CU UCAN 2018

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Started this thread for the 2018 CU-UCAN program. Has anyone submitted their application yet?

Got it, thanks :)

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Hey everyone! I am glad I finally found this thread! My name is shaliese and I have an interview for the cu ucan program. I live in Utah and am flying out for the interview. I tried to look for the Facebook group but could not find it. I would love to be added to it. My name is shaliese Gramoll. I am excited to meet all of you!

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Hey All!

My name is Jessica Schiff and I will be interviewing with you all on Thursday! Slightly nervous, and interested in what types of questions they will be asking but wondering how you are all feeling?

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Hey everyone,

Please excuse my slightly off topic question, but I am a prospective student in the 2019 class currently working on completing my prerequisites. I'm new to the area, so I'm wondering if anyone has community college recommendations? Also, for folks who were offered an interview (or if you got in--I'm not sure if people would have heard yet or not), did anyone take online classes? Especially lab sciences? Online classes are a lot easier with my work schedule, so that is what I prefer, but I'm wondering if anyone has experience with admissions giving preference to pre-requ's completed in person.

Thanks and good luck to everyone!

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Hi,

Welcome to the area!

I took my prerequisites at Front Range Community College. Its a great school and i liked all of my instructors. The only class i took online was Statistics. It was fine, im just not a fan of online classes. I was invited for the interview but don't know if i got in yet. We are suppised to find out at the end of August.

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Hi Sonya!

I'm new to Denver, but know that both community college and university courses are accepted with no bias one way or the other. From my experience, A&P and he associated labs were offered in person exclusively. I believe the only science lecture portions I was able to take online through NC State (university, not comm college) were microbiology and Organic chem). All labs are in person for practical reasons. I do know that when you enter your coursework from your transcripts, there is no way to differentiate online vs. in person. Hope this helps and best of luck!

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Hi, 2018 UCAN class, or well prospective students. I am currently in the UCAN program and figured I would swing over here to answer any questions you may or may not have. I know you all had the opportunity to ask some questions to the student panel at interview day, but I remember how crazy that day was and how many more questions I had over the next few months. So yea, feel free to either PM me questions or I'll try and check this thread periodically to answer anything that may come up.

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Thank you so much for checking in to answer questions! I have a few to throw at you:

First, I'm curious how organized the program is -- I'm looking at a program in California that has a good reputation for hiring in the area, but I've heard pretty abysmal things about its organization and faculty. Does the UCAN program seem well-structured and do you feel supported?

Also, does the UCAN program have a good track record of its graduates getting hired into top Colorado hospitals? Or is it kind of all over the place?

What do you feel is the program's biggest weakness?

What do you think of the simulation clinicals? Are they helpful and realistic? Is that an advantage or disadvantage of the program? I really have no sense for what that will be like and how it compares to other programs.

Thank you!!

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Sorry for the delay, been a crazy few weeks.

The UCAN program is structured very well for what it is, and some of the faculty are AMAZING. That being said, it does have a long way to go. You need to be super flexible in this program and understand that there will be no concessions made for anyone. For example, there are people in our program who have had to commute an hour to their clinical site, even though other people live across the street and the program will not let them switch sites. The classes are typically good. I've had generally positive experiences with all but maybe 2 instructors and that is just because we didn't see eye to eye.

The program has an awesome track record for getting hired. I have been told numerous times that being a UCAN student gives you a huge leg up on getting hired here in Denver.

The biggest weakness is just poor flexibility on faculty's part to accommodate students slightly better. That and some expectations of total workload can be a bit ridiculous at times.

The sims were hit or miss. Having about 10 years of medical experience in some way, and 3 years of EMS/ED experience they were often lack luster for me. I wanted interaction, and I just can not in my head make a mannequin anything other than a doll. That being said, it cuts down on clinical time by A LOT and trying to add more clinical to our already crazy schedule would have been difficult. The best SIM/CEC stuff is the Mental Health SIMS...they by far were the best patient care enhancing experiences I have had outside of a hospital.

Hope that helps!

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Thanks so much for your response! Your timing is great, I just found out yesterday that I was accepted :) Your answers are very helpful -- from what I can tell, most ABSN programs are in a similar boat: you need to be super flexible, they're somewhat disorganized, ridiculous workload. Feeling ready for it! I'm happy to hear they have a great hiring track record and it sounds like you've had an overall positive experience. Feel free to share anything else you think might be helpful, I'm all ears!

Good luck with your last semester and I hope you find a great job!!

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Most helpful thing I can tell anyone is this:

Enjoy your free time now... and try and band together as a cohort. Our cohort has been amazing, everyone helps one another, everyone enjoys hanging out together, and we all want each other to succeed. Apparently that hasn't always been the case with cohorts, but it has made the world of difference for us. There are more than a handful of people that I will call lifelong friends from this program and you'll be spending A LOT of time together the first few months, so try and make as many friends as you can!

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Thanks so much for the added advice here!

My biggest question coming out of the interview day was around the clinical experience. With UCAN, it sounds like everything's pre-assigned and you don't get a say in any placements except for maybe the practicum (and even that is a big maybe). Is this an accurate assessment?

I really want to try to get placements at a variety of sites and not just at one hospital, so I can get varied experience to know where I want to work when I enter the market. I also definitely want all my placements to be hospital-based - places like Denver Health, UCHealth, Swedish, St. Joe's, Children's are appealing to me. Have you or others had this type of placement experience so far? Has anyone been placed at nursing homes, urgent care centers, clinics, etc.?

From the clinical standpoint, I'm struggling big-time between accepting a spot at CU or Regis, so any added information on clinicals you can provide would be soooo appreciated. Thank you!

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