Location vs. Program Ranking

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I've been struggling w/ the decision on where to anesthesia school in the fall of 2008. Essentially, it comes down to location vs. program ranking, but maybe there is more to the matter that I am overlooking. Hopefully, some current SRNAs can provide some relevant feedback/advice on the matter.

University of Pittsburgh: ranked #5 in the country by those smoke-in-mirror World News & Report rankings. Main question here: How much should program ranking be taken into consideration b/c I am putting a lot of weight in Pittsburgh's corner alone based on this stat alone.

University of Miami: just emerging onto the scene. Obviously, will have kinks as a program r/t its newness, but location & scenery is arguably second-to-none. Main question here: Are anesthesia schools in general so time-intensive that there is little-to-no time to enjoy your surroundings? In other words, should location be irrelevent when choosing a nurse anesthesia school.

I've done good research for both schools, but honestly it is these two x-factors that have me still on the fence, w/ all other things considered.

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You will see the inside of your apartment, the library and your classrooms.

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Specializes in Trauma ER and ICU...SRNA now.

I think there are lot of factors to consider.

1- Review the curriculum. Front loaded vs integrated. Talk to the program or maybe students in the program.

2- Cost. This is really important if you need student loans. It's getting very challenging to find private student loans for cost of living. So consider tuition costs as well as cost of living near the school. Figure out in state vs out of state tuition if applies.

3- Get info about the schools success (seems more important than a ranking number). How many pass. How many drop out. I understand there are programs out their the admit a lot of students and weed some out.

4- Look at where the clinicals are. Do you have to travel for them? Will you compete with AA or MDA students for cases..or GOOD cases?

5- Consider location. Will you have a support group near by? That may not be an issue for you. I hate cold weather..so that played a part in my decision.

That's just a short list I considered when I applied. And I personally love the weather in Miami, except for the summers...where my school is.

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Specializes in SICU.

I find location to be important when i am buying a house, not when i am going to school.

I would like to live in Miami for a couple of years, however, you may as well like in Northern Cananda as you'll only be inside studying anyhow. At least i would hope so, I would want my CRNA hitting the books pretty darn hard.

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thanks for the valuable feedback. I agree, I wouldn't want my CRNA half-____ his/her through school, either. i plan on hitting the books just as hard, if not harder, as my fellow classmates and taking anesthesia school very seriously. I just thought there might be some down time to take advantage of your surroundings. But i guess if in all reality, it's all work and 0% play, then picking a school w/ a favorable location may not be a wise choice. I guess what I was thinking was this: when the going gets tough, I think nice weather & beautiful scenery (i.e palm trees) may provide an extra kick to keep my spirits up. If what you say is true about anesthesia school, just seeing the inside of an apt, library, & classroom for a couple years will be enough to make anyone go insane.

any more feedback from current SRNAs who chose to attend a school in an exciting locale? any regrets? was it a distraction for you or did it provide some much needed relief when there was time for mental-relaxation?

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Specializes in Trauma ER and ICU...SRNA now.

well... you could always study outside by the pool...or on the beach if you don't get distracted. I sit by my pool outside with some books at times.

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thanks for the valuable feedback. I agree, I wouldn't want my CRNA half-____ his/her through school, either. i plan on hitting the books just as hard, if not harder, as my fellow classmates and taking anesthesia school very seriously. I just thought there might be some down time to take advantage of your surroundings. But i guess if in all reality, it's all work and 0% play, then picking a school w/ a favorable location may not be a wise choice. I guess what I was thinking was this: when the going gets tough, I think nice weather & beautiful scenery (i.e palm trees) may provide an extra kick to keep my spirits up. If what you say is true about anesthesia school, just seeing the inside of an apt, library, & classroom for a couple years will be enough to make anyone go insane.

any more feedback from current SRNAs who chose to attend a school in an exciting locale? any regrets? was it a distraction for you or did it provide some much needed relief when there was time for mental-relaxation?

absolutely nothing against anyone who loves SoFlo, but IMHO, the scenery wears off, awful damn quick.... I'll never be back there to live.

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at the risk of being repetitive, program rankings mean very little. here is a copy of a popular program ranking survey compared against coa accreditation time frames. since the coa actually visits the programs and does a top to bottom inspection, i think it is much more reflective of program quality than a subjective survey.

originally posted by nrskarenrn viewpost.gif

us news: 2007
nursing-anesthesia
ranking.

*this ranking was computed in january of the year cited, based on data from a
survey
sent out in the fall of the previous year.

a survey sent to program directors and deans of those programs leaves a lot of room for subjectivity. since this data was computed in january 2007 gathered from a survey sent in the fall of 2006, it is also less than current. here is a list taken from the aana website in 2008 showing the accreditation periods granted to each program. these time frames were based on objective data which included site visits and a thorough review of student case numbers, graduation rates, pass rates, and overall program administration by the coa. i submit that this list (roughly in alphabetical order from the website) has a little more credibility. also note that the 3 and 4 year accreditation periods may be provisional, given to new schools awaiting their first formal accreditation cycle. in editing, i've added the approximate usnwr rating to schools who received less than a ten year accreditation by the coa.

10 years:

albany medical college

allegheny valley

baylor

boston college

bryan lgh

carolinas/uncc

cleveland clinic

columbia

crozier

decatur/bradley

samford

drexel

duke

east carolina

evanston/northwestern

excela

fairfield/bridgeport

case western

skemp

lasalle

gooding

gannon

st raphael's

kaiser

lsu

mayo clinic

musc

memorial/rhode island

minneapolis

mt. marty

navy nurse corps

nazareth

new britain

northeastern

uab

oakland/beaumont

raleigh

rush

st. mary's

samuel merritt

st. elizabeth's

st. john's

st. joseph's

tcu

akron

iowa

michigan/flint

tennessee knoxville

tennessee chattanooga

tennessee memphis

truman

us army gpan

usuhs

cincinnati

detroit mercy

kansas

maryland

pitt

penn

north dakota

u southern cal

u south carolina

ut houston

vcu

wake forest

wayne state

webster

wyoming valley

8 years:

arkansas state #77

barry #78

charleston area mc #42

georgetown #7

barnes #31

middle tennessee #69

newman #65

sacred heart/spokane #74

siu/edwardsville #82

minnesota #49

u of new england #50

6 years:

florida international

mc georgia #63

midwestern

old dominion #56

texas wesleyan

trover #74

4 years:

inter-american

florida hospital

suny harlem

our lady of lourdes

mountain state

michigan state

rosalind franklin

union

suny buffalo #18

umd/new jersey

u puerto rico

west carolina

wolford

york #86

3 years:

thomas jefferson #73

u of north florida

florida gulf coast

mercer #80

oregon health

our lady of the lake #81

u of south florida

miami

westminster

just

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

6 Philly area schools with 10 yr accreditations... sand 1 hr away at Jersey shore..

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Specializes in CRNA, ICU,ER,Cathlab, PACU.

don't worry about the rankings, just pick the best school for you. one thing I will say about FL is there is a lot of action for SRNAs. We (Barry) easily doubled the case requirements by the COA, and all but a couple passed the boards on the first try (my class had around 65 people in it).

bottom line is people who will hire you are not going to care what rank your program was...we just want to make sure you can pull your load in the OR and do so safely.

good luck

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