If I Knew Then What I Know Now...

cbykobreck · Oct 26, 2013

I will start CRNA school next fall at VCU. I am moving my family of five from Texas to Virginia- my kids are all young. Husband will work from home with a nanny to help with the kids during the day. So- for all of you who are currently in a program or working as a CRNA what advice would you go back and give yourself pre-program, if you could? Any genuine advice is good, I appreciate it.[/quote']
Spend time with your family!

detroitdano · Oct 26, 2013

Put every single bill on auto-pay.

Clean your house really good, to the point where it won't need it again for another two years.

Take a vacation, at least a week, away from home.

Do not look at anything anesthesia related.

Meet with your close friends, and make sure they understand you won't be around much and that you're not abandoning them. Family seems to understand this, but friends seem to find it more difficult.

rn444 · Oct 28, 2013

CoffeeL, great question! I look forward to meeting you in August. I moved to Virginia two years ago and LoVe it here. If you are going to be in Richmond, its a great city. I do not know much about it, but from the two times I went to visit the school, I loved the energy there. There are some great posts on here from previous years about the best places to live around campus. The CRNAs that I have asked the same question to have told me....first ...make my life a simple as possible, make all bills automatic, make sure car is in order, do all basic health/dental check ups before hand, and second....enjoy myself! Travel, visit family, watch tv.

My plan to prepare is to take the 2 prep courses offered by VCU chem and physiology. And I bought an ipad app with anesthesia case studies I will look at this during down time on night shift. I am also planning several trips to visit with family this year, with a possible big trip this spring.

Everytime I start to get stressed out about paying for school , or the intense requirements ahead....I try to remember the way I felt before the interview..."I will do AnYtHiNg to get into this program! AnYtHinG!" If the cost was double I would figure out a way to pay it. I have dreamed about being given this opportunity for a long time. I am going to try to remember that I am extreamly fortunate to have the "problem" of trying to figure out how to pay for CRNA school.

Life is Good.

CoffeeL · Oct 29, 2013

Thank you guys for your help- this is good stuff!

VCUgasman2015 · Nov 11, 2013

Dear CoffeeL & rn444,

First of all, congratulations on your acceptance at VCU. As a current Junior SRNA in this program, I understand the excitement and anxiety you are feeling at this moment. Here are some tidbits I have found up to this point that you may find helpful.

1) If there is ANYTHING that you enjoy doing (traveling, spending time with your family, etc.) do it between now & next August. This semester will consume the majority of the "free" time that you have with studying for Physiology, Principles and Practice, Advanced Health Assessment, and Pharmacology (of course, with three children, I guess "free" time is a subjective statement).

2) As far as the Prep courses go, if you have had Organic Chemistry from a previous university, do not take the class. If you must take the Medicinal Chemistry class (I had to), it is not too bad. All of the lectures are on-line & the exams are on-line as well. In regards to the Preparatory Physiology Class...I wouldn't take it. If you feel the need to take the class, then by all means, take it, but from my experience, it will not prepare you for the level of Physiology you are going to be taught. Honestly, physics would be a better preparatory class for the Advanced Mammalian Physiology course (but, who wants to take Physics right before going into CRNA school?!?!).

3) In regards to how to prep for VCU, I have but one suggestion...there is NO way to prepare for what you are about to enter into. Honestly, I would recommend that you NOT do any kind of anesthesia case studies or anything anesthesia related (unless you have a prior background in anesthesia). I bought the "Basics of Anesthesia" by Miller and read sections of it prior to entering into school. Up to this point, that was a complete waste of time. The first semester will not be geared toward teaching you how to be an anesthesia provider. You will be introduced to the majority of the overall general anesthetic concepts (Patient positioning, Neuromuscular blockers, Pre-op assessment, Reversal agents, Opioids (anesthesia opioid use is WAY different then the ICU), Benzodiazepines, Laryngoscopy, Induction, etc.), but you will NOT be required to understand how to initiate, establish, and maintain an anesthetic from the beginning to the end of a case.

4) Make sure that you and your spouse (significant other, boyfriend, dog, cat, whatever) have had a legitimate conversation about what you and your family are about to go through and that everyone is on the same page. This is a VERY intense semester and program. You have been chosen because you have been perceived as being one of the best applicants in the country and with that comes very high expectations. You must make time for your family (and yourself), but be warned that the time that you make will be significantly less than prior to entering into this program.

I hope I am not scaring you. I LOVE anesthesia and the idea of providing the maximum amount of safety and comfort for a patient that I possibly can. I am only writing this to give you some perspective of what I would have liked to know upon entering into this program. Again, congratulations. I wish you nothing but the best of luck. If you have any other questions/concerns, please feel free to PM me.

rn444 · Nov 16, 2013

Thank you so much for this VCUgassman2015. One of the many reasons my heart was set on VCU is that everyone I have spoke with both alumni and faculty, have been nothing but encouraging and supportive. Although I am crazy excited to begin school, I will take your advise and try and enjoy my free time now before its over.