CRNA to MDA?

blee1 · Apr 16, 2007

your courses from a CRNA program wont transfer and as far as i know, if you were an AA, your courses from that degree wouldnt transfer either into a medical program - in other words what ever you do, expect to take all the courses with every other med student..

if you want to be an anesthetist, go to NA school. if you want to be an MDA, than go to straight to med school and dont waste any more time than needed. i think you need to really think about what your goals are and where you ultimately want to be..

just my .02

catcolalex · Apr 16, 2007

dude, if you want to be an anesthesiologist, do it like everyone else; pre-med, med school, residency. It makes no sense to go to nursing school, anesthesia school, back to med school, then residency. Pick what you want first, then follow through. You can do it the roundabout way, but that would be a huge waste of time and money.

firstyearstudent · Apr 16, 2007

I'm not even a CRNA yet but it that's the goal. I've considered continuing beyond CRNA (after a while) to Anesthesiologist but I didn't know if my CRNA courses would transfer.
Then I found out that the AA programs were started with the idea that some AAs would continue into Anesthesiology.
My question is, does anyone know a CRNA that went on into Anesthesiology or does anyone know how difficult the leap would be?
I'm in Cleveland so I'm gonna go to CWRU to inquire but I just wanted to know if anybody on this site had any info.
From the ASA website
2. What is the origin of the anesthesiologist assistant profession?
In the 1960s, three anesthesiologists, Joachim S. Gravenstein, John E. Steinhaus, and Perry P. Volpitto, were concerned with the shortage of anesthesiologists in the country. After studying the educational pathway for anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists (NAs), they created a new educational paradigm for a mid-level anesthesia practitioner that included a pre-med background in college. This person would perform the same job as the NA but would be readily able to go on to medical school if appropriate. This new professional, the anesthesiologist assistant, or AA, thus had the potential to alleviate the shortage of anesthesiologists. The concept became reality in 1969 when the first AA training program began accepting students at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, followed shortly thereafter by a second program at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

This sounds like another case where physicians are intimidated that nurses are encroaching on their turf and are trying to take take it back. From what I understand, this what happen when the medical profession created the PA when more NPs became more powerful.

core0 · Apr 17, 2007

This sounds like another case where physicians are intimidated that nurses are encroaching on their turf and are trying to take take it back. From what I understand, this what happen when the medical profession created the PA when more NPs became more powerful.

Actually PA's and NP's were developed simultaneously. Eugene Stead at Duke approached the nursing faculty about training non physician providers to work in rural underserved clinics. They turned him down. He then looked at the medical corpsmen returning from Vietnam and the first PA students entered in 1965. The first class of four graduated in 1968. Simultaneously Henry Silver and Loretta Ford developed the PNP program at CU and the first student entered in 1965.

Interestingly Dr. Silver also started the first pediatric PA program in 1968.

David Carpenter, PA-C

firstyearstudent · Apr 17, 2007

Actually PA's and NP's were developed simultaneously. Eugene Stead at Duke approached the nursing faculty about training non physician providers to work in rural underserved clinics. They turned him down. He then looked at the medical corpsmen returning from Vietnam and the first PA students entered in 1965. The first class of four graduated in 1968. Simultaneously Henry Silver and Loretta Ford developed the PNP program at CU and the first student entered in 1965.
Interestingly Dr. Silver also started the first pediatric PA program in 1968.
David Carpenter, PA-C

Really? Guess I shouldn't believe everything my nursing school instructors tell me.

While you may be right that one nursing school might have turned one doctor down when approached about working in underserved rural underserved communities, nursing has a long history of providing this kind of care. Nurse Mary Breckenridge founded the Frontier Nursing Service in 1925 to provide healthcare to Appalachian communities. And of course there are all the nurses that have served in the Public Health Service on reservations and elsewhere.

suzanne4, RN · Apr 17, 2007

I'm not even a CRNA yet but it that's the goal. I've considered continuing beyond CRNA (after a while) to Anesthesiologist but I didn't know if my CRNA courses would transfer.
Then I found out that the AA programs were started with the idea that some AAs would continue into Anesthesiology.
My question is, does anyone know a CRNA that went on into Anesthesiology or does anyone know how difficult the leap would be?
I'm in Cleveland so I'm gonna go to CWRU to inquire but I just wanted to know if anybody on this site had any info.
From the ASA website
2. What is the origin of the anesthesiologist assistant profession?
In the 1960s, three anesthesiologists, Joachim S. Gravenstein, John E. Steinhaus, and Perry P. Volpitto, were concerned with the shortage of anesthesiologists in the country. After studying the educational pathway for anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists (NAs), they created a new educational paradigm for a mid-level anesthesia practitioner that included a pre-med background in college. This person would perform the same job as the NA but would be readily able to go on to medical school if appropriate. This new professional, the anesthesiologist assistant, or AA, thus had the potential to alleviate the shortage of anesthesiologists. The concept became reality in 1969 when the first AA training program began accepting students at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, followed shortly thereafter by a second program at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Courses are not going to transfer, and you are still going to have to attend medical school and complete an entire residency in anesthesia to become board certified in anesthesia.

And since many courses are only good for five years, you will probably have to redo some of the pre-reqs in order to get accepted to medical school.

Adding on way to many years as a student.

suzanne4, RN · Apr 17, 2007

I'm not even a CRNA yet but it that's the goal. I've considered continuing beyond CRNA (after a while) to Anesthesiologist but I didn't know if my CRNA courses would transfer.
Then I found out that the AA programs were started with the idea that some AAs would continue into Anesthesiology.
My question is, does anyone know a CRNA that went on into Anesthesiology or does anyone know how difficult the leap would be?
I'm in Cleveland so I'm gonna go to CWRU to inquire but I just wanted to know if anybody on this site had any info.
From the ASA website
2. What is the origin of the anesthesiologist assistant profession?
In the 1960s, three anesthesiologists, Joachim S. Gravenstein, John E. Steinhaus, and Perry P. Volpitto, were concerned with the shortage of anesthesiologists in the country. After studying the educational pathway for anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists (NAs), they created a new educational paradigm for a mid-level anesthesia practitioner that included a pre-med background in college. This person would perform the same job as the NA but would be readily able to go on to medical school if appropriate. This new professional, the anesthesiologist assistant, or AA, thus had the potential to alleviate the shortage of anesthesiologists. The concept became reality in 1969 when the first AA training program began accepting students at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, followed shortly thereafter by a second program at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

Courses are not going to transfer, and you are still going to have to attend medical school and complete an entire residency in anesthesia to become board certified in anesthesia.

And since many courses are only good for five years, you will probably have to redo some of the pre-reqs in order to get accepted to medical school.

Adding on way too many years as a student.

yanka12 · Apr 17, 2007

That's just plain CRAZY! :)

Go to med school!

I'm not even a CRNA yet but it that's the goal. I've considered continuing beyond CRNA (after a while) to Anesthesiologist but I didn't know if my CRNA courses would transfer.
Then I found out that the AA programs were started with the idea that some AAs would continue into Anesthesiology.
My question is, does anyone know a CRNA that went on into Anesthesiology or does anyone know how difficult the leap would be?
I'm in Cleveland so I'm gonna go to CWRU to inquire but I just wanted to know if anybody on this site had any info.
From the ASA website
2. What is the origin of the anesthesiologist assistant profession?
In the 1960s, three anesthesiologists, Joachim S. Gravenstein, John E. Steinhaus, and Perry P. Volpitto, were concerned with the shortage of anesthesiologists in the country. After studying the educational pathway for anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists (NAs), they created a new educational paradigm for a mid-level anesthesia practitioner that included a pre-med background in college. This person would perform the same job as the NA but would be readily able to go on to medical school if appropriate. This new professional, the anesthesiologist assistant, or AA, thus had the potential to alleviate the shortage of anesthesiologists. The concept became reality in 1969 when the first AA training program began accepting students at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, followed shortly thereafter by a second program at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.