MattNP

I got an email from DEA today saying they would be mailing my certificate on Monday. I applied Friday, June 29th at 930pm and heard back today (July 6) at 12 pm. Might be useful information to other people wondering.

We have to do what we are comfortable with. If an uncontrolled diabetic who should be managed by an endocrinologist comes to me, I am going to refer them to an endocrinologist. Some providers don't know when to say "I don't know what to do". That is why we have experts in areas like pain management, where this provider wants to send OP. From what I read earlier she has a very complicated case that probably should be managed by a pain expert. Pain medicine is very much a complicated world to navigate. It's very subjective. It has multimodalities of pathophysiology. I understand that it cost money to see a specialist. But clearly, if a provider isn't comfortable treating something they should refer to the specialist.

The provider has a right to determine what they are comfortable with and you have a right to find another provider to take over your care. And that isn't meant to not show sympathy. But if the provider isn't comfortable adopting a plan of care, they should not do it. Wish you best of luck.

The website says 4-6 weeks. Just wondering how long it actually took in real life.

I have a BS in biology. I got an RN degree from a community college in Arizona $70 a credit x 30 credits ($2100) total for my RN degree. I then practiced as an RN. I went to a state school (without a BSN) and got a Nurse traineeship grant that gave me $25,000 x 2 years = $50,000. Minus tuition and books of $35,000. I came out ahead w/ my NP degree (I made about $13,000) doing it. I started nursing school in 2010 and just finished my Master's degree/NP without any debt, took 8 years though. I also made a lot of money along the way as an RN (nurses do well).

I took the AANP today for adult gero primary care. I passed. The test took me about 50 minutes total, I have always been a fast test taker, but the questions weren't super long or involved (very similar to the PCI $50 test I took). I tend to look at the answers and look for patterns. I graduated 3 weeks ago. Every day I spent time preparing for the test. I used Leik's book and Fitzgerald's CD's. I also have Fitzgerald's book. I didn't attend any review sessions. I opted for the AANP so I wouldn't have to do any of the non-clinical review stuff the ANCC has. I used Leik's FNP book and ignored anything children or maternal reproductive. Everything on the test was covered in Leik's book. She has a lot of mistakes in that book. It's very concerning when you are reading the book but the main points are there. I was averaging about 85-90% on the question she has in the app. I have a study buddy, we would meet at Dunkin Donuts and do 1 chapter every other day for about 5 hours. I did stuff on my own. Like I drove around listening to Fitzgerald's CD"s I bought on eBay for $100. I watched YouTube videos at night of lectures on main points (those geared towards physicians). My weaknesses in school were women's health so I focused on that. My strength was diabetes so I ignored that section altogether. Fitzgerald's book gets into the weeds, she is obviously very smart, but for the purposes of passing the class, go with Leik's book. I also took the PSI test a few days ago and got a 92% and that boosted my confidence. During the test, if I was sure of an answer, I answered it and moved on. If I was unsure of an answer I could narrow it down to 1 of 2, I chose the one I thought it was most likely and MARKED it. By the time I got to the end of the test, I had marked 32 questions. So my assumption was I had gotten 118 correct and of the 32 I had at least 16 correct so I just hit submit without actually reviewing them. My guess is I got about 89-90% of the questions correct which would be inline w/ my PCI test of 92%. 3 weeks ago I was taking the practice test and scoring in the 40-50% range. I was very discouraged. I was very nervous leading up to this test I started getting migraines and actually ended up in urgent care for a shot of Toradol. I also applied for ANCC as a back up as I need to get a job and start earning money. So now I will be able to get a refund on that exam (minus $140). My advice, use Leik's book (I rented and since it is a new book I got the scratch off code/free app), have a study buddy who will keep quizzing you, and listen to Fitzgerald's CD's (who knows you may be buying mine on eBay for $100 soon [i'll break even!]). Sorry for the very long post, but I found other's story helpful. I would say you should be nervous and not chill about it, because a lot is riding on this exam so work your butt off and the hard work will pay off. I don't know what to do with myself now, it feels strange having downtime.

I have been looking for an online program to bridge from Adult-Gero NP to FNP (to work in an urgent care like Minute clinic). When I was in school I had to do only about 700 hours of total clinical time. Currently, I see 12 years old to geros. When I look at online schools they want 600 hours of post masters rotations. Does anyone know why so many hours are required? Would I be expected to see teens and adults as a student? Anyone know a school that only has the Adult NP see kids for like 300 hours?