MGH Institute vs. Yale Direct Entry

elkpark · Mar 14, 2017

Yes, very. However, the program is intense and demanding; you're not much more likely to have a "fun, stimulating, active life" there than at Yale. You'll be focusing most of your time and energy on school if you want to be successful (at either program).

mrosebud · Mar 14, 2017

Hi @elkpark, Thanks. I only asked because I see advertisements for it on the subway, etc. and was not sure if it had the same "feel" of the Ivy League school and education when I was there. I am from CT but now live in Boston, so I am very torn. Do you have any intel on either program? i.e. where they do their clinicals, where people have enjoyed going to school, where grads get jobs, pros/cons, etc.?

Thank you so much!

mrosebud · Mar 14, 2017

Oh, absolutely. I guess what I am more concerned with in terms of stimulating and active is the clinical placements. Do hospitals and placements in the New Haven area even compare to the Boston area?

elkpark · Mar 18, 2017

I attended YSN >20 years ago (as a traditional, experienced-RN student, not as a direct entry student, although a couple of my classmates in my track were direct entry students, so I heard a lot about their experiences in the GEPN first year). I'm surprised anyone would ask about the caliber of the school and the clinical placements. I can only speak to my own specialty area, but, within that field, some of the top people in the US, nurses, physicians, and people from other healthcare disciplines, were in the New Haven area, and I "rubbed shoulders" with them on a regular basis. We students (in my track) would regularly drop by to hear the physician who was the author of the standard medical textbook in my field, one of the top authorities in the specialty in the world, present cases and lead clinical discussions at the facility where he practiced. While I was a student there and for years afterwards, I used to be able to pick up the nursing and medical journals in my specialty, glance over the editorial staff and the authors of the articles in that particular issue, and realize that I knew at least half of them personally (through my time at YSN). The YSN faculty (in all the specialty areas, not just mine) were nationally known leaders in their respective specialties; most of them maintained part-time active clinical practices in addition to teaching, were publishing their research all the time, and several of them were editors of the journals in their specialties. I was gobsmacked by the caliber of the professionals who supervised and mentored me in my clinical practica. They were at the top of their fields. Having institutions like Yale and YNHH in a community raises the bar for everyone else in the community. Even the professionals in my field who were not directly affiliated with the university practiced at a v. high level, because that was the standard that had been set and that was expected. It was an incredibly rich and stimulating professional environment. I am still in awe, 20 years later, of what an excellent education I got at YSN (esp. when I hear so many people here post about how disappointed they are in the quality of their graduate education ...)

I don't mean to sound like I am dissing MGH at all. A good friend of mine attended the MGH IHP program, and has talked about feeling that she got an excellent education there, as well. I'm sure you would be well-served by either program.

Best wishes for your journey!