JStrib

Thanks for the info. The program here in Jackson is through the University of Mississippi and its teaching hospital, including a level one trauma center. Cost is a major difference between the two programs, and with Vanderbilt starting an "intensivist fellowship" program for ACNPs, that is also a viable option. I guess I just have a lot of thinking to do. 16k for my ACNP or 70k. That's a lot of money!

I'm very interested in it, and would like to hear from graduates of the program. I have an ACNP program available to me here in Jackson, MS but it doesn't have an intensivist focus. My fiance and I are strongly considering moving to Nashville next spring to establish residency and go to school at Vanderbilt. I'd like to hear some of how graduates feel about how the program prepared them for work as an intensivist, how difficult is was finding a job, and just anything you have to say about it.

As others have stated, it depends on the school. HOWEVER, I think that on the basic premise of common sense, it would be difficult to be an advanced practice nurse without being a nurse first. Food for thought.

I'm really considering the intensivist program at Vanderbilt as well. My fiance and I are planning to move to Nashville in the spring, but I'll need to get ICU experience first. So far I've worked a little over a year of cardiology and 6 months of ED. Being an intensivist just sounds like such a cool job to me. As far as the GRE goes, I got a Kaplan book for it and did well on the reading and quantitative reasoning sections. I under estimated the writing portion, though, or maybe even over estimated it. I was expecting to write about a logical topic. Instead, I had to write a paragraph on two separate topics including why a happy pancake house should use margarine instead of butter and another on why undergraduate students should take courses outside of their intended major. The second I could see, but I couldn't manage to show off my intelligence with the happy pancake house. I scored poorly in the writing section, which thoroughly surprised me, but I plan to retake it. Hope this helps at least a little!