Texas Wesleyan University Review

by Student

Texas Wesleyan University offers a unique program with dedicated faculty and staff. All professors of the core science didactic classes are PhD's in their respective field and are well prepared to provide explanation above and beyond what is required for CRNA education.

The best part of the structure of the program is the front loaded nature of this program. The entire first year is completely didactics with clinical residency beginning one year from the start date. Some programs begin clinical rotations the first semester and students may feel scared and unprepared, which they are. TWU gives you a firm understanding of the science of anesthesia prior to any clinical work.

The facilities are also fairly new with a nurse anesthesia building dedicated 100% to the CRNA program. If you are a distance site student like me you won't get as much time in the facilities as others in the class, but the distance experience is still top notch with a little over 2 weeks the first semester and 2 weeks the second semester spent on campus. They have dedicated technical staff who run the "control room" with multiple high definition camera angles broadcast to every distance site live. The 2 way interaction through the televideo conferencing is very simple as well. Great experience and if you start and decide lectures on large LCD TVs is not the thing for you they welcome you to continue classes at any time in Fort Worth for the remainder of Phase I didactics.


Also an update that is very exciting... TWU received a max 10 year accreditation renewal this year (2011) from the COA! Not surprised as I have really had a great experience so far and find the quality of education to be exceptional.

Unlike undergraduate education for RNs, nurse anesthesia practice requires knowledge that is almost entirely science-based. CRNAs make decisions not only about how to carry out orders or administer drugs ordered by other healthcare providers, but more often than not will assess, make an acute diagnosis, and administer the appropriate treatment themselves. In order to be prepared to make these acute decisions in clinical practice CRNA education has to have the sciences of physiology, chemistry, pharmacology, etc. at its core. TWU provides a program that is almost 100% science-based. What does this mean? Well, although research, ethics, and the business aspects of anesthesia practice are integral parts of the program, TWU does NOT have classes such as nursing theory or the "art of nurse anesthesia" incorporated into it. In my opinion, prospective students learned plenty of this in undergraduate programs. So I like this aspect of the program and feel I get to focus more of my time becoming a better future independent healthcare provider and improve my critical decision making in the clinical setting.