Providence Scholarship/OHSU questions

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hi guys...i'm new here! i've just started my pre-requisets at portland community college and am looking to transfer to ohsu...in a while. people have told me about the providence scholarship, but one of the sites i found said it was only available to students going to u of p. originally, i was looking at going to either ohsu or u of p, but their pre-requisets are so radically different, i had to choose one or the other, so i knew what to take for spring term! if i don't get into ohsu, i will work on pre-reqs for u of p.

does ohsu have an interview? i am going to try to make it up there next week, if i have the time...to look at the campus a bit more and maybe talk to an advisor, or someone who can tell me more about the school in general. ;)

By lab, do you mean simulation lab? How many people are in your classes? Is it a lot of group projects, or more individual wokr or what? Thanks for the link!

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Our Friday lab is a skills lab. It is where you learn to do foley caths, IV insertion, blood draws, BP, body mechanics, trach care, aspetic technique, etc. etc. We have a skills lab book we read before we go, and then our clinical group goes and works together. It's hands on, and we get lectured on it as well in lab before we go in and do the skill/s. The instructors are there to help us, and then we have a lab final, where we are given a scenario and we must perform it in front of our lab instructor as part of our grade, during a private session.

The SIM lab is new to us this term, as are the mannequins. It's a pretty fancy set up...two way mirror and completely computer operated dummies. They can change their BP, lung sounds, HR, and so on...they can even make them "vomit", lol. They have one arm you can insert IVs in, and you can even hook up EKG leads to them.

Next term we are doing our Mental Health rotation, and will not have lab. I'm looking forward to the break. It's been a lot of work the last three terms...we also have the summer off.

Hope that answers your questions! We also are assigned a "senior buddy" and they answer all of our questions (I had ones just like yours...). It is a lot of help and nice to have a mentor who has been-there-done-that.

How long do you have to go before you can apply?

~J

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Before I can apply I have to finish all my pre-requisets, so I'm guessing about a year...maybe a year and few terms. :p This has been my first term taking 12 credits...so I have quite a ways to go still! But little by little, it's getting done! :) Have you enjoyed your experience in school? How are you liking Klamath Falls? :)

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Gotcha...just so you know (you probably already do) you can apply the winter term while you are finishing the last of your pre-reqs. Just so long they will be complete before you start school.

Actually, there is another campus in K-Falls...but I am on the Ashland campus. There's pretty much nothing in K-Falls! When I applied, I ONLY applied to Ashland. It is only a 20 min drive. We have one student here in our program who is from Portland. I love Ashland, but it's pretty expensive to live there. They have the Shakespeare festival there, and of course skiing...it is a very nice town, and surrounded by the moutains, very beautiful. Median price of a house there is about $500,000.

This gives you an idea: http://web.iec.aoyama.ac.jp/img/p_sou.jpg

Right now there is a lot more snow up in the mountains though.

~J

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Oh opps...Ashland... :) What's the average age in your class? Older folks? Young? The whole college thing is pretty new to me...so it's kinda strange having an age range in my classes from like 17 to whatever, with working adults, etc. The varied life experiences everyone brings to the classroom make it a great expeience, though...and I'm starting to get over my fear of group projects. :p After four years of working in groups in highschool were nothing ever got done, or one person got stuck with everything...it's very rewarding to do something in a group that actually works out and is easier for everyone. :-D

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The average age is probably 23. It's a young group! I am one of the "older" students, and I am 32. I waited to go back to school when my son started kindergarten...I also have a 12 yr old. There are probably 6 students that are older than I am, another handful that are right around my age, but most of the group is closer to your age and early 20s. Everyone gets along great though. :) The only time I notice how old I am is when the younger students comment on how they stayed up til 2 studying or something like that...no way I could do that anymore! :lol2:

Yuck, I still hate group projects. We have had a few of those.

~J

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That's cool. :) What are the lectures like? Long and boring? :p Or more of class-dicussion type approach...lecture mixed w/ questions and answers ?

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LOL good honest question! Depends on the instructor. I thought I would die during my Fundementals class, that was pretty much straight out of the book. I don't think the professor could have made it interesting if her life depended on it. I have the same professor for an End of Life course this term, and it is much more interesting (we've visited a funeral home, watched videos, had lots of guest speakers, etc.). I really liked my Patho/Pharm professor...he is funny and provides Q/A and interaction. For instance, he will tell us to find a partner, and really fast name all the normal functions of the kidney (1-2 minute session). We get breaks during lecture though, because most of them are 2 hrs. long. I haven't missed a day of school since I started. We have also had community experiences, such as going to BP clinic, and flu-shot clinics...I gave over 40 flu shots single handed a few months ago! We also had a cultural experience with migrant seasonal farm workers that did not speak english (blood draws, etc.) and that was GREAT...really nice people and so receptive to us. They seem to really mix up our experiences, but I wouldn't say "never a dull moment"...but much better than I expected. It's busy, very busy.

~J

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Going to the funeral home was like a field trip, or what? :p The community expereinces sound neat. I wonder why they don't put like some information from current students on their websites -- some places do, and it's nice to have a mixture of info from students and information about the school and programs...gives me a better perspective. :) So what are you goals? What specialty of nursing have you been drawn to so far? :)

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Yip, the funeral home was just like a field trip. I actually didn't go to that (I had already done it last year with my hospice volunteer training) but opted to do another activity, which was a lecture from another organization on funerals in the home. Real interesting. I had no idea you could bury a body in your backyard until going to that (not for everyone, that's for sure!)

I agree it would be a great idea to put info up on websites for future/interested students, but I don't know why they don't. I've never seen it on any nursing school program's website...not that i've really spent a lot of time looking, but still.

My heart is totally for the NICU! My kids were both tiny preemies, 1lb. 8oz and 2lb. 2oz. They have both had multiple surgeries, heart, brain, etc. Ten surgeries in all. You would never know it today, not one bit. I spent so much time in the NICU (San Francisco) when they were born...6 months altogether, so I knew that was what I wanted to do! However, the ER was also really awesome. They have immersion programs at OHSU that you can apply for your senior year. If you have an area you are especially interested in (e.g. OB/OR/ICU) it gives you an extra clinical day per week...extra cost, but not as bad as tuition. I am going to apply for the NICU, I know I will love it!

What are you interested in, if you know yet?

I know what I am now not interested in...that is the OR. I really didn't know what the nurse's role was until I spent two days there. That just isn't for me. Aside from that, everything else has been a lot of fun. The hospital here has been very receptive to students and I haven't yet worked with a nurse that wasn't great.

~J

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There are just so many options, it's hard to decide...but I can give you a *list*. LOL I've been reading a lot about Home Health, which seems a lot more laid back...it seems pretty cool. But then again, I thrive on adrenaline...so critical care seems like a good place - ICU and maybe PACU. Nursing Informatics seems pretty interesting. I want to get as much experience (in school and working) as possible, to be a very well-rounded nurse. I've done a lot of reading about dialsysis, and that's pretty interesting. I've also done a lot of reading about rural health, and the people who go do nursing/medical care on Indian reservations, etc. :)

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Sounds like you've got some great options! You will figure it out once you get into school. I actually worked home-health (not as an RN of course) when I was 17-20 and really liked it. The PACU was really interesting too...short amount of time with your patient, so things are always changing. Dialysis would be very interesting too, but I have to admit I only know that from the textbook. We've been encouraged to go visit our local dialysis center to see what it is like (our last test was on this)...so that is something I am going to do before the term is over. I find it fascinating what happens to your body when you don't have healthy kidneys...it is certainly challenging.

Well I think we've posted more on this thread here than the whole OR forum has seen in quite awhile! lol

~J

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