mace8704

At the time of my interview, I had job shadowed an anesthesiologist. I was left with the impression the faculty strongly preferred a recent CRNA shadowing experience over an anesthesiologist. It might of just been my insecurities creeping in though, because one of TCU's lead professors is an anesthesiologist. Didn't get the vibe the faculty members preferred shadowing one CRNA specialty over another. The faculty members just want you to have a strong grasp of what a CRNA does prior to your interview.

Hey MedicRN, I'm a student in TCU's anesthesia program. Just started my 2nd year so I'm currently in the didactic portion. TCU's administrative assistants, ***** ***** and ***********, are great at answering any questions you may have, but if you have any informal questions you want to ask a current student, I'll try to check on this board once a week and answer them. Keep in mind since it is a front loaded program, I do not have any clinical experience. Tip: They want you to have job shadowed a CRNA prior to the interview. It may take awhile to line this up so I wouldn't slack on this. Best of Luck

155 verbal. 149 quantitative. 3.5 writing. I used Barron's, but only for a math review. I literally spent no time reviewing verbal or writing. Accepted at TCU.

Last year, I was asked, "How are you going to afford this program?" during my TCU interview. Stafford loan is ~20,000/year. Texas CAL(college access loan) would cover the remainder of tuition fees. I also had saved up ~$50,000 to cover cost of living expenses. That answer seemed sufficient.

To be honest, I have no idea. I would guess that means the faculty is asking everyone the same questions, or at the very least, asking questions from a predesigned approved set of questions, and allocating the same amount of time to every interview. After speaking with my other classmates, it appears there was a lot of variability from one interview to the next last year, because the faculty had a lot of freedom in choosing what to ask They could reduce this variability by having all faculty members ask similar questions. Therefore, the difficulty of the upcoming interview will depend on what questions the admissions committee thought up. Do they now include clinical/scenario questions? Will they still have two group interviews? Again, I have no idea.

**Important update*** I'm assisting with interviews this year, and on Wednesday I received an email which stated the interview structure is going to be different this year. The administrative assistant said, "[COLOR=#1f497d]Several of you have asked about what to say regarding the structure of the interview” being different this year. The best response is that it's a timed, structured interview rather than a discussion[/COLOR]" Best of luck

I was accepted on 9/22/14. I was notified via email.

Just to clarify, I'm in the TCU anesthesia class you're referring to. There are currently 57 of us registered in the Fall semester. I've heard rumors that one or two individuals dropped during online portion prior to the Fall. The program director, Dr. Sanders, showed us a slide during orientation which stated the average attrition rate is 14%. She assured us that there are clinical spots for all of those accepted into the program despite certain students assigned to the DFW area not having a designated clinical site. We then had Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Dr. Donovan, inform us that university is planning to maintain the size of its current student body. He stated at this point the university's goal is to increase quality not increase the number of students. If this information is accurate, approximately 60 people will be accepted, and approximately 52 people will graduate due to individuals dropping or failing out (Keep in mind a C is ***Additional interview advice to below*** I've already written in this thread regarding my personal experience with the interview at TCU so see my previous posts in this thread. However, I have some additional information. A faculty member at TCU stated he was very unsatisfied (he referred to our responses as ********. I laughed) with our answer to the question, "Why do you want to obtain a doctorate instead of a masters degree?" The 'right answer' should revolve around translational research. The goal of translational research is to bring biomedical research into the clinical area. The slang phrase of this concept is 'bench to bedside'. This involves medical providers learning to "research the research." This is the key difference between masters program and a doctorate program. Below are some links to some articles that my class is currently using to discuss translational research in class. These may assist you with 'correctly' answering interview questions regarding your desire to obtain a DNP. Defining Translational Research: Implications for Training : Academic Medicine JAMA Network | JAMA | The Meaning of Translational Research and Why It Matters Translational research: Crossing the valley of death : Nature News Lastly, TCU's anesthesia program is heavily affiliated with the Joanna Brigg's Institute, JBI. One of the faculty members travels across the globe speaking for them, and this individual stated TCU may become the JBI anesthesia hub soon. If accepted, you'll go to JBI seminars and have the opportunity to perform and publish a systematic review while in TCU's DNP-A program. If this interest you and you're having difficulty expressing why you're choosing a doctorate program over a masters program, this fact may help you. Below is a link to JBI's web site JBI | Welcome ***Keep in mind there is a difference between a PhD and clinical nursing doctorate.*** I'd recommend understanding the difference prior to the interview. Clinical doctorates are about comprehending and applying/implementing research. Obtaining a PhD prepares you to perform research. Some of the people interviewing you have both. Hope this helped. Best of luck

Last year, there was only one pre-interview assessment. We took it at home. No pre-interview assessment on campus. It was by Pearson Vue. The only thing I can compare the pre-interview assessment to is an IQ test. It tests your ability to manipulate objects in space, decipher anagrams, locate words of a specifc length but they are surrounded by random letters, and perform simple math. The test is timed which really stressed me out. The exam contained significantly more questions than I could complete due to these time contraints. The exam ended with a 'personality test', but the questions were difficult. You're asked to agree or disagree with controversial statements like "In certain situations, one needs to cut corners to get things done." The exam strongly encourages you to be honest and supposively has a built in algorithm to assess for inconsistencies. For what it's worth, I felt awful about the pre-interview assessment especially the anagram/word location and was still accepted with a 3.49 GPA (2 Cs) and 3yrs experience at a large hospital in Dallas. Congrats again to everyone who got an interview.

For your own sake, please job shadow a nurse and other healthcare professionals before you decide what career path you want to pursue. The "I enjoy helping people and want to do something in the medical field so I should be a nurse" rationale is a very weak indicator of your interest in nursing. All healthcare professionals "help people" in one facet or another. I'm not saying nursing isn't for you. I'm saying find out for sure which career path appeals to you the most by job shadowing various professionals. Regarding the math question, you're fine. Yes, you can use a calculator, but it is relatively simple math, and there is a plethora of information available to assist you if you ever struggle with dosage calculation. You may have to take an exam regarding medication dosages where you will not be able to use a calculator, but with your grades, you'll be able to brush up on your manual math skills immediately prior to the exam. Here's a website that covers the math nursing students were responsible while I was in college (2007-2011): DosageHelp.com - Helping Nursing Students Learn Dosage Calculations

It is very easy to qualify for an unsubsidized loan from the US Department of Education for graduate school. Keep in mind, these loans will accrue interest at 5.84-6.21% while in school, but payment will be deferred until after graduation. This will give you $20,500 per academic year. The financial aid office of whatever academic institution you're accepted into should walk you through it. After all, they have a vested interest to keep you in the program. The financial aid office should also help locate loans for additional costs accrued while in school including cost of living expenses. I'd encourage you to explore the US Department of Education website: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized

It will vary widely from one CRNA to the next Undergrad (BSN): 4 years minimum Critical care/intensive care unit experience: 1-2 years minimum. Keep in mind, your first job may not be in the ICU. Actual CRNA school: 28-36 months. Total time after high school to become a CRNA: 7-9 years (minimum) Personally, it will take me 10-11 years

http://www.aacn.org/wd/certifications/docs/ccrn-exam-handbook.pdf Go to page 13-16 in the official CCRN handbook (link provided above) If I were you, I'd pass the CCRN and then evaluate your career plans. Regardless of what you decide, you're still an ICU nurse. The certification helps validate your competency in critical care nursing to employers. That fact may very well have utility regardless of whether you decide to become a CRNA or not.

Respectfully, I understand you're excited at all of these potential career opportunities, but you're too far ahead of yourself. Undergrads routinely underestimate how difficult it is to obtain the prereqs for CRNA school or flight nursing. My advice: focus on your immediate goals. 1) Graduate with a 3.5-4.0 2) Consider taking Biochem or O-chem. These prereqs prevented me from applying to several CRNA schools. 3) Study and pass the NCLEX on your first attempt 4) If you have time, study and take the GRE. Get a score > 302. Your GRE results are typically good for 5 years. 5) Lastly, focus on landing a job in an ICU. Do you have any critical care internships in your area for new grads? Do the hospitals in your area hire students who worked as part time nursing assistants on an ICU during school. If so, get a job as part time nursing assistant at the largest hospital in your area. If you're lucky enough to land a job in the ICU, get your CCRN. These aren't trivial tasks. Obtaining the prereqs for CRNA school will take years. And no, taking years to obtain the necessary prereqs and experience will not be viewed as a negative, but focus on getting into the ICU as soon as possible. That's the work experience schools are looking for. Relationships between MDAs and CRNAs vary wildly from one facility to the next. CRNAs assume all of the responsibilties an MDA would for their cases. Depending on the state and facility you work in, CRNAs very well may be provding anesthesia independent of MDAs. No idea about working overseas

Allow to me clarify, the question was what are the most common surgical procedures anesthesia providers assist with not the most common procedures anesthesia providers perform themselves. The answers were c-section and hysterectomy. Well at least according to this TCU faculty member. I never verified the information myself.