Anesthesia (Doctor of Anesthesia Practice)

**Note: Pending approval by HLC.

Department of Anesthesiology
Hurley Medical Center
(810) 257-9264
Fax: (810) 760-0839
www.umflint.edu/graduateprograms/anesthesia

2102 W.S. Whit Building
(810) 762-3172
Fax: (810) 762-3003

Director: Lynn L. Lebeck, CRNA, Ph.D.
Educational Coordinator: Shawn Fryzel, CRNA, MS
Secretary: Deb Berg
Program Faculty: Lynn L. Lebeck, CRNA, Ph.D., Arlesia Mathis, Ph.D., Shan Parker, Ph.D., Suzanne Selig, Ph.D.

Note: At the time of publication, this program has received all institutional, state, and Council of Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational programs approvals. However, the program awaits approval from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Students may not begin this program until such approval is granted.

The Doctor of Anesthesia Practice (DrAP) program is intended to provide a post-master’s educational opportunity for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) to prepare for leadership positions in a variety of aspects of the profession of nurse anesthesia. The profession encompasses more than the actual administration of anesthesia to patients; CRNAs engaged in research, education, and administration are recognized as being engaged in the practice of anesthesia. Graduates of the program will have broadened understanding of the healthcare systems and environments in which they practice, and will be better prepared to further develop the roles that CRNAs fill within increasingly complex systems of healthcare delivery, in businesses involving anesthesia, in meeting the anesthesia needs of diverse populations, and in preparing the next generation of CRNAs to be educated in the clinical doctorate framework.

The program is designed for the CRNA who already has an entry-to-practice MS or MSN degree or one completed after an entry-level BS degree of an earlier era. The program, consisting of 32 graduate credits, provides students with an innovative level of flexibility and individualized program iteration. Students take 16 credits of core courses in areas of leadership, health policy, financial management/economics of healthcare, informatics and evidence-based practice, and ethics in healthcare, 9 credits in personalized elective areas such as Business Administration, Education, Healthcare Systems, Advanced Pathophysiology/Pathology, and 7 credits in the Capstone/Research process, during which they develop and carry out capstone projects which demonstrate the acquisition and application of knowledge gained through the interdisciplinary coursework completed. The curriculum is based upon expected competencies articulated in Report of the Doctoral Preparation Taskforce to the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists in 2007, and incorporates sound pedagogy with maximum flexibility to meet individualized professional needs of its students.

The program is offered primarily in an online format. Individual courses other than those with the ANE prefix may be offered in an online and/or face to face format. Selection of elective courses will impact the students online or face to face design of their individualized program.

Mission and Assessment
The program participates in the University-wide assessment effort to assess its academic programs. Information on assessment plan including goals, methods and outcomes is available at assessment.umflint.edu.

Admission Requirements
Applications for admission are accepted throughout the year for the following Fall semester. Application deadlines are posted on the Office of Graduate Programs website. Admission decisions are made by the program admission committee in consultation with the program faculty. Applicants must satisfy the following requirements to be considered for admission:

Completion of a master’s degree in science or nursing (M.S. or M.S.N.) with a focus on nurse anesthesia, from a program accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs or completion of a post-master’s certificate in anesthesia accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs.
A minimum overall graduate grade point average of 3.0 on a 4-point scale or 5.0 on a 9-point scale.
Current, unrestricted licensure as a Registered Nurse (copy of license required).
Current, unrestricted licensure as a CRNA (or APRN if applicable) (copy of license or state specialty certification required).
A statement of purpose for pursuing the degree including areas of interest for elective courses.
Official copies of transcripts from each college and university attended.
Copy of current Certification or Recertification certificate from the appropriate Council.
Three letters of recommendation, at least one from a supervisor/employer who can speak to the applicant’s practice as a CRNA and as least one from someone qualified to comment on the applicant’s abilities.

Methods of Course Delivery
The program is designed to be delivered as distance education. The 700-level ANE courses are all designed to be delivered using a variety of distance technologies, e.g., BlackBoard online learning platform, Elluminate synchronous and asynchronous sessions. Some of the other core courses may have required residencies of one or more days during the semester or term. The student does have options in selecting some of the core courses, so those who prefer online courses may consider online availability as a criterion in selection. Likewise, the student who prefers traditional face-to-face courses may be able to select some of the core courses in that format.

The capstone sequence courses, ANE 801, ANE 802, and ANE 803, are designed to be managed via distance technology. A high degree of flexibility is available for later stages of the capstone sequence, as faculty may have both virtual office hours for distant students and traditional on-campus office hours by appointment for students who would prefer a face-to-face meeting. The form the capstone project takes may dictate whether the student needs to come to campus for dissemination via presentation.

The elective courses a student selects may be online or face-to-face, as determined by the unit or institution offering that course. The Doctor of Anesthesia Practice program has no control over the methods of course delivery of courses offered by other units or institutions. The student does have the option to transfer up to 9 credits. This increases the choices a student has in course selection or creating an elective track in an area of personal interest.

With the choices in courses available, a student may make selections that result in having all of their coursework in a distance education format or a portion in a more traditional face-to-face venue.

Should a student need to come to campus from a distance, there are several travel options. The campus is minutes from I-75 and I-69 interstates and 15 minutes from Flint’s Bishop International Airport with service by major airlines such as Delta and numerous regional connector airlines with service to Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, etc. The campus is approximately 1.5 hours drive from DTW-Detroit Metropolitan Airport with service by most more airlines, and Capital Airport in Lansing and Midland-Bay City-Saginaw Airport are both approximately 1-1.5 hours from campus.