PENN/Villanova/Drexel Grads - some perspective, please?

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Hi all -

The Philadelphia area is fortunate to have some great schools, and I'm thinking I will apply to PENN, Villanova, and Drexel. I've looked through each school's website extensivly, and was hopeful that some graduates of these programs could provide insight on their experience.

From the sites, I've the impression that PENN gives the strongest clinical experience. Having been to an open house at the school, PENN seems ULTRA dedicated to truly advancing the science of nursing. The environment seems like a great one to learn in - a place where you're mentored by the leaders of the field. That said - their programs is 24 months - 24 months - and that seems like an inadequate amount of time to take in the material efficiently. Also, I've heard (on this board) that they pressure their students to do research while in school and publish papers, as well as allowing for only 2 or 4 days off in the two years. Can anyone speak to learning in this environment, under that additional pressure?

Drexel seems ahead of the curve in distance and online learning, which is beneficial to me since I'm from that generation that lives on computers. I've talked to students who seem really impressed with the program - but I can't find much commentary online about the quality of the program. In addition, they offer little information about their staff. Seems like a good place, but perhaps not as good as PENN.

Villanova also seems like a quality program, and while not having PENN's reputation or Drexel's technology, I've been told from many students that Nova runs a quality program. One element that was unique on their website was their frequent mentioning of their anesthesia program's relationship to the Augustinian mission of the university, and that appealed to me. Of course, philosophy won't help me much when my patient is coding. :).

Each seem to be great programs, with PENN advertising themselves as a step ahead of the rest. If you're a graduate or a student, can you give some insight on your experience?

Thanks a lot!!

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Specializes in Cardio-thoracic ICU, SRNA.

Sandman,

I am not a grad of a philly program, but I am graduating from a PA Anesthesia school in a couple months. One of my good friends did graduate from Villanova's program and he is an exceptional CRNA and stated he had received an excellent education. What I think it boils down to is truly which program you get into. If you are the type of person that is concerned with which school you want to go to then hold out for PENN. The reality is that graduates from all 3 schools take the same board examination. Another resource to check on would be to see what the board passing rates are for each school. If there are all similar, then there is a good chance they are equal in the quality of education. As far as better education and experience, check to see which clinical sites each school goes too. I'm sure there may be some overlapping in some of the clinical sites for some of the specialty rotations. (i.e. going to C.H.O.P. for kids, etc.) I am sure you would get a fabulous education at all sites as all the programs are well established and affiliated with quality schools and clinical sites. I'm hard pressed to believe one is absolutely head and shoulders above the others. Cost is another thing to look at as well. My school cost's about 40k for the whole program. I know that PENN and Drexel are pretty close to 100k, that's an awful lot of student loan money.

I know I probably didn't help all that much. Just in case you don't get a lot of information from anyone, there may be some things you can find out on your own. Good luck with any program you decide to go with.

SodiumPent

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Sodium -

Actually, that was quite helpful. After posting, I realized that I would get a great experience at each place, and my work in school would be a bigger determinant than anything else - regardless of what school I attend. Thanks for the ideas on things to check out - I'll certainly do that. What AA school are you in?

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Specializes in Cardio-thoracic ICU, SRNA.

ExcelaHealth School of Anesthesia in Latrobe. (About 30-40 mins from Pittsburgh) Good luck with your search!

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Sandman,

I am a current student at the University of Pennsylvania. While it is a very strenuous program due to its shorter time span, I highly recommend it. The clinical sites are top notch and allow you to have a very well rounded experience and they are close which is a big bonus as well. The acamedic side of the program can be tough at times, but honestly it completely prepares you for a career in anesthesia. Only down side to the program is the high cost, but it is well worth it in the end because you come out of the program with an excellent clinical and didactic background and prepared for any/all anesthesia situations. good luck!

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Specializes in Scvicu/Sicu/Micu/Trauma.

Hello, I am new to posting here, but have been reading these threads for sometime now. I will be sending a app in at Penn, and was wondering what the cost is? I also see they will waive the GRE with a good gpa. Does that happen often I took the MAT, but have a undergrad 3.95 and was wondering about that too. I see on the website that it 35 thousand a year but have read in other threads that its significantly more than that. Also, is there any truth to the research statement made by a previous post stating that the students need to be doing research projects and being published while in school?

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