jan 10, 2010

I'm a Mayo alum and we had 2-3x the req'd cases in our clinical rotations. IIRC, 1st 2 months in the OR was 1:1, then 1:2 for 2-3 months and then pretty much counted as staff. Sink or swim is a quick way to remove the faint at heart. Compared to programs that are 1:1 or 1:2 though the entire run, I prefer to be thrown in w/the sharks early...

I've been told (by CRNA's that I work with) to stay away from Mayo's program since they don't allow their students to do regional techniques. Is this true?

Thanks for the heads up about the clinicals. It's good to know Mayo has intense rotations. I learn best in the moment when I have to figure things out myself. If I have someone constantly hovering and telling me the answers all the time, pointing out what to do in every situation, I am less likely to learn from the situation.

foraneman · Jan 15, 2010

You are VERY correct regarding the wide variety of clinical experience gained in various programs. In some, you struggle to meet the minimum regional anesthesia, central line and open heart experience. The most common barrier is competition with residents for these procedures. Unfortunately, some programs actually allow a resident to come into the room and administer the regional anesthetic and leave......for YOUR case!

I graduated from St Elizabeth Medical Center anesthesia program in Youngstown Ohio, which is affiliated with Youngstown State University. St. E's is a level one trauma center and pediatric/neonate center, OB Center with ORs, open heart and transplant center with ~20 operating rooms, busy neuro, major vascular, chest and ortho surgery and NO anesthesia residents. CRNAs do ALL procedures and cases, with usual ratio of 1 MDA to 4 CRNAs. I HIGHLY recommend the program! The CRNAs are all used to teaching and having students and i recall that my last 6 months of clinical allowed us to pick what kinds of cases and procedures we most wanted, since we had already met all of our case and procedure retirements. Tuition at YSU is a bargain also and cost of living VERY low.

catcolalex · Jan 22, 2010

I second qwigly's voice...I too went to kaiser and have never regretted it. I have worked now in several different settings and felt very comfortable giving all types of anesthesia immediately upon graduation....not the case with other CRNA's Ive worked with from other schools.

LNeonurse · Oct 28, 2011

I second qwigly's voice...I too went to kaiser and have never regretted it. I have worked now in several different settings and felt very comfortable giving all types of anesthesia immediately upon graduation....not the case with other CRNA's Ive worked with from other schools.

Do you mind listing some of these schools so I know which one's to remove from my list.. I am very adamant on finding a school where the SRNA's don't compete with residents (or other SRNA student't from other programs) for cases.

loveanesthesia · Nov 19, 2011

Do you mind listing some of these schools so I know which one's to remove from my list.. I am very adamant on finding a school where the SRNA's don't compete with residents (or other SRNA student't from other programs) for cases.

You should watch out for new programs that start up in a location where a different program is already established. Somethimes people who have not taught in a nurse anesthesia program don't realize all the components of 'good' clinical experience. The establised program will most likely have maxed out the local clinical experience-it's usually the speciality rotations that are the challenge-OB, CV, neuro, peds, regional-so it's not just having a room everyday for the student, but having the appropriate case mix. That might not become apparent until the first class is about 1/2 way through the clinical component, and then it is noticed they are weak in the number of some types of cases even though they are in the OR every day. The clinical sites might not even get this, they'll say-'we have room for 2 more students' not understanding it's the case mix that is the issue.

Jasmere1 · Nov 24, 2011

I am in the Case Western/ Cleveland Clinic program. We have such a vast number of cases. We do have residents, but there are enough cases to go around. We rotate to an outpatient center to do all of regional/ peripheral nerve blocks. Our graduates have 2-3x the amount of case requirements upon graduation. During the OB rotation, it is not uncommon to have 80-100 spinals. We do mostly all ASA III-V. Therefore, we deal with a high level of acuity. I think just finding a well established program where the culture meets your needs is the most important thing. In my program, the majority of students stay after graduation, so the faculty is very interested in training you to become a competent colleague. The mentality is different. They would much rather teach you than haze you because most of the students stay. All programs have pros/cons. You just have to weigh them out.

Sedatetime, ADN, BSN, MSN, CRNA · Nov 24, 2011

I am in the Case Western/ Cleveland Clinic program. We have such a vast number of cases. We do have residents, but there are enough cases to go around. We rotate to an outpatient center to do all of regional/ peripheral nerve blocks. Our graduates have 2-3x the amount of case requirements upon graduation. During the OB rotation, it is not uncommon to have 80-100 spinals. We do mostly all ASA III-V. Therefore, we deal with a high level of acuity. I think just finding a well established program where the culture meets your needs is the most important thing. In my program, the majority of students stay after graduation, so the faculty is very interested in training you to become a competent colleague. The mentality is different. They would much rather teach you than haze you because most of the students stay. All programs have pros/cons. You just have to weigh them out.

Sounds like a great experience so far. I'm interviewing there next week. Getting nervous and excited at the same time. Thanks for the info.