Ive seen CRNA's work and would like to work on the OR team providing anesthesia. I was wondering if anyone who is now a CRNA or an MDA or anyone who is in either medical school or grad school for CRNA could answer this question:
Is CRNA graduate school as demanding education-wise as medical school in alot of ways? I mean, did you have to take alot of the same classes that give you necessary medical base knowledge such as the big medical school entrance course, gross human anatomy with cadavre dissection?
I want to know because I've taken Basic Chem 1&2, Basic Bio 1&2, and am now taking A&P for nursing school right now. I like learning but am dissappointed by how lacking in detail and vague(purely theoretical and without clear explanation) alot of the learning is. For instance, I'm sure medical students learn alot more and gain alot more insight when they actually dissect human cadavres together while we only can gain a semi-theoritical model, looking at diagrams, and dissecting cat and sheep livers. I'm also very dissapointed about how almost all my other co-pre-nursing students students say this material is stupid and that they will forget it as soon as the test is over and never use it!!!! They;re like, "doctors are the ones who will have to know this stuff in-depth" I'm like, Hey! I want to be able to use and depend on what I'm learning now!
When you get to graduate school, does all of that change to more in-depth, hands-in learning? Do alot of CRNA programs have gross anatomy dissection? Should I fear that, by not going to medical school, I will be missing out of alot of training needed for me to be able to collaborate with anesthesiologists and surgeons without them having to change wavelengths for me?
Patho was part of my BSN requirement and I will taking it again next semester at the graduate level in anesthesia school. Yes, medical school may provide a few more basic science courses than most nurses get, but don't be fooled into thinking CRNAs are not well educated or trained...because they are! About the only courses that I have not taken in college that med students take is physics and O. chem. Otherwise I have all the same premed classes as they do. As you go through nursing you will quickly realize when you meet med students and interns, that making it through med school does not make them smart. I have worked with many residents that could not find their way out of a paper bag (I have also worked with smart, talented and nice MDs too!) Most of us did not go to nursing school because we weren't smart enough or did not have good enough grades to go to med school, it's just the career path we chose.
One more word of advice, stay away from studentdoctors websites unless you want to be a doctor. The banter that goes on there is immature and mostly inaccurate. IMO.
I get it zenman, but I dont think ill ever get over the feeling that nothing could possibly be more humbling or thought-provoking for any type of medical personnal than learning from a living person who entrusted u with his body for you to learn and develop from....basically, i just want it all even tho i probably dont deserve it.
Nevermind! Gotta go study for a final...Crackers and cheese to everyone! ...
I've been through graduate school and practiced 12 years as a midwife. My husband went to medical school and is an obstetrician. This is for Susanna - there are smart nurses and not so smart nurses, the same for doctors. There are the top in the class and the bottom....the barely squeek by with a low "B" types. My point is this...Your conscience will determine the degree of understanding you attain about any given thing. The knowledge is there for the taking - you can just get by if you choose, or you can challenge yourself. It doesn't end with school, it is an ongoing process.
THATS VERY NICE TO HEAR TIME TO LIVE!!! THANKYOU VERY MUCH EVERYONE FOR POSTING HOW LUCKY YOU WERE TO WORK WITH CADAVRES WHEN YOU ALL KNOW VERY WELL THAT I WANTED TO WORK WITH A CADAVRE!!!!!!!
Joking. I'm really very happy for the great learning opportunity (:angryfire ) you (:angryfire )guys (:angryfire )got.
Okay, sorry for being such a drama queen.
Thanks alot to crmtocrna, traumanurse, NCgirl, athomas, and loisane for the advice. I hope what you say is true and have faith that it is.
My point is this...Your conscience will determine the degree of understanding you attain about any given thing. The knowledge is there for the taking - you can just get by if you choose, or you can challenge yourself. It doesn't end with school, it is an ongoing process.Yesterday 01:58 PM
I loved that you wrote this. I think this is what I really wanted to hear and beleive and what I keep losing track of.
Some of the classes I am taking are at a similar level to medical school classes in my humble opinion. I base this on the fact that I just took some phys. with the medical students at my university (cardio. and resp. phys). However, as hard as the academics are for us in crna school I do think that the two years the medical students spend in there didactic portion is harder because of the overall diversity and depth of their classes. While I feel that the anesthesia pharm. and phys. at my program is at the medical school level, some of the classes are not, especially the grad. nursing courses. However, the bottem line is that crna school is very hard and challenging so be prepared. And I certainly believe if you can do well in crna school that you can could do well in medical school. The biggest difference in grad. school compared to undergrad. is the volume of material. For example, the material for each test I took in that med school phys class was the same as whole semester of material for an undergrad science class.
While I was fortunate to learn anatomy with medical students during my anesthesia program and college, I find I continue to learn more every day in the operating room. I hope you all are learning to watch the surgery and ask questions. I think you become a better anesthetist if you know the surgical procedures and surgical anatomy.
I do anesthesia for facial plastic surgery and knowing the innervation of the face (mainly facial nerve) has been useful in performing blocks for post-op pain control.
Also,watching the surgery makes you appear interested in what is going on and is well received by the surgeons.
athomas91
1,093 Posts
i have to take 3 different patho courses....