OscarRN

Thetzero: I'm not sure if you have made a decision, but I can offer a little bit of insight on Wolford College. I am starting this October and have several friends who are alumni and current students. The program is legitimate. I have not heard anything but good things about the school. All the admissions people have been very nice, attentive, and helpful. The instructors are all very knowledgeable and experienced. If you have any other questions, please feel free to PM me.

Can people, for the most part, get by with federal loans only (for tuition and living expenses?

NurseJilly2005: It's a great read, but only has minimal clinical mentions. I've asked for reading tips from CRNA friends of mine and they all mentioned a great variety of books, but one that was common in all those recommendation was Miller and Pardo's Basics of Anesthesia (many refer to it as the 'Baby Miller'). If you can get a hold of a copy of this and just skim through what you find interesting, I think it will help you to get an idea of what CRNA's deal with on a day-to-day basis.

Just got it today. Thanks again. [TABLE=class: productImageGrid, align: left] [TR] [TD] [/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]

Thanks wtbcrna!

I think we'd like to come back to the West after school--but you never know what the future holds. I think I've mentioned this before but Utah isn't the most friendly-to-CRNA state, so coming back will take some time and quite a bit of experience. I think we'd enjoy any of the surrounding states though.

I live in Utah. There it's a small to moderate Hispanic community here. I was born in, and still often visit, Southern California. Where are you and your family looking to live after school. We'd like to stay in the west some where.

I have to say that I agree with wtbcrna on this one. By going the AA route, you will be limiting your potential quite a bit. Now, that isn't to say that there aren't some awesome AA's out there. Maybe you can try to see if you can shadow an AA and see things from their prospective. I chose the CRNA route because I want the independence and the ability to go off and do my own thing if I choose to. AA's do not have the option.

I'm a first generation U.S. born Mexican-American. I start nurse anesthesia school in the fall. So far in my nursing training I have not felt discriminated against or anything. I'm hoping the same will be true for NA training.

I worked in a respiratory specialty ICU for a few years and thought it was a great prep for NA school.

100K would be nice, but I have a wife and three children. I highly doubt I'll be able to keep the debt that low, unfortunately.

Okay.

You're probably right. In an ACT model, the insurance rates would be the same. Actual liability, or accountability, however, I'm assuming would be higher for an independently practicing CRNA as opposed to an AA who has an MD to fall back on.

I appreciate you attempting to say something nice about Wolford College. :-)

Just like anyone else, I think it really depends on the person...there are probably some pretty awesome AA's who are great anesthesia providers...however, as has already been mentioned, AA's are not trained to practice independently. So it does kinda stink that they seem to make about the same wage as a CRNA, but don't have the same amount of liability...

Erwindt: it's going to come down to what you feel is best for you. I would definitely explore all your options, but don't let others tell you what is ultimately best for you. If you love the NP route, learn everything you can about it and be the best darn NP possible. If anesthesia is your thing, go full force toward that!

To be totally honest I was a complete slacker my first several years of college. When I finally decided that I wanted to entry the nursing field I pretty much went back and retook most of my classes to improve my GPA (I focused especially on doing particularly well on science courses). I busted my hump during both my ADN &BSN years and got exceptional grades. I worked hard to get into an ICU ASAP and was about to get a position 8 months after receiving my RN. I have two years of good ICU so far and just got accepted to NA school starting this coming fall. I consider myself extremely blessed and have a difficult time believing that I've gotten this far. If you want it bad enough, it's totally possible!

Have buddies coming of school with $180,000.00 worth of loans. Is that doable or is it too much. This includes tuition and living expenses.

*hear

That's great to here. I'm from Utah also and would love to be able to come back to live here again some day. I realize it will take time and experience to get back, and with the inevitable passage of the bill to allow AA's to practice here, it may be that much harder to get back. I'm happy to hear, however, that it is not impossible.

I'll be starting NA training in the fall. Now that I have been talking to more CRNA's, MDA's, and other colleagues, I'm starting to worry about the outlook in the job market after I'm done with school. Many of the professionals I've talked to are skeptical about the need for more anesthesia providers and have tried to lure me to do something else. Are they right? Is the job market already to saturated? Will the changes the fed govt is making going to make it impossible to get a decent job in a few years?

Bring it on! :-)

I've heard great things about this program. Clinicals are diverse and all local. The 2 people I know who went there practice in sole-provider practices and are very competent providers.

Has any one worked with AA's in an ACT model? How is it? Do MDA's and other health care professionals bunch AA's and CRNA's together? There is a bill in the house of my state to determine if they are going to allow AA's to practice here. I'm nervous this may catch on in other states making it more difficult to find jobs upon graduation.