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Diversity in Nurse Anesthesia Mentorship Program--DNAMP

Greetings!

On April 25th, on USC campus in Southern California, I had the pleasure of both attending and sharing my personal journey on applying, and preparing for CRNA school. First of all, I must commend Wallena Gould, for her tenacity in pursuit of creating DNAMP. It was not up until I stepped foot into the session on Saturday, I knew the extent in which this program provides and guides for future nurses, interested in careers as a CRNA. I was thinking in my head for majority of the time during this mentorship program, "Where was I when I was preparing for CRNA school?" Had I had known, I would have taken part in a heart beat!

The afternoon of events were quite remarkable. Not only were directors available just several feet away from answering all mind-boggling questions/concerns, but each director from USC (Dr. Gold) and Samuel Merrit University (C. Villanueva) spoke extensively, in detail, what they're looking for in regards to their individual program, general admission criteria, etc. The panel of speakers were encouraging and personable. The director of the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia also attended, and shared his wisdom as well during this session.

There is no other opportunity, than to take part in DNAMP, where a plethora of invaluable information via speakers and in powerpoint handouts, along with CD roms. Wallena Gould did an incredible job, putting together this session together, and I was so excited with the information, and how helpful it was going to be for myself, and friends/cohorts/acquaintances who would have benefited, had they known and or attended.

I spoke on the ICU Nurse Panel, where I shared in detail, my personal journey preparing for CRNA school, as mentioned above. It was not easy, it was not fun, and many times, I questioned this path I selected for my future:
1-Can I vision myself doing this? So to answer my own question, I shadowed 7+ CRNAs over the course of the 2-3 years I was preparing for and meeting admission criteria. This fortified my decision to continue pursuing CRNA school.
2-Am I competative candidate? I electively had taken graduate coursework, to set my profile apart from other students, in order to offset some of my lower class grades during my first years of undergraduate.

3-The GRE scores competative? I would strongly recommend taking a preparatory class, if standardized exams are not your forte. I took the GREs over several times, without much improvement in my test-taking skills.

4-Work experience in a trauma 1, high acuity teaching facility. You're work experience will give you the "calm" that many schools are looking for, to tackle the stressful environment in the ORs, which CRNAs will be challenged to handle. Will you be able to execute accordingly? My work experience has given me this confidence and continues to serve as a strong foundation for CRNA school.

I encourage everyone to attend DNAMP, for those interested in pursuit of being a CRNA. It was an amazing opportunity to take part in this program. Thank you, Wallena Gould, for pioneering this program!!

-Lisa