Direct Entry Pre-Requisites

Nursing Students Post Graduate

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I'm currently an undergraduate earning a degree in a non-nursing field and would like to apply to direct entry programs in the Fall of 2013. I'm trying to complete the pre-requisites before I graduate from undergrad. I would like to take Anatomy & Physiology with lab this summer, but I have a scheduling conflict since I will be out of the country until June 20. Does anyone know of any good places to take online Anatomy & Physiology that would fit with my schedule? Any help would be appreciated!

I would definitely recommend NOT taking anatomy and physiology online. Most schools require a lab portion for those requirements I also know some schools don't accept online classes for the sciences. If you have to take a class online I'd recommend the psychology requirement or statistics.

Agreed. Actually, I think most schools won't even accept an online A&P, Microbiology or Chemistry class, to be quite honest with you...

Ok. Thanks for your advice. If I do end up not taking Anatomy & Physiology online, do you all know of any college/universities that start summer classes in late June or early July? I'm specifically looking in the northeast (MA or NY) or some areas in FL.

Where in Florida? That's where I'm from, so I could probably help you out. A lot of the community colleges down here have mini semesters, but I think an A&P class would only be offered the entire summer.

Wow. Was not aware A&P was offered anywhere online. In fact, all of the programs I considered for my nursing degree required it be taken in person traditional lecture and lab. They would allow transfer credit if you completed all the paperwork.

No way to add it this semester (even at community college)? I would be hesitant to take A&P online. A&P is a big deal, very important to clinical nursing even at the MSN level, especially if your goal is an NP program. There is so much to learn in that class, it is majorly important. My university even had an A&P I and A&P II - we took almost a full year of A&P (22 weeks of a 33 week academic year on the quarter system) plus 11 weeks of chemistry, 11 weeks of biochemistry, 11 weeks of microbiology and 11 weeks of pathophysiology. I did take patho during summer term when my focus was working part time and the class, because it was that difficult (I think my university condensed it into 8 weeks summer course)... My university did very few online classes, but the ones they did were not super duper important classes - they were electives or gen eds...

I would strongly recommend taking the full sequence of A&P at the same school (and not split them across schools). You will need to have a strong foundation in all systems of the body. I have seen too many cases where a student split the courses (Part I at School A, Part II at School B) and ended up doing the reproductive system twice and never did the nervous system, for example. For this reason, students who split their A&P across schools are at a disadvantage in admissions to our program.

You might want to consider taking a year off between your undergraduate time and entering a direct entry graduate program. This gap year would permit you to get some additional healthcare experience, complete all those prereqs before you submit the application, and perhaps earn some money too to pay for the next degree. Many Direct Entry programs like people with some real-world experience. The mean age of students entering our Masters Entry program last year was 25yo (with the range from 21 - 59).

I'm looking in the Tampa, FL area and can also consider West Palm Beach area as well.

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