The 36-month Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice (D.N.A.P.) program consists of three phases.
The first phase (3 quarters) is entirely online, allowing students to remain at their home residence and possibly continue working as a registered nurse. This online phase introduces students to topics such as professional development, leadership, research methods, and healthcare policy.
The second phase (4 quarters) will begin a face-to-face didactic experience providing the student with a strong foundation in the basic sciences upon which the student will build a framework of basic and advanced principles of anesthesia practice, pharmacology, and related psychomotor and decision-making skills. All coursework in the first two phases of the program must be completed before starting the third phase of the program.
The third phase (5 quarters) encompasses the clinical practicum, board preparation study, and a research-based scholarly project related to anesthesia. The clinical phase provides students with the necessary hands-on experience to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential to the practice of nurse anesthesia in a variety of practice settings.
All students may be sent to any available clinical site to ensure the necessary cases for graduation. Currently sites are located in, but not limited to, Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, Texas, Utah, and Washington State. Thus, a student may be assigned to rotations in any combination of these states as needed to ensure the best quality of clinical experiences.
Students must make their own arrangements for transportation and lodging at these clinical sites. The University does not provide for the cost of transportation or lodging.
These sites will provide students with a broad scope of experiences in rural, urban, and suburban hospitals, as well as specialty rotations in cardiac surgery, pediatrics, and obstetrics. Our goal is to create future CRNAs with the ability to practice at the top of their license.