licensing exam for CNMs

It's a fine point, but it is a "certification" exam rather than a licensing exam. When you graduate from your program they send the American Midwifery Certification board (AMCB) a form and you fill out a form and send it in. Those two forms meet somewhere in the middle and you get an e-mail saying that you can take the exam. You go online to find the closest exam location (AMP testing centers, I think) and choose your location, date, and time. Then once you pass the exam you are a certified nurse midwife but not necessarily a licensed one. You then take your certification results, master's degree, and whatever else ir required to your state board of nursing (usually although I think in some states the Medical Board might oversee it?) and get your license to practice as a CNM. So you are nationally certified but you have to be licensed in individual states. The website to the AMCB is www.AMCBmidwife.com I think. Good luck!

Also, it's hard!! But doable:)

wow, that sounds complicated, lol.

Hope it makes more sense when I actually get to that point. So how long from graduation til you actually can practice as a CNM?

thanks for your answer!

I think I did make it sound more complicated that it is. It was essentially the same process as what I went through with my NCLEX and RN license. A national examination but a state license.

I would say it was only about 4 weeks between when I graduated and I had my eligibility to test statement (meaning I could schedule the exam). I took a few more weeks to study and you get the results immediately when you test.

The real problem is that it often takes 3-4 months to get priveliged at a hospital. Ordinarily you have to be licensed to apply so that it can be a part of your application and it is still a long wait to start working. That came as a surprise to many of my classmates.