University of North Georgia

athenashay21, BSN, RN · Sep 7, 2023

Update: I am currently in this program. I work full time Mon-Fri with somewhat flexible hours in outpatient surgery. I chose to attend the program (MSN-FNP) part-time. This means I will complete it in a total of 3 years vs. 2 years. I am SO glad I made that choice. I also have two young children 7y/o and 3 y/o and a husband and 6 dogs. So my life is not necessarily full of free time. It has been a process of relearning how to learn after 9 years out of school but I love learning and I love school. The first year or so of the program were a bit discouraging (just to be honest), in terms of the quality of delivery of the didactic content. Compared to my undergrad education which was very rigorous as well as VERY organized and top-notch, the first year of this program was shocking in its lack of consistency of content delivery and lack of availability of the professors. There are legit reasons for this (recently retired staff, current staff also maintaining clinic jobs as well as teaching, etc.) but I know I am not alone in this sentiment. HOWEVER, all that to say, now that we have made it to our first clinical rotation class (Primary Care I), we have all been extremely impressed by our professors and the content. Even though the first year was difficult for the previously stated reasons, I would not change programs. The affordability is fantastic. And, I am a very motivated learning who is okay with A LOT of independent learning. And even for those who need more "dependent" learning than I who are in my cohort have also made it this far as well. We have not lost more than a handful in the process.

The time requirements for class days on campus or on Zoom are very doable. For example, we meet on campus twice this semester. We met on campus for advanced health assessment 3 times last semester. Each year the "class day" switches between Tues or Thurs. This semester our class day is Tuesday. We do not have any synchronous lectures. We have all recorded lectures and other learning support. We also, of course, have our clinic rotations so that is partly why we only have 2 synchronous on-campus classes this semester compared to prior semesters. During our pathophysiology and pharm courses we met about weekly on Zoom on that specified class day.

Looking ahead I already know I will not be able to work full time as of the last Summer semester in the program. For full-time students it is VERY difficult to work full time. As a part-time student with the flexibility of being able to remain full time at 32-hours/week I have been able to work FT so far. I also have a super supportive husband and kids. My husband cooks, cleans, watches the children and works only part time so that he can support my schedule. It's really incredible and not something everyone has so I do not take it for granted.

Please feel free to ask me any questions. I am not on here frequently but I will do my best to get back to you!

Athena

Heley01 · Dec 16, 2024

Does UNG FNP program finds clinical sites for students?

Jesse_An · Apr 4

@athenashay21 I know you posted this a while ago, but if you still see these posts I do have a few questions! I am looking to apply next year for the 2026 Part time FNP program.

I read most of what you wrote and found it very helpful! With having one class a semester did you actually have to go on campus or zoom once a week the entire semester? If so usually how long were those days/meetings? Aside from the meetings during the semester I am assuming mostly everything else is online? And do they help with clinical placement?

Thank you so much!