I recently received a request to chronicle my journey from “pre-nursing to CNM”–what classes I took, etc. Carolyn, sorry it’s taken so long to reply. Life as a second year student nurse-midwife is a whirlwind. Add in having a baby, and you have a perfect recipe for letting some emails slip through the cracks. Also, I realized that I simply cannot remember which classes I took when…and somehow, I seem to have lost the folder on my computer that had all my pre-nursing planning docs. Probably in a moment of “must organize everything! now!” I deleted it, thinking I wouldn’t need it again.
I chose to do my pre-reqs part-time, as I was working as a doula at the time and also busy volunteering at Planned Parenthood and with Backline.
Also: I would avoid applying to programs that require an entrance exam. Sheesh! That just sounds like more work! But I was lucky, the program I wanted to go to didn’t require one.
Fall 2011
I started taking pre-reqs in the fall of 2011. I had no background in the biological sciences, so I took an intro bio for health sciences, which was a pre-req for the A&P series as well as for microbiology
Medical Terminology (online)
Winter 2012
Anatomy and Physiology I
Human Development
Spring 2012
Anatomy and Physiology II
Nutrition
Summer 2012
Anatomy and Physiology III
Fall 2012
Microbiology
Submitted application in December of 2012
Winter/Spring 2013
Accepted to accelerated RN/CNM program
Continued working as doula, studying Spanish
Summer 2013: Began the 5-quarter Accelerated Nursing Program at OHSU
Health Promotion
Pharm I
Patho I
Fall 2013
Chronic Care: Clinical and Didactic
Pharm II
Patho II
Winter 2014
Epidemiology
Leadership
Population-Based Care: Clinical and Didactic
Spring 2014
Acute Care: Clinical and Didactic
Leadership II
Summer 2014
Integrated Practicum (on L&D/MBU)
September 2014
Studied for and took NCLEX
Started working part-time as abortion RN
Fall 2014: Began the 2 year midwifery program at OHSU
Health Assessment and Diagnosis for Advanced Practice Clinicians
Advanced Patho I
Reproductive Health Care Mgt
Concepts for Advanced Practice Nursing (online only)
Winter 2015
Advanced Patho II
Advanced Pharm I
Antepartum and Postpartum Care: Clinical/Seminar and Didactic
Spring 2015
Left RN job to focus on school
Advanced Pharm II
Intrapartum Care I: Clinical/Seminar, Didactic
Evaluating Evidence (online only)
Summer 2015
Intrapartum Care II: Clinical/Seminar
Newborn Care
Midwifery Foundations (reviewed history of midwifery, scope of practice, etc)
Fall 2015: Had a baby, so took time off from gyn clinical until 8 weeks PP and did not do any IP care
Started part-time RN job in an out-patient primary care clinic to fulfill RN hour requirement for APRN licensure in OR–OR APRN’s need 384 hrs of documented RN experience to qualify for licensure…but pretty sure we’re the only state with this requirement
Advanced Gyn: Clinical and Didactic
Intrapartum Care III: Seminar only, no clinical
Foundations of Teaching Midwifery (“How to Be a Preceptor 101”)
Concepts of Advanced Nursing Knowledge and Leadership (online only)
Winter 2016: made up gyn clinical hours, started IP clinical hours from Fall
Primary Care for Midwives: Clinical/Seminar and Didactic
Intrapartum Care IV: Clinical/Seminar
Spring 2016: made up IP clinical hours from Winter
Integration Seminar (resume writing, negotiating contracts, liability, etc)
Summer 2016
Final Integration: 8 weeks of working full-time as midwife with clinical preceptor
Fall 2016
Take board exams
Apply for state licensure as CNM/APRN
Apply for NPI and DEA license (to prescribe narcotics)
Find job, get privileged and credentialed, live happily ever after as a midwife!