Shoshanna

Hello, I applied to five Advanced Practice Provider (APP) programs in early 2023 and I will list them below. I interviewed with three programs and have one offer at this time. This is not the entire list but rather the ones that were still open when I had all my documents ready. I asked for eight letters of recommendation from professors, preceptors, program directors, and my current and old charge nurses even though I only needed 2-3 of them. I applied as early as I could and Indiana Health was the first to interview me because they review applications on a rolling basis. Most other programs only start interview callbacks after the deadline except for Indiana Health which contacted me two weeks after my early submission. The programs often do not let you know that they have received your application and you just have to hope that the email they provided did not shoot your email/attachments/documents to junk mail. Good luck with your applications and gook luck finding the best program for you! 1. Indiana University Health (Indianapolis, IN) https://iuhealth.org/professional-education/advanced-practice-providers/postgraduate-app-training-program 2. UC San Diego (California) https://psychiatry.ucsd.edu/education-training/residency-programs/community-psychiatry/price-fellowship/apply.html 3. Acclaim JPS (Fort Worth, TX) https://www.teamacclaim.org/careers/app-residencies-and-fellowships/ 4. Inova Health (Fairfax, VA) https://www.inova.org/advanced-practice-providers/education/behavioral-health-fellowship 5. Seattle Children's (Seattle, WA) https://www.seattlechildrens.org/healthcare-professionals/education/residency-fellowships/psychiatric-app-fellowship/ 6. Bonus: Check your local Veteran's Affairs hospital, your local level one county hospital, and your biggest teaching hospitals. The last two most likely have APP fellowships but may not have them in psychiatry.

There are fellowships but they are full-time jobs with didactic, exams, conferences, simulations, and other experiences that would keep you very busy in your almost year. As a reference, search for the ED Fellowship post by Benjamin for Albany Medical on allnurses.com to get a sense of the amount of work expected in the first 3 months of a fellowship.

Hello Benjamin, Thank you for posting about your experience. It's difficult to find anyone documenting their experience as an APP Fellow regardless of specialty. I will start as a psychiatric APP Fellow in Fort Worth, TX in the Fall of 2023. Our cohort has six fellows (NPs & PAs) and we have a rotation in the psychiatric emergency department. Your post helped me compile a list of drugs I will have to know in more detail before my ED rotation. Thank you for sharing and I wish you the best in the ED as a provider.

Camille. I can't think of anything other than having a computer set up with at least one or two extra monitors connected to your laptop. The way the final exams at the end of the program were set up felt like being a tele-health provider. You need to have at least four pages open in order to have the resources you need on a normal evaluation: DSM-5, psychopharm reference like Epocrates, your patient note, and then your "patient case". I needed extra monitors to be effective.

I would say most of the professors are good at explaining concepts and then providing outlines/blueprints/key points to know before every exam. In addition, the rubrics for papers and projects are very detailed, so you know exactly how much information they need on a specific section. If you follow the rubric or create study guides that follow their outlines, you will do fine. Grading is also usually has a 7 day turnaround and if there is a delay, the professors will let you know why. Overall, I thought the program and the professors were great. My friend went to UTA and she seemed to have way more issues with assignments, grading, and just overall very picky professors. Her experience convinced me UT Tyler would be a better choice and I don't regret it.

I'll be graduating Spring 2023 and found the following courses the most challenging either because of how much I studied or based on people who dropped out: Clinical Semester 1- people didn't write substantial papers and Clinical challenges are 6 hour exams that need you to be thorough but fast too. People often didn't finish then on time. Psychopharm & Neurobiology- I had study groups for all major didactic semesters like these two. Some of our Blueprints were 60-90 pages long. Study Groups are worth it and save you time. Assessment- the exams are tough and doing a good 45 min-1 hour head to toe assessment is not easy to do. Practice your assessment on camera and do it over and over again. Also, if you ever make less than 90% on a test, you should go to office hours. I always talked to the professors about my first exams to understand why I missed key questions. Good luck and welcome to Patriots Country!

Hi there, Key Points are like a Blueprint for each exam. It's what the professor calls them. Usually they are at the top of the module page.

The Key Points are usually your best bet when it comes to studying material. Not every module has a PowerPoint and the PPTs are not as comprehensive as the notes you will make from the Key Points. Make a study group and share the work. It's a lot of material. You will also need the full version of Cafer's Psychopharmacology book and not just the free PDFs. The professor gets questions from this book and from Quizlet. Good Luck!

You'll be taking 9 hours simultaneously in the Spring and Fall as a full time student. As far as I know they do, but I don't start clinicals for another year so I'm not sure how it works yet. Sorry, you'll have to ask our advisor about that part (Janet Rainey).

I'm a full time student and I work PRN. I think being a full-time student and a full time employee is not a good idea unless you have over 200 hours of PTO to burn. There will be some weeks where not going to work is the best way to pass an exam. I work 2 shifts a week maximum and my grades reflect that. My study group friends who work full time never make better grades than me because they can't study the amount of hours I can.

I love the program at UT Tyler so far. I have been able to learn so much and get great grades. I recommend all my BSN coworkers to go to UT Tyler over UTA because UTA makes some classes ridiculously hard for no reason. I have a class where I have to attend class in person twice this semester. Keep that in mind. The Advanced Health Assessment class requires in person check offs for most programs.

Hi Lisa, I completely understand your GPA issue. I know there is a preference for brick and mortar schools like UT Tyler and Arlington in this field, but they are also the most competitive. Keep applying to schools because your compassion for this patient population is rare and needed. Which part of the country do you work in? Are you in East Texas?

Hi Lisa, I was an internal transfer at UT Tyler but I think their FNP and PMHNP requirements are similar. 75% of the PMHNP students in my cohort have no psych experience. However, I know that most of us had 4.0 GPAs from our RN-BSN programs or we attended UT Tyler. I think being an alumni helps. The cohorts are small, about 20 students for each application cycle. If it comes down to similar GPAs, then your video application and alumni status may factor into the consideration.

I'm not in the post-master's program, just the MSN PMHNP. There aren't many full-time students in the MSN or post-master's because of the three-class requirement. Most other programs I know of only do two classes per semester full-time.

It's doable but it will be tough. I'm a full time PMHNP MSN student and I only worked 2 days a week for my first semester. I'm glad I did because the text heavy classes can be 12 to 15 chapters per test. If you can be part time that would be best. If you're not great a writing or aren't tech savvy that will also slow you down in semester one.