University of Iowa Nurse Anesthesia Program

University of Iowa Nurse Anesthesia Program
Address:

University of Iowa
Anesthesia Nursing Program
C607 GH, 200 Hawkins Drive
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1079

Contact Information:

Phone:(319) 384-7354
Email: paul-schulte@uiowa.edu
Url: website

Director:

Cormac O'Sullivan

Program Summary:

The University of Iowa’s Nurse Nurse Anesthesia Program only offers a DNAP degree in nurse anesthesia. Each year 20-100 people apply to this Nurse Anesthetist program, and only 12 students are accepted. All applicants must have at least 1 year of recent critical care experience. PACU, ER, and the OR do count as accepted critical care experience. The GRE is not required and applicants must have a GPA of at least a 3.00. Applications are due June 1st. If you are about to start applying to schools, and want a guide to CRNA Admission, please look through our student blogs which contain large amounts of information on the best way to apply to schools.

CRNA School Overview:

Program created: 1994
Ranking: 3.3 out of 5.0
Attrition Rate: 5.2%
Tuition: approx. $$60,000 (in-state), $115,000 (out)
National Certification Exam (NCE)
First time passing rate: 97%
Second time passing rate: 100%

CRNA Program Requirements:
  • License: Possess a Bachelor’s degree with a major in nursing (BSN or BAN)
  • Work Experience: At least one year of recent full-time critical care nursing experience (post-ADN or post-BSN) as an RN prior to the June 1 deadline.
    Accepted: Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
    Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU)
    Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
    Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
    Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU)
    Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CCU/CVICU
    ) Not accepted: Post-anesthesia care unit (PACU), OR nursing, or emergency room (ER)
  • GPA: grade-point average of at least 3.00 on a 4.0 scale
  • GRE: The GRE is not required for application
  • Certifications: None listed that were required
Prerequisites:

Website

Interview:

The University of Iowa has an interview process that includes a morning session and an afternoon session. They usually tell their applicants to plan on being at the school for a half day for the interview. Their CRNA program has current students come in to answer questions about the program. This allows you the opportunity to ask them questions while you wait. It is a great idea to take advantage of this, because it is a good way to learn about the program. Applicants interview with a 6-member committee – but not all at once. The interview committee consists of the Program Director, Assistant Director, staff CRNAs and course instructors. The questions are a mix of clinical situations, critical thinking and other interview-type questions. They do not have a written test. This CRNA program has not found it to be helpful in assessing success in their program.

CRNA Program Setup:
Duration:

2 years

Curriculum:

Front loaded
Phase 1: didactic (Summer I, Fall I, Spring I)
Phase 2: Clinical (beings Summer II)

Clinical Sites:

every student will get at least 3 months of anesthesia experience in our rural clinical sites in Spencer, Bloomfield, and Manchester, Iowa. The final semester (Spring III) students complete their clinical rotations and their Capstone leadership project from their primary clinical site (UIHC, Spencer, or Iowa Lutheran). This exposure makes the University of Iowa one of the few nurse anesthesia program that provides its students with a foundation in small-town, CRNA-only anesthesia practice. An additional 4-5 weeks at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in Iowa City (administering anesthesia for individuals with multi-system diseases), and 4-5 weeks at Iowa Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines and Trinity Regional Hospital in Fort Dodge (for cardiac anesthesia) round out the program’s clinical rotations. The clinical experiences outside of Iowa City usually alternate with clinical assignments in more advanced surgical specialty areas at UIHC or the VAMC during the clinical phase.

Disclaimer: Information on this page was gathered from the school's website and through phone interviews. A school's curriculum can change frequently, so we make sure that you are provided with the most up to date information. Our team regularly checks for any changes that CRNA programs make to their curriculum. The ranking of schools was based off of the 2011 US News World Report for Graduate Schools