Rush, U Pitt, Georgetown, or UNF?

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Hello All,

I'm new to this forum, but I wanted to tap into all of your collective wisdom in making a decision about where to attend CRNA school.

I am a recently married male in my mid-20's. My wife is also a critical care nurse. We have no children yet, but probably will start a family in the next couple of years. I am a Florida native and currently live in Gainesville. All of my family is in the Southeast, and I would love to stay in the area or relocate back after school. However, I haven't heard a lot of banter (possitive or negative) about the CRNA school options in the area, so I decided to target more well know schools further north.

My options and associated thoughts now are as follows:

- Rush: Accepted for Summer 2011 initially but deferred until Summer of 2012. Tuition deposit paid to secure a spot in the program.

My wife is from the midwest. Her best friend is currently as Rush CRNA student, and I from what I've seen Chicago is probably the coolest city on the list. I would have to wait an extra 9 months to start though, and I'm really sick of the ICU!

- Georgetown: Accepted for Fall 2011. Decision and deposit due in April.

DC is great, but the cost of living is exorbitant. Clinical sites are also scattered all over VA, MD, and DC making commuting and logistics a bear. Program cost is very high.

- U Pitt: Accepted for Fall 2011. Decision and deposit due Febuary 1st.

Great program administration and faculty. Reasonable cost of living. Good hospitals. Reasonable tuition.

- UNF: Interviewed this past week. "Soft acceptence" via program director. Decision and deposit due February 1st. Must accept or decline immediately when offer is made.

Dirt cheap. Low cost of living. Near family. New program with questionable quality.

Any input or insider information you all might be able to offer about any of these schools or cities would be greatly appreciated.

JJSRNA

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Specializes in CRNA.

Do you know anything about the clinical experience at any of the programs? That's what you should base your decision on, it'll affect the rest of your career. Also once you decide, inform the programs that are holding a spot for you in a timely manner that you won't be attending.

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What specifically should I be looking for in terms of clinical experience?

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JJSRNA, that's really impressive you got accepted to all of those schools. Congratulations. I have really considered Rush University. If you could post your stats I'd really appreciate it. I just want to see where I stand in terms of chances with the Rush program. Thanks.

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Thanks. I've worked for a year and a half in the MICU of a well regarded academic hospital. Cumulative GPA is 3.7. GRE is 1430.

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Specializes in CRNA.
What specifically should I be looking for in terms of clinical experience?

Institutional name recognition may not indicate quality, especially for the clinical experience.

Will you have an opportunity to experience a clinical site that has independent CRNAs? It's good to see that CRNAs can function without having a MD in the room for induction, emergence, do their own pre-op evaluation, manage the patient in the PACU, communicate with the surgeon etc

will you be required to share cases with residents or with other SRNAs? I think this is a deal breaker, might be difficult to find out because I suppose a program isn't going to want to reveal that the open heart experience consists of assisting the resident also assigned, or that 2 SRNAs will be on the crani's.

What will the regional experience consist of? want to get experience with SAB, epidurals, some basic peripheral nerve blocks with ultrasound, OB epidurals

Will you rotate to different clinical sites? Some programs move you every couple of months, which might be a little counter productive, but on the other hand staying at a single site for all, or almost all, your clinical experience is going to make you less flexible. Spending significant time at 3 or 4 diverse sites is benificial. You'll become familiar with different equiment, different patient populations, surgeon's etc

Also does the program has a required attrition rate? Meaning do they accept more people into the didactic portion than they have room in clinical? Does a certain percentage have to go every year? If you are a good test taker then maybe not as much of a worry personally, but it can still create an atmosphere amoung the students that is a little unpleasant.

Good luck

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Thanks! Great advice.

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JJSRNA, thanks for posting your stats. Good luck with whatever school you pick.

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First, let me say that the information I'm about to give you is a SECOND HAND account so it should be treated as such. It is not my own personal experience, it is the supposed experience of a friend of a friend.

I've heard Georgetown is terribly unsupportive of their CRNA students and looks to weed people out. Again, that is second hand information and I have not attended Georgetown nor have I spoken to anyone who has.

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