Im in @ MTSA

TBSmith · Nov 16, 2006

congrats thats awesome.

what kind of questions did they ask in the interview? are you one of the many that interviewed from Vandy's trauma unit? what kind of gre score did you have and gpa before applying?

I live close to nashville and right now working on my BSN i already have my ADN. Im applying to vandy for their ICU probably in the next week or so. any help would be awesome.

thanks

newkarian · Nov 16, 2006

The questions asked are as follows:

1.Why do you want to be a CRNA?

2. Describe one of your most memorable recent patients and how you cared for them. I chose to describe a 19yo MVA with splenic lac

3. What vasoactive medication would you consider if you patient became hemodynamically compromised? I chose volume expansion first then neo as my pressor. The girl was tachy and I decided the alpha1 of neo without the cardiac side effects would be best for the situation.

4. Why did you choose MTSA?

5. How could you get more experience with PA caths if needed at your institution? I generally have a patient every 2 weeks or so with a swan so that was the one thing about my experience that they wanted me to have more exposure to. I have the privelege of floating to a CVICU and Trauma ICU so i should be able to more than cover the requirement.

The interview process was a little nerve wracking at first as there is 10-15 people interviewing you at once. The questions asked are generated by the response to the first two questions.

I am not from Vandy. I work in Tulsa at a 32 bed MICU/SICU and a 16 bed trauma ICU. I also have access to a 24 bed CVICU. My gpa was 4.0 with a 1220 GRE score. I would say that a 3.5 gpa and around 1100 on the GRE would be very competitive. I am a new nurse (grad May 06), so it is possible to get into a CRNA school with 1 year experience. I did have quite an extensive externship experience before graduation (MICU, NICU, burn ICU, SICU, and PACU). Also I would suggest learning your commonly used ICU meds down to the intracellular level. Another thing that you must study up on is your respiratory, neuro, cardiovascular, and renal physiology as well as common critical illness patho/phys such as MODS, ARDS, sepsis etc. Becoming a CRNA is the reason I went into nursing so I have studied and tailored my experiences from the beginning with this goal in mind. I consider myself very blessed to have made it this far. If you have any more questions or need help with study materials let me know. I also have a study guide that I have typed up with the vasoactive meds common to my ICU.

Sean

TBSmith · Nov 17, 2006

Sean thanks so much it will be very helpful. Could you give me the name of some books that might help me in learning the patho/phys as a study reference. Is it possible you could email me the study guide you printed up on the meds? That is gonna be my toughest hurdle is knowing the ICU meds that i need to. Again thanks so much and congrats.

brandon

newkarian · Nov 17, 2006

Pharmacology and Physiology in Anesthesia by R.K. Stoelting was the pharm book that I used. I think the book is very well written and was easy to understand for me. It also has some basic physiology in the back of the book. As far as a little more in depth physiology the Lange physiology series is pretty good. It is a series for medical students studying for boards so it pretty cut and dry without all of the extra fluff. PM me your email address and I will email you the study guide I have so far. It is mainly vasoactive medications. If you cant find the books and need the ISBN for them I can look it up for you.

newkarian · Nov 18, 2006

Anyone else out there have word from MTSA? Was just wondering who my fellow classmates would be.

als4f · Nov 21, 2006

Newkarian,

I am interviewing at MTSA on Dec. 5th. 3 of my coworkers were accepted during early interviews. Congratulations on your acceptance!

CardioTrans, BSN, RN · Dec 5, 2006

Congrats on your acceptance. Im not applying, but I have a very good friend who has his interview there 12/6. Needless to say he is a nervous wreck! Hes been studying for weeks to refresh himself and he is hoping that he covered everything.

This is the first time that he applied to MTSA, he applied twice to UAB, and denied both times. So hes hoping this will be the one!

shang36 · Dec 5, 2006

:lol2:

Got my call today. Im in at MTSA. Was wondering if there are any more of you early interviewers out there that got in. Also has any questions about the process ask away.

:uhoh21:

CardioTrans, BSN, RN · Dec 7, 2006

Ok, my friend had his interview today............ he nailed it! Im so excited for him. They told him when they left that if he was accepted that they would call him tomorrow. So needless to say, he wont be too far from his phone....lol

Does anyone know how many places they were filling this time, and how many were accepted during early interview??? Just curious

als4f · Dec 7, 2006

They accepted 34 during early interviews and there were 36 positions left for regular interviews. I just got my call from the school that I have been accepted!!!!!! thank you for all of the advice that everyone has provided. I will be starting July '07 and will be graduating in Dec. '09! I can't wait to get started!

CardioTrans, BSN, RN · Dec 7, 2006

Congrats on your acceptance!!!! My friend has already called me this morning stressing..........lol Saying hes waiting not so patiently by the phone!! I hope beyond hope that they call him!!