Louisiana State University (LSU) CRNA 2024

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Starting this thread for updates! 

CRNA1995 said:

I recently graduated from this program, so if anyone has any questions I'm happy to help. 

I'd love to hear more about your experience at LSU! what did you like about the program? what do you wish could have been different?

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Sure! I didn't know too much about the program prior to starting and I wish I had known the amount of travel that was required for the program before starting. I knew that there WERE distant travel sites, but I thought somehow I would be able to remain mostly in the New Orleans area. However, due to the class size and the fact that we often needed to go to more rural areas to obtain our required numbers (central lines, epidural placement, etc.), I did have to travel (anywhere from 1.5 hrs to 5.5 hrs) for numerous rotations. However, in hindsight, these were some of my favorite sites and I really was able to be very autonomous and learn a lot at pretty much every site I went to. I don't think there was a "bad" clinical rotation, which speaks volumes about the CRNA community and their willingness to teach students!

We changed clinical rotations every 2 months, which has its pros and cons - pros being that you come out very prepared for setting up/going with the flow when you graduate (because you are so used to being thrown into new hospital layouts, new equipment, new OR set-ups, new anesthesia machines, etc.), but the con being that once the staff really get to know and trust you, you leave.

I really liked the set up of the program as well - the first year is totally classroom-based, then it changes to 1 day in the classroom per week and 4 days in the OR/clinical sites. This was really great to reinforce what we were learning, while also not taking a long time off from board-prep info! 

I felt like the program prepared us VERY well for the NCE, as well. 

Let me know if you have any specific questions about the program! I have nothing but great things to say about it, overall!

 

 

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How difficult is the didactic portion of the program. In other words, if a student dedicates enough time and energy to studying and keeping up with the class work will the student make it through to start clinicals?

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It varies from semester to semester, but if you go into it with the mindset that anesthesia school is your priority, you should be fine. I think the most challenging part is learning how to manage your time once you enter clinical, because then you are balancing lecture time, clinical hours, studying for exams, and preparation for the next day's clinical assignment. 

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CRNA1995 said:

Sure! I didn't know too much about the program prior to starting and I wish I had known the amount of travel that was required for the program before starting. I knew that there WERE distant travel sites, but I thought somehow I would be able to remain mostly in the New Orleans area. However, due to the class size and the fact that we often needed to go to more rural areas to obtain our required numbers (central lines, epidural placement, etc.), I did have to travel (anywhere from 1.5 hrs to 5.5 hrs) for numerous rotations. However, in hindsight, these were some of my favorite sites and I really was able to be very autonomous and learn a lot at pretty much every site I went to. I don't think there was a "bad" clinical rotation, which speaks volumes about the CRNA community and their willingness to teach students!

We changed clinical rotations every 2 months, which has its pros and cons - pros being that you come out very prepared for setting up/going with the flow when you graduate (because you are so used to being thrown into new hospital layouts, new equipment, new OR set-ups, new anesthesia machines, etc.), but the con being that once the staff really get to know and trust you, you leave.

I really liked the set up of the program as well - the first year is totally classroom-based, then it changes to 1 day in the classroom per week and 4 days in the OR/clinical sites. This was really great to reinforce what we were learning, while also not taking a long time off from board-prep info! 

I felt like the program prepared us VERY well for the NCE, as well. 

Let me know if you have any specific questions about the program! I have nothing but great things to say about it, overall!

 

 

Thanks so much for this informative reply!

 

I received an interview (yay!) and had to sign a long document specifying expectations of the program. It was made clear that travel is expected, and the school does not offer support. What were some ways folks in your cohort managed the distance clinical sites? 

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CRNA1995 said:

I recently graduated from this program, so if anyone has any questions I'm happy to help. 

Best way to prep for interview

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I think most people were willing to commute to sites <2 hours away. Some of the more distant sites people either did airbnb or used some connection through word of mouth to stay in a room rented out by a nurse, etc. 

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I would say do some studying/review on major ICU meds (I.e. vasoactive, pressors, etc), topics such as CVP, preload, afterload, etc., and be able to speak on the patient population you treated in your unit (pediatrics, cardiac, etc.) 

Show genuine enthusiasm and make sure you look into the program (whichever school it is you are interviewing at), so if they ask you "why us" you actually have an answer. 

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CRNA1995 said:

I would say do some studying/review on major ICU meds (I.e. vasoactive, pressors, etc), topics such as CVP, preload, afterload, etc., and be able to speak on the patient population you treated in your unit (pediatrics, cardiac, etc.) 

Show genuine enthusiasm and make sure you look into the program (whichever school it is you are interviewing at), so if they ask you "why us" you actually have an answer. 

Thank you

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Specializes in Neuro ICU.

I'm suddenly having issues with the link they sent me. It's creating an error message. It worked earlier but they only had august 10th open and all filled up already. Anyone else with the same issue? 

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ECT said:

I'm suddenly having issues with the link they sent me. It's creating an error message. It worked earlier but they only had august 10th open and all filled up already. Anyone else with the same issue? 

I scheduled pretty quickly and have my interview tomorrow. I had no issues when I scheduled it. 

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Specializes in Medical/Surgical ICU.
ECT said:

I'm suddenly having issues with the link they sent me. It's creating an error message. It worked earlier but they only had august 10th open and all filled up already. Anyone else with the same issue? 

Yes! Same issue is happening to me. I emailed yesterday about more days and they forwarded my email but no response. Just tried calling about the link but they aren't open yet. 

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