Drexel online fnp msn 2018

granadina · Oct 1, 2018

Hey! I feel like you are the first pediatric NP students from Drexel I've seen online. In the areas where you live, have you met Drexel grads who are employed? Have you heard success stories of people finding clinical sites from outside PA? I am in the process of applying, but am nervous. I live out west. No one at my hospital system has heard of Drexel. They do not have a contract with them for clinical, meaning I would have to risk applying and starting the program without knowing if my hospital would give them a clinical contract (the hospital is being difficult and won't give me a copy of the contract drexel would have to agree to). I would like to hear of people who have been employed post grad.

There are so few dual peds acute/primary programs online. I felt like Drexel was a good option when I started, but I want to do proper research. The school states they do not keep a post grad employment record for alumni when I contacted them.

RNbannanie · Oct 11, 2018

I am in the first quarter of the Dual Peds primary/acute program. I grew up outside of Philadelphia but now live in NC. Many schools, even brick and mortar are requiring students to find their own preceptors. Drexel does have a clinical coordinator who helps with contacts and such, your hospital doesn't necessarily need an already existing contract to set up a clinical there. That being said you can't necessarily do clinicals at your place of work per drexel's policy if there is a conflict of interest. Example: I work in a PICU, i can do clinical in a specialty care clinic at the hospital but not the picu because patients would also see me there as the bedside RN and it can cause role confusion. I had a friend who lived in Arizona while doing the program so its possible. I believe we have some students in our cohort who live out west as well. So far, for being an online program I feel really informed about what is going on and my professors have been clear with whats required. It is A LOT of work though. I work full time and have young kids. So far I have been happy with Drexel :)

Margo37 · Oct 12, 2018

granadina,

I don't live anywhere near PA and I'm pretty sure none of my coworkers have heard of Drexel either. I'm gearing up to start searching for preceptors for next year, and I'll be honest, I'm a bit nervous about it. I think I'll be at a bit of a disadvantage not having many alumni practicing in my area, like students at the local schools do. However, I have a few coworkers who are ahead of me in other NP programs and I'm hoping I can find preceptors through them or through the NPs at my practice. Like rnbannanie said, we have a clinical coordinator and a lot of people that assist in the process, and it sounds like if push comes to shove and time is running out, they will do everything they can to make sure you find something (though that might mean driving a couple hours away for clinical). I wouldn't worry too much about your hospital not having a current contract. Regardless of whether your hospital has a contract with Drexel or not, it will be unlikely that you will be able to complete every clinical there anyway. Having to create a contract between the school and the preceptor sites isn't necessarily a problem either, it will just take a little longer to get everything squared away. But once you find somebody that is willing to take you, Drexel deals with the whole contract portion themselves, so you won't have to navigate that.

Overall, I've been very happy with Drexel so far. There are definitely some frustrations that go along with an online program, but it seems that even brick and mortar programs do the didactic classes online these days, and it's very common for students to have to find preceptors. I've been pretty happy with all of my professors so far, and while the classes have been challenging, I feel that they do their best to set us up for success.