rigbyk

im an RN..are you? i didnt realize columbia has homebirth options for integration--i have to call them tomorrow to ask some questions, like if you can design your own integration or if it has to be at one of their placements... right now im thinking SUNY Downstate is so affordable, i might end up there...but i have to put together an app before april 15th eek..assuming their program isnt already full.

im waiting to hear from columbia but i got into yale, and i have an interview at penn next week, and im wondering the same thing! problem is i live in NYC right now and my fiance works at a job he loves in brooklyn that he is committed to for next year, so i think ill wind up at columbia out of convenience...but i like the fact that they offer the dual degree as well. but im bummed because i am so sick of spending clinical time/working in higher-risk, urban teaching hospitals...i like penn a lot because they offer opportunities to work with homebirth midwives and birth centers too.

Hi all, I'm looking for an L&D/Maternal-CHild Health/Preferrably women's health position in NYC for January (graduating with BSN in December). So far I put in online apps at Mt Sinai, NYP and St Vincent's. Any tips on getting through HR and actually getting hired? Anyone have any connections or recs for anyone to call, etc? Much appreciated! Thanks so much! *Kristina

Is anyone applying for MS/NP programs for next year? I'm considering it...I think I'll take the GRE's this summer. I'm graduating in December with my BSN and will be moving to NYC. I'm getting married next summer and I'd like to be out of school for a few months at least so I think I'm going to apply around for Fall 2008 and see who gives me good scholarships (if anyone) etc. I'm going to apply to Yale, Columbia and NYU for sure. Other than that I don't know yet...I guess I'd only apply to other locations (Penn, Georgetown) if I knew the classes only ran like two days a week since I'd like to live at least MOSTLY full-time with my husband for the first few months of our marriage!!! That would be ideal I'd say...So we'll see. Anyone hear of good financial packages coming from any of those schools? I have a LOT of undergrad debt so I really can't go unless I receive some hefty grants/scholarships; I just can't justify it. Anyone else applying to these programs or have experience with them? I'm applying for Midwifery/Women's Health.

i would love to know this as well. they offer an INCREDIBLE tuition repayment program--24 credits a year if youve worked there 6 months! crazy. that is awesome. im definitely applying here when i graduate in december...

All of my instructors LOVE their jobs and can't praise nursing enough...and all the nurses on the floors I have been on seem to truly love their work and there is a very positive working vibe. of course, the majority of my clinicals have been at MGH where nurses stay their entire careers it seems, so I guess it's a biased sample...

Fav. Girl names: Shyla Stella Brooke Ariana Savannah Juliana Liana Nuala Cheyenne Emma Fav. Boy names: Elijah Hayden William(FIL's name) Richard(dad's & grandpa's name) Erson(family name on mom's side) Jacob Caleb Liam Murray (I'm part Irish and would love to use a British or Irish name) Aidan too but it's SO popular! I LOVE to think about baby names, I drive my fiance nuts!

Hi guys, wondering if anyoen has been a new grad at New York Presbyterian in L&D, or anywhere in NYC on L&D...I'll be graduating next year and heading to NYC. Wondering what the salaries are like and what the job satisfaction factor is and where? I'm midwifery-oriented too so looking for a place that hires midwives. Any and all I would love to hear your experiences. And I'd like to get an idea about salaries. Thankyou!!!

I think we have the same background bellywoman! :-) Except I'm getting my BSN...but I'm headed to Casa for a 2 week internship in May and I'm SO glad to hear you caught 4 babies because I've been worried about not having enough time there to catch babies!!! Woo! It's too pricey though for me to be able to go longer, at least for this summer. Maybe I'll go back! How did you find births as a doula? I can't seem to find any clients. I wonder if I was doing ALACE if it would be any different..but I already did the classes for DONA and put down the dough so I feel I should stick with it. I'm hoping to take a Midwife assistant class in TN at the Farm with Ina May Gaskin, possibly next summer. Have you heard of anyone who's done that and what they've said about it?

It's so nice to have all this info before I even begin my application process! i spoke with one of my instructors today who is a doctoral student here at BC, and she worked in CA for a long time & even at UCSF for a while. She said UCSF has a fantastic program but when she visited she felt the atmosphere to be extremely competitive even among professors, so that was interesting to hear as well. She also said she had heard negative things about Yale, that it had perhaps gone downhill and that they've gone through several deans in the past few years? Hmm. And I don't seem to be hearing ANYTHING good about Columbia. I've heard some really good things about Georgetown though, and they offer a 50% scholarship I'm interested in!!! Wee! Though UIC would probably still be more affordable even WITH the scholarship if I were to get it..ha. I am really excited about UIC now as well. If I could just get my fiance into the law school in the city of our choice we'd be all set...Unfortunately law degree programs are a lot harder to get into than midwifery programs I fear... Also, I wonder if I could take Advanced Pharm my last semester at BC? I know they allow undergrads who sign up to do the accelerated 5th year master's program to take advanced pharm in their junior or senior years, and I'd be a last semester senior. Though I don't know if I'll want the headache my last semester when I COULD take just 4 classes for the first time..

Thank you for the more current info! :-) I apologize, I did not mean to spark controversy.

Also, do you know if they ever make exceptions to the 1-year L&D work requirement? I'm kind of hoping to go to grad school right away, though it wouldn't be a problem to wait either.

I definitely am interested in info about UIC--I just emailed you :-)

I thought Cytotec was that stuff that is known to have all those awful/potentially fatal side effects and was not certified/legalized/researched for use in laboring women?

Thank you that was really helpful!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)

Hi Guys! I am in desperate need of someone who has their NANDA book on them. I am at the library in a snowstorm and forgot my NANDA book & the trains aren't running right now so I have no way of getting back to my apartment to get my book (which I cannot BELIEVE I forgot). I need to make one more diagnosis on this old lady who is possibly at risk for fall, seems a little depressed, all her family members are dead so I already did a Risk for Loneliness diagnosis. She's in the hospital from a fall and a new a-fibrillation. She has peripheral neuropathy and cannot perform any self-care, and can only ambulate with assistance. I NEED ONE MORE DIAGNOSIS and my paper has to be emailed to my precepter by 5:00. It's 1:00 now!! EEK! PLEASE HELP IF YOU HAVE YOUR NANDA BOOK HANDY by telling me any possible diagnosis that jumps out at you & the definition of it according to NANDA, as well as the risk factors/defining characteristics. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

I'm looking only at midwifery programs so this is all good to know too. Frontier -- I have heard of them. Is it really an MSN-granting program though, not a CPM program? I want the CNM just because I'll be able to work with a broader base of clients, plus it's illegal to be an RN & a CPM in MA where I live and am from.

I go to BC undergrad and if you're weighing it against something else --their nursing program (at least their undergrad!) is fantastic! :-) I'm loving it. Plus I mean what's not to love, Boston is wonderful and our hospitals are some of the best in the country if not the world.

Hey guys, thanks for your input :-) May_baby, I go to BC but right now I'm living in Brookline so I spend most of my FREE time (ie, five minutes or so a week) around Coolidge Corner and Harvard Square because I LOOVE Cambridge. But during the week I'm here in Chestnut Hill/BC - land. You're a doula? I'm in training right now! I signed up with DONA but I'm afraid I won't complete my training in time (by this coming October) because I haven't found any clients during the summertime, and once September comes I can't do anything other than school. It's been challenging because I am young, have limited/seasonal availability as a college student, and I don't know anybody who's having babies right now!! ARGH! How did you get your DONA training done? Where are you working out of? Are you located in MA? I agree experience with laboring women is important...I volunteered at a local hospital for a bit in maternity, and I'm going to Casa de Nacimiento (an El Paso, TX high volume birth center with internships) for two weeks this summer to get some real hands-on experience. I want to go to one of Ina May Gaskin's "midwife assistant" classes on The Farm in TN, but that won't happen this summer unfortunately. I'm just so into birth & midwifery, I can't wait to get to grad school!!! :-) What is your focus in your MPH program? What moved you to that? Eliza, I'm looking for regular old MSN-with-specialty (nurse-midwifery). I'll be graduating in December 07 with my BSN ... I know most of the people here are direct-entry, but I figured it'll still help to know some basics.

Hello guys, I know this is sort of personal (and please, nobody answer if you don't want to!!! I don't want to make anyone feel weird and this may be a weird question to ask but I'm really just curious because I want to have a vague idea for myself) but if anyone knows of the GPA range for acceptance to MSN specialty programs (midwifery in particular) at Penn, Yale, Columbia and Georgetown, or the other details such as: were you involved in a number of extracurriculars/volunteering/community service/healthcare oriented activities during college? Again, I know this can be pretty personal information and it's not the classiest thing to ask but I'm really just curious so I can have some idea of where I should apply. Please do not respond if it makes you uncomfortable!!! Thank you!!!

About Columbia & Yale -- they say they prefer/require one year obstetric/L&D experience for the midwifery program. Have you found that to be true of the people they accept? I might wait if so but I want to apply right from undergrad. Have most people you're in school with worked in their specialty before?

OK OK so I KNOW this an individual choice, yadda yadda, but just think--if we all breastfed, soy vs cow's milk formula wouldn't even be an issue!! Yippee!! (Self-confessed breastfeeding Nazi, sorry guys. But at least the WHO and my own state of MA backs us up now!)

Does anyone have any feedback on the qualitative differences between Yale's, Columbia's, U-Michigan's, UCSF's, Penn's, and Georgetown's CNM programs? I am interested in all of them but am wondering how to distinguish between them. I suppose if I got in with more financial aid at one or something; or if I like/dislike the towns/cities they are located in...but other than that, what are the real academica/program differences? Is anyone an alum that can give me benefits of one over the other? Anybody recently applied to these schools or visited?

I'm currently a nursing student, and I came to nursing school in order to become a nurse-midwife. I am DYING for my maternity clinical next semester because as much as I appreciate the experience I am getting in my med-surg/adult health clinicals it is so NOT what I feel passionate about. I am also worried about getting an L&D job out of school. I plan on going to grad school either right away or shortly after I graduate, but I plan on working as an L&D nurse if I don't go right away. I'm in Boston and I'm pretty sure it's really challenging to get L&D jobs as a new grad here. I don't know of any hospitals that offer new grad entry programs in L&D, which seems weird because so many of our hospitals deliver and are some of the best hospitals in the country. Also, as a random out-of-curiosity question, does anyone have ballparks on what new L&D's make for salary? I know it varies greatly by area and the Northeast tends to be higher than many other parts...but I'm just wondering. I know a new grad who went to NYC to work in L&D and she's making money I thought only nurses who'd been in it 20 years made...but that's NYC. Thoughts? Thank you!