I got into a CRNA program...how can I prepare myself?

PresG33 · Jan 27, 2020

1) spend lots of time with friends and family and remind them that your ability to spend time in school will be minimal. Try to build up some goodwill now for the inevitable decrease in your ability to spend lots of time on these relationships.
2) work overtime to save some money. This will remove some of the huge stressor of no income for several years in school. Loans pay for tuition but silly little costs like case tracking software, ALS/PALS, computer exams your school requires add up to thousands of dollars in unforeseen costs. Having even a few extra shifts worth of savings can make the difference between stressing over this or just writing the checks (do people still write checks?)

3) Take a month off before school. Travel, sit at home and watch TV, meal prep a month of lunches and freeze them so you don’t eat like crap at school, exercise... just chill and try to form some beneficial personal habits for the long haul ahead.
4) If and only if the previous things are done, spend some time learning autonomic receptors front to back. Alpha and beta, what each one does, where they are located, etc. And not “alpha 1 works on blood vessels”; memorize the several different sites of each receptor, and the biochemical pathways and second messengers that each one uses. Don’t worry about medications. Just learn the receptors in depth and you will be ready to absorb additional information related to them later.

good luck. Remember that being a CRNA is literally the best job and it will all be worth it.

sjbrk · Jan 30, 2020

Best thing I did for myself was...Not try to "get ahead" or study before I started school. I took a vacation and other than that saved money. We had to move across the country so we did that about 3 weeks before school started to get a routine, gym, etc. Highly recommend doing that if you're moving. Otherwise, if you MUST study (highly do not recommend), study the ANS. School is a grind and I would just enjoy TF out of all my free time. You won't have it again.