Front Loaded Program vs. Integrated

[CCRN21]

Hi everyone,

I really appreciate those taking their time out to read this. I have been looking on several websites of CRNA programs and I was wondering what you guys see as the pros and cons of front loaded vs integrated CRNA programs? Is there a way to know which type of program would fit better with your learning style? Does anyone have any experiences from either type of program to share? If you could do that specific type of program over, would you?

Thanks!!!

[ProgressiveThinking, MSN, CRNA]

I'm currently in a front loaded program and I'm set to graduate in December. There are pros and cons to both. The first 12 months was strictly didactic with some simulation lab thrown in here and there. It was nice to have a theoretical understanding of what I was doing when i started clinical.

On the other hand, after sitting down and studying for a year I was RUSTY when I started clinical, but after a couple of weeks I was fine. Sitting down and studying for a year was a nice little vacation from bedside nursing after doing it for a few years.

In the clinical portion of my program we average 60 hours/week (they treat us, schedule us, and leave us alone in the room like staff) in clinical with only 2 hours a week of didactic. These two hours of didactic ends up turning into about 4-5 hours of studying/week because we still have tests to pass.

Having to study when working more hours than a full time job is difficult to say the least, and for this reason I think that an integrated program wouldn't be for me, personally.

I can see the appeal of an integrated program because you would be reinforcing the theory you're learning through clinical. With that being said, I'm happy I chose a front loaded a program. I like to enjoy my life when I can, and juggling the demands of school and life has been stressful enough. I think doing both clinical and didactic would have just made it more stressful.

[neuroRN725, BSN]

I didn't think about being sent to distance clinicals in front-loaded programs, good point!

[FlyMurse, BSN, RN]

Something this forum made me think about was pass rates for front-loaded programs. After being out of the classroom so long will you be rusty on the "by the book" ways? Kind of like nursing school and the "NCLEX hospital" concept.