MGH Direct NP program 2016

Romero1027 · Feb 16, 2016

Hi Courtney :)

@Cider: clinicals for med sur usually go from 6:30am till about 1:30-2ishpm. For Biobehavioral (psych) they range from 7-12, 7-1, 12-6, 12-7 depending on your site.

@tesiahmae the institute is located in Charlestown which is obnoxiously expensive. Try Somerville or the north end, they are little less expensive and just a short commute. Also the partners network has a shuttle running from MGH, north station and the school. So you can hop on it from the MBTA's orange line north station.

tesiahmae · Feb 16, 2016

Thanks Cider and Romero! Somerville is definitely appealing. I was able to find a couple places to tour on craigslist that would involve getting a roommate or two, but were not crazy expensive. The closer to school the better I would think. Do you have an opinion Romero on how key it is to live close to school? Not sure where my partner is working yet. He is looking for jobs at various public and private schools currently. Thanks for the information!

Who's planning on going to admitted students day?

Cider · Feb 19, 2016

Somerville is excellent - thinking of relocating myself.

Being in Boston, yes, I am going!

FutureNP49 · Feb 21, 2016

Hi all! I've been following the posts on here for a while and finally decided to make an account haha. Congrats to everyone who has been accepted! I'm in for the AGPC NP specialty track :) I hope to meet many of you at the accepted students day!

@Romero1027 and @ginger_99 Thanks so much for all the information and insight so far! I've been wanting to speak to a current student about the program and you guys covered most of the questions that I wanted to ask. If you don't mind, I do have two other questions. Where are most of the clinicals for the first year? Would they be at MGH or in Boston? Also, are there many early and/or late classes during the first year? I'm considering to commute for part of the program since I live a few towns over from Boston and the rent in Boston is ridiculously expensive. Thanks in advance!

Romero1027 · Feb 21, 2016

@FutureNP

for med surg, all the clinicals are at MGH and for Biobehavioral it varies: Boston, Cambridge, Jamaica Plain, Mision Hill, Everett, Brookline, Chelsea, Salem, Newtown, Brockton etc.

Monday (Biobehavioral) 9am-12pm and HONI either 1-3pm or 3-5pm also you have IMPACT once a month and it is from 5-8:30pm

Tuesday (Biobehavioral clinical) 7am-12/1pm or 12/1pm-6/7pm there are several groups that have Sunday clinical.

Wednesday (Med surg) 8-11:50 and (patho) 12-3pm patho is online but meets 4 times during the semester for exam review. So you meet Wednesday before the exam.

Thursday (Med surg) 8-11:50 lecture again during frontloading and then lab 8-12pm after frontloading

Friday (med surg lab) 8-11:50 during frontloading and then clinical after frontloading from 6:30am till 1-2pm there are two groups that have Saturday clinical

The latest you will get out of class is 8:30 pm or 9pm 4 times during your first semester because of impact which meets once a mont on Mondays

Spring semester is busier

Monday: community health from 9-12 and then pharmacology from 1-4

IMPACT 4 times a semester times vary

Tuesday: community health clinical times vary

Wednesday: med surg 2, 9-12 and then health assessment 1-5pm

Thursday: med surg 9-12 during front loading and then lab 8-12

Friday: med surg clinical 6:30-1/2pm

Cider · Feb 21, 2016

Very helpful, thank you!

The rotations seem so short to me ... doesn't BC and others do near full days? It just sounds different to me.

Also, there's no bookstore, is there? Do you rely on the online store for all MHGIHP relate items (i'm thinking about what happens if you need last minute scrubs).

penguinsss · Feb 21, 2016

Thank you so much for this detailed scheduled, Romero! This helps so much! Sorry to rehash this but I am mostly curious about the schedule as well. I might be commuting from an hour away (Worcester...marriage...). I have been in contact with a current first-year student as well and I ran the schedule for med surg by her and she said she hadn't heard of others having to go in earlier than 8? She said that she is in the Saturday group, does these students go in later in the morning?

Romero1027 · Feb 21, 2016

@cider: believe me when I say that is not short at all. Clinical, specially the first few weeks takes a lot of time, we are the only school that does "preping" were we spend 8+ hours reviewing medical charts and an insane amount of time reading and looking things up. Also remember that this isn't your advance practice clinical so this is when you do the hard/physical demanding job where you feet get all blistered (get comfy shoes/ clogs) and people pass out!

@penguinss that could be only for Saturday or by instructor but 90% of us have Friday clinicals and you have to be at the general at 6:30am

Our school is very small and we don't have a textbook store. Also unless you can afford the online textbook store, I would buy textbooks off amazon or chegg or any other website because the textbook list is over 1k in price. For scrubs, we are all required to wear teal ones. I prefer the greys anatomy brand as they are comfy but if you get two sets you will be okay. You wear business casual for Biobehavioral clinical and scrubs once a week on Friday or Saturday for med surg clinical.

FutureNP49 · Feb 22, 2016

Awesome, thanks so much for the detailed schedule, Romero! This is super helpful to know. Do you have the option to choose the times for clinicals and/or classes? Or were they mostly assigned to you? Thanks again!

tesiahmae · Feb 26, 2016

@Romero I think you mentioned taking Pathophysiology prior to starting in the fall. Does it matter where I take it? Or is IHP pretty accepting of the transfer credit? I was hoping to take it online this summer, in hopes to have a little less on my plate in the fall. Looking for any advice as to if that would be a bad idea.

Romero1027 · Feb 26, 2016

@FutureNP. No, the schedule is pretty set and determined by the school. And no you can't chose clinical time because I have said multiple times, 90% of us are at the general in Fridays at 6:30am for Med surg. I think that you can volunteer to be on a Saturday group but other than that you don't get to choose your own schedule.

@Tesiahme yeah you can but you have to make sure you can transfer the credits. Once you find a class, email the registrar office and the RN coordinator to double check if they can take your credits. Also I will strongly suggest to take a legit class. There are many crash courses and unaccredited institutions offering online classes nowadays. You need to be very knowledgable in patho for future courses and to get up to speed for advanced pathophys. I definitely lessens your workload and may even be cheaper somewhere else. Our patho class is completely online. And if you follow the slides and listen to his recorded lectures, you will be more than fine for the exams.

FutureNP49 · Feb 26, 2016

@tesiahmae I'm thinking about taking Pathophysiology (online) this summer too. It would definitely lighten the workload during the first semester. Not to mention it would save some money! I'm curious as to which Pathophysiology courses IHP would accept as well. Any insight into this would be great!