Med school drop out, now a CRNA. Ask me anything...

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Members are discussing the different paths to becoming a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) and the differences between CRNA and Certified Anesthesiology Assistant (CAA) programs. Some members share their personal experiences with medical school and the decision to pursue nursing instead, highlighting the emotional toll of medical education. Others provide insights on GRE preparation and the structure of CRNA programs.

The title says it all. Did not do well in med school, dropped out, did a ABSN program, worked in the ICU for 2 years before going on to CRNA school. Now I am a CRNA.

I'm a premed student and  I graduated this semester. I'm currently studying for the Mcat for the January test dates. Do some CRNA school replace your Mcat score for the GRE.  

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doubt that would happen enough times to actually have a policy about it. not on any admissions committee so pure speculation....prolly more trouble than it's worth accepting an mcat score in lieu of gre. just ask specific programs if you're curious.

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offlabel said:

doubt that would happen enough times to actually have a policy about it. not on any admissions committee so pure speculation....prolly more trouble than it's worth accepting an mcat score in lieu of gre. just ask specific programs if you're curious.

Thank you. I appreciate it.

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Specializes in Nurse Anesthetist.

I bet you are glad you don't have the huge student loans you would have had! Now you can have a life, too! 

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Congrats! 

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Specializes in Adult Critical Care.

I think the tone and tenor of the person's comments are indicative of a troll, not any one particular assertion in particular.  I have yet to meet a self deprecating CRNA, although I have never practiced in a medically directed model either.  

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hey this is awesome! Im applying for CRNA school now and have gotten some prompts to discuss my "clinical specialty area interested in pursuing". I was wondering what clinical specialty areas there are? When I shadowed, it seemed to be pretty universal (e.g. doing an endo case, then an OB case, then back to the OR for an ortho case)

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Specializes in Adult Critical Care.
Karlasophia said:

hey this is awesome! Im applying for CRNA school now and have gotten some prompts to discuss my "clinical specialty area interested in pursuing". I was wondering what clinical specialty areas there are? When I shadowed, it seemed to be pretty universal (e.g. doing an endo case, then an OB case, then back to the OR for an ortho case)

It depends on the setting you're practicing in.  If you're in a community hospital with a few hundred beds or less, then everybody pretty much does everything as you said.  However, you're not getting a lot of the niche cases at these places.

Specialization is common with CRNAs working in large academic teaching hospitals.  For example, most will have a pediatrics team.  Others will have a cardiac team.  While the case mix may be more complex, many of these hospitals restrict CRNA practice in one way or another.  Some do not allow CRNAs to perform regional nerve blocks, do epidurals in OB, or even push their own induction drugs at the start of a case.  Every place is different, and so this is an important consideration as you look at CRNA programs and eventually jobs.

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The culture in nursing school - ABSN seems to be a very rough one. Nurses like to eat their young.....as the saying goes.

1. How is the culture in CRNA school? Teachers, Dean, how do they treat you? Say compared to Medical school?

2. What was your schedule like for classes in CRNA school? Compared to Med school?

3. Can a Medical graduate be easily be considered for CRNA school?

Thank you.

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Specializes in Adult Critical Care.

I think the original poster long checked-out.  From what I've seen, there are generally no special carve outs for people.  Due to the high earning potential, many CRNAs were formerly a variety of high-octane professionals in various careers: engineers, computer programmers, business leaders, etc.  You still need the same pre-reqs and GRE (if applicable) that everyone else needs.  You still need to be an RN with 1 year of ICU experience.  

I've never been to med-school and have no point of comparison.  I can tell you that you won't have time for anything else while in CRNA school.  Based on NBCRNA surveys, you're going to be doing on average ~2700 clinical hours and ~92 credit hours in 36 months.  It's busy and challenging for everyone.

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