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

Specialties CRNA

Published

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.

FYI, Texas Wesleyan University is not an online school. They have a distance learning option that requires you to be in an offsite class the same time that the on campus students are. Their classes are just streamed through satellite, but you can use a microphone to ask questions like all other students and you can see the professor and they can see you as if you were in a normal classroom. They're doing away with this option for the next cohort for various reasons. The AANA opposes online learning for CRNAs. Most CRNAs know this which makes me believe you're a troll.

There's another gentlemen on here who has a youtube channel called Flightnurse2MD (something like that?) and he actually failed out of CRNA school. He went on to medical school and is now entering an MDA residency. His sentiments were different from yours stating that CRNA school (which he stated his GPA was not the high in) was not as supportive as medical school. Medical school gave him ALL of the tools to succeed and a far more supportive environment and that was more conducive and not as turbulent as CRNA school was for him. Different experiences I guess, but I find it difficult to believe.

My gut tells me you're a troll. Are you part of the CRNA and SRNA facebook page (since it requires verification of CRNA or SRNA status to join). Would you be willing to pm your info on facebook for verification and I would personally vouch for you letting everyone know you are who you are? I would keep you completely anonymous. Even just a PM with a picture of your license minus the number and full name like others on reddit do would suffice.

Thanks

I know texas wesleyan is distance learning... and not 100% online... Its still offsite though, thats what I mean by online, not like those NP schools that are 100% online, your clinicals can be done at various sites throughout the country but its a good flexible program for those who can't relocate if there happens to be a clinical sight near them.... I was doing fine but not stellar in medical school until the USMLE... My MCAT and gpa was below average which was already an indication that I should have not gone to med school.... the only reason why I got in was because of my extracurriculars and research experience.. sorry but I choose to remain anonymous and have no business proving anything to you...

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FYI, Texas Wesleyan University is not an online school. They have a distance learning option that requires you to be in an offsite class the same time that the on campus students are. Their classes are just streamed through satellite, but you can use a microphone to ask questions like all other students and you can see the professor and they can see you as if you were in a normal classroom. They're doing away with this option for the next cohort for various reasons. The AANA opposes online learning for CRNAs (with the exception of some fluff DNP writing/research courses). This is pretty open, and most CRNAs know this which makes me believe you're a troll.

There's another gentlemen on here who has a youtube channel called Flightnurse2MD (something like that?) and he actually failed out of CRNA school. He went on to medical school and is now entering an MDA residency. His sentiments were different from yours stating that CRNA school (which he stated his GPA was not the high in) was not as supportive as medical school. Medical school gave him ALL of the tools to succeed and a far more supportive environment and that was more conducive to learning and not as turbulent as CRNA school was for him. Different experiences I guess, but I find your story difficult to believe.

My gut tells me that you're a troll. Are you part of the CRNA and SRNA facebook page (since it requires verification of CRNA or SRNA status to join). Would you be willing to pm your info on facebook for verification and I would personally vouch for you without letting everyone know you are who you are? I would keep your info completely anonymous. Even just a PM with a picture of your license minus the number and full name like others on reddit do would suffice.

Thanks

Also i just checked his youtube and he didnt say anything about being a CRNA... He was just an RN and went on to med school..

Edit: nevermind saw the video...

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

Offsite and online are not synonymous. If you were a CRNA who was interested in advancing your profession during a time when politics were rife between CRNAs and MDAs in regard to competency, independent practice, and autonomy, it's difficult to comprehend why anybody with their profession's best interest in mind would go around advertising or suggesting that their competition was somehow academically superior and/or more innately intelligent than they were (this is what your post suggests).

Anyways, If you're genuinely here to help people then my apologies. Even a picture of your license with everything blurred with exception of your allnurses name on a piece of paper would be sufficient.

1 Votes
Offsite and online are not synonymous. If you were a CRNA who was interested in advancing your profession during a time when politics were rife between CRNAs and MDAs in regard to competency, independent practice, and autonomy, it's difficult to comprehend why anybody with their profession's best interest in mind would go around advertising or suggesting that their competition was somehow academically superior and/or more innately intelligent than they were (this is what your post suggests).

Anyways, If you're genuinely here to help people then my apologies. Even a picture of your license with everything blurred with exception of your allnurses name on a piece of paper would be sufficient.

I 100% support independent practice especially because the research shows that outcome is the same and 50% of CRNAs work in non-urban areas, a lot more than MDAs

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Offsite and online are not synonymous. If you were a CRNA who was interested in advancing your profession during a time when politics were rife between CRNAs and MDAs in regard to competency, independent practice, and autonomy, it's difficult to comprehend why anybody with their profession's best interest in mind would go around advertising or suggesting that their competition was somehow academically superior and/or more innately intelligent than they were (this is what your post suggests).

Anyways, If you're genuinely here to help people then my apologies. Even a picture of your license with everything blurred with exception of your allnurses name on a piece of paper would be sufficient.

Can I PM you my license?

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

Yeah, you can. You would have to upload it to dropbox or google drive or some other type of online storage website since uploading images to PMs is done through a link.

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

Well everybody, I stand corrected. This individual is in fact telling the truth. My apologies!

3 Votes
Specializes in U.S. Army Reserve 1LT 66S - ICU.

how did you prepare for the GRE? any test materials you recommend over the other? also awesome story and congrats

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Your decision to start an allnurses account with a title like MDdropouttoCRNA is an odd choice. I've never personally met a CRNA who was not fiercely proud of their degree and training. You seem to diminish yourself by titling yourself straight away in your username with being a medical school dropout turned CRNA. As if that defines you?

I have many friends who have gone through medical school and they have watched as I've gone through my CRNA DNP. They all remark at how difficult it is and how we are required to know a very similar curriculum to their own with some exceptions. Added to that the strenuous clinical component and the DNP research courses and you have a training program that is not to be considered some easy alternative to going to medical school. I'll admit that some CRNA programs don't have a gross dissection course, go easier on the pathophys, and don't require you to rotate to rural all CRNA sites where you practice independently but many (including my own) do.

I don't know what life circumstances you were going through or perhaps being young and immature that led to you not studying well enough to succeed in medical school in your early 20's. You said you applied to CRNA school when you were 27. Subtract from that the years of ICU experience and the accelerated BSN program plus the transition period for leaving medical school and applying and starting your ABSN program we can deduce you were fairly young in medical school. Succeeding in medical school or CRNA school is not about being a genius. It's about determination, time management, and good study habits.

Perhaps you could elaborate more on that before some young impressionable people here get the false impression that if you fail at medical school you can just jump over to CRNA school and succeed easily making the big bucks.

1 Votes
how did you prepare for the GRE? any test materials you recommend over the other? also awesome story and congrats

Magoosh!!! If you have time princeton review...

0 Votes
Your decision to start an allnurses account with a title like MDdropouttoCRNA is an odd choice. I've never personally met a CRNA who was not fiercely proud of their degree and training. You seem to diminish yourself by titling yourself straight away in your username with being a medical school dropout turned CRNA. As if that defines you?

I have many friends who have gone through medical school and they have watched as I've gone through my CRNA DNP. They all remark at how difficult it is and how we are required to know a very similar curriculum to their own with some exceptions. Added to that the strenuous clinical component and the DNP research courses and you have a training program that is not to be considered some easy alternative to going to medical school. I'll admit that some CRNA programs don't have a gross dissection course, go easier on the pathophys, and don't require you to rotate to rural all CRNA sites where you practice independently but many (including my own) do.

I don't know what life circumstances you were going through or perhaps being young and immature that led to you not studying well enough to succeed in medical school in your early 20's. You said you applied to CRNA school when you were 27. Subtract from that the years of ICU experience and the accelerated BSN program plus the transition period for leaving medical school and applying and starting your ABSN program we can deduce you were fairly young in medical school. Succeeding in medical school or CRNA school is not about being a genius. It's about determination, time management, and good study habits.

Perhaps you could elaborate more on that before some young impressionable people here get the false impression that if you fail at medical school you can just jump over to CRNA school and succeed easily making the big bucks.

I don't believe you need to go to medical school to become an anesthesia provider... Anesthesia has become so safe that the things you learn in medical school is no longer relevant to becoming an independent anesthesia provider... CRNA school does not go very deep into the science behind everything and its more about the procedural skills of anesthesia... Yes I believe if you have good study habits, you can succeed in CRNA school... I was not prepared for medical school because my science gpa during undergrad and mcat were weak, hence, the foundational knowledge I needed to succeed in medical school was lacking... On the other hand the CRNA curriculum assumes you did not know all this and teaches you everything from scratch which was one of the greatest reasons I succeeded... Medical school is excessive for certain specialties, I.E. Anesthesia and primary care.... You may need to be an electrical engineer to design a television, but you don't need to be one to fix one...

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Just a staff reminder: please adhere to the terms of service.

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