MGH Direct NP program 2016

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Hey!

Has anyone else applied to this program?! Just got an email that my application was being processed!!

Thanks for your post! I feel like I have so many questions.. I don't know where to start. Was there an admitted students day last year? How do you like the program? What about the area?

I'm in for FNP specialty. I'm so excited!

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I've been looking everywhere for current students and alumni! Thanks so much for your post :)

Do you know of anyone in the Peds track? I was wondering how the first year is for people in Peds and people in the Direct Entry NP programs in general, specifically in terms of course load and professors.

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Haha! I too had a bizillion amount of questions last year. Yes we did. They emailed us a week later with details about admitted students day. I love it! Let me be one of the first to say that the program is super intense. I brought me to tears once but it is so rewarding and absolutely what I want to do. It is an accelerated RN portion so be sure to expect an insane amount of work. However, it is totally doable and with dedication and discipline, you will be fine. The area is amazing. Boston is wonderful though I may be biased because I am from Charlestown!

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Well so you don't take NP classes till the end of the RN portion. In order to be an NP you need to become an RN first. So we are all together for that portion of the program. Once we get pinned and become RN's! We move on to advance practice and that is when classes get smaller in size because every track is different

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Sorry in advance @Romero1027 but I'm about to unleash a bunch of questions.. please brace yourself.. :)

I'm wondering if you could give us some insight on the program.. what you like about it, what you dislike, what has been surprising, etc. How have class sizes and professors been overall? I've read bits and pieces that MGH can be a bit disorganized, which is a concern for me.. but do you feel like it is pretty well-structured? How have the clinical placements been?

Also.. I received a scholarship which cuts off a good chunk of the tuition for me but still.. these programs are not cheap! How are you (and your peers) funding your education?

Thanks so much for being willing to help us! It means a lot!

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I personally don't think that the school is disorganized. I did get frustrated a bit at the very beginning because I am the type that has to be in control of things. I like to plan out everything from the very beginning in terms of scheduling ahead. The issue is that Boston is big on health care and there are lots of schools and placement for clinicals can be challenging for instructors. Luckily, the IHP is affiliated with MGH so we are always good with placement for clinicals but it all depends.

I'll give you a quick overview of 1st semester classes:

Disclaimer: I am going to keep it real and please don't be discouraged after. The program is worth it and if you are passionated about nursing you will be just fine.

Your first semester you take 18 credits

1) Med surg 1 is 6 credits. 3 for the lecture and 3 for the lab. The lab is pass fail so your grade is based on the lecture (4 exams and a final). There are two sections for this class. Typically each in coming class is about 100ish so there are approximately 50 students in each section. This is your fundamentals and lab is intense. You have clinicals for this class at MGH where you learn the ins and outs of basic nursing. Every week there are a set of skills you need to master and get checked off on. These are the skills you put to practice the day after at 6:30am at the general! You get assigned to one patient weekly and you review their medical history and do clinical Prep which takes up a lot of time. The exams are multiple choice 50 questions each.

2) Biobehavioral is 5 credits. 3 for the lecture and 2 for the lab. This is my least favorite class as I highly dislike psych! (Sorry psych people) the class is okay. There are case studies which are fun, quizzes and two exams. The clinical sites varies depending on locations. We are spread all around typically in groups of 6-7 students. They do a good job to accommodate you close to where you reside but there only are so many mental health units in Boston so some are placed one, two or three towns over. This lab experience was by far my best! Learned a ton and my instructor was amazing.

3) HONI is 3 credits. I suggest you start mastering APA. I had no idea how much reading and writing there is in nursing school. This class is super intense on APA. They are perfectionists and really care about scientific writing.

4)Pathophysiology is 3 credits. This class is amazing. You learn so much. Is entirely online which can be difficult sometimes since most tend to forget about till a couple of days before the exam. 5 exams. Easy if you go through the slides. Some people really disliked the professor but he is legit a walking book. Knows everything without even having to think.

5) IMPACT is one credit. Pass/fail. This class was my least favorite. You only meet once a month and it is about interdisciplinary practice. It can be fun but in my opinion this class is best if we had it later on during the NP part of the program.

So the first few weeks are packed. Med surg does front loading and is super duper intense.

Try to save up, Med surg has a required list of textbooks to talking almost 1k. You need all of them! You will be assigned to a "link buddy"" (who is an upperclassmen there for you to guide you) during your orientation and if you are lucky and get me, I have PDF's of most textbooks that I don't mind sharing if you bring a flash drive :)

One thing is this program is expensive. And you can't really work because the intensity of it. The first semester you wake up studying you go to sleep studying. You are giving a living stipend if you are a broke college student like me. That covers rent, food, textbooks, transportation. This stipend is included in your cost of attendance package and is mostly loans. Unless you received a scholarship, it will most likely be all loans. That's okay though, there are many programs in place where once you become a practitioner the government forgives your loans if you service.

In my opinion, second semester is harder where you take more intense classes.

This can all feel overwhelming but don't get scared off. People have done this program and have been successful. At times it will feel unbearable but they have many resources in place to help you out.

I guess the only thing I dislike is the library because I come from a hue university where we had a 29 story library opened 24/7 and ours at the IHP Is only open till 7pm on weekdays and closed over the weekends. They are resolving this issue I think. But there are many study areas and common places that you can use to study. I have never had trouble finding a quiet cozy area to study.

I hope I answered some of the questions and if there are more I am willing to answer :)

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I hope I answered some of the questions and if there are more I am willing to answer :)

Thank you for your insights! This is very valuable and helpful. May I ask, when do you start clinicals? Do you know where the Psych rotations are? and, Is it possible to plan to take a summer off?

Thank you!

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Monday: you have psych lecture

Tuesday: field placement. Psych clinical

Wednesday: Med surg class and Pathophysiology class

Thursday: Med surg class and lab

Friday: Field placement. Med surg clinical.

For psych, you start right away during the first week of classes. For med surg you start a month after classes. You do spend lots of time in the lab and then you begin clinical early in October I think.

You can't take off your first summer because we have classes with clinicals. You take pedes and maternity where you get to deliver babies! You do have the option to take your summers off for year 2 and 3

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@Romero1027 is there a laptop you would recommend for class? I'm in the market for a new one. Also, do most students use their laptops to take notes or traditional pen and paper? I feel like I do better taking notes by hand!

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The school has a policy where they require you to have a laptop because there are several online classes and also you need one that you encript so that you get VPN. Which is what you use to access your patients medical history. I personally like Macs but they can be expensive. Most people type notes. I find that way easier as you can use the power point and type embeded notes if you need to. Also you use your own laptop to print which you need to register too. There are some people that print the power point handout for classes and take notes like that but thats their preference. You can't actually not have a laptop. You need one 99% of the times. All the exams are taken online through lockdown browser and thats why they have this policy where everyone needs one!

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The school has a policy where they require you to have a laptop because there are several online classes and also you need one that you encript so that you get VPN. Which is what you use to access your patients medical history. I personally like Macs but they can be expensive. Most people type notes. I find that way easier as you can use the power point and type embeded notes if you need to. Also you use your own laptop to print which you need to register too. There are some people that print the power point handout for classes and take notes like that but thats their preference. You can't actually not have a laptop. You need one 99% of the times. All the exams are taken online through lockdown browser and thats why they have this policy where everyone needs one!

Thank you!! I've been looking at Mac pros but they are really expensive and I'm so used to PCs!

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Thanks for answering our questions!

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