<p>Hi Everyone!!</p>
<p>I visited UVM earlier in the fall and I absolutely loved it!!! I was so excited when I got accepted to their Nursing program last week! UVM is my top choice, but I was also accepted to Simmons College in Boston MA. Although I prefer UVM overall, I know that Simmons has amazing clinicals. The nursing students there do their clinicals in all the major Boston hospitals, as well as the major hospitals in the surrounding areas. </p>
<p>I loved the UVM program, but I cannot find information about the nursing student's clinical sites anywhere! I know that there is a teaching hospital on campus, but I don't know about it's reputation as a hospital. I also don't know where else UVM nursing students do their clinicals. </p>
<p>Does anyone know where UVM nursing students do their clinicals (other than the on-campus teaching hospital)?
What is the reputation of the on-campus teaching hospital?</p>
<p>Thanks so much!</p>
Do you mind posting your stats? I applied to UVM for nursing and am still waiting to hear.
Sure! 
GPA: 3.65 (both weighted and unweighted)
SATs: 1960
EC: Volunteering at Nursing home on the weekends
Tutoring children in science and math
Tutoring freshmen in SP Math (during a class period in school every day, I was like the teacher’s assistant)
Internship over the summer at Boston Children’s Hospital (2x a week, 8 hrs, 4 weeks)
Essay: Probably really helped–I wrote about my sister with Cystic Fibrosis and my mother with Bipolar Disorder and why I would like to go to Nursing school
I am taking only two APs-- AP Biology and AP Psych (Both classes this year). The rest of my classes were AE (the class below Honors in my school). I was nervous that the fact that I had no honors would look bad, but colleges seemed to know how competitive the school i’m coming from is
I really hope you get in! Have you gotten in anywhere else? When did you apply btw? Most schools wanted Nursing majors to apply early action (for UVM it was Nov. 1st). If you don’t mind posting, what are your stats?
Good luck! 
I attended the Feb 13th Accepted Student Visit and had a look at their health and medical buildings. The buildings and the hospital are all connected, which is really convenient (especially during the winter) to get from class to clinicals. The simulation labs were located in the Rowell building. According to the program’s director and the students, most nursing clinicals are done at Fletcher Allen after practice in the sim labs, but there are several sites in the area available for a varied experience. They stated that they had no issues with placement, and the hospital could easily handle all of the nursing students.
Freshman do not usually have many classes in the health buildings (they take chem, bio, pysch, etc). In the fall of sophomore year, students shadow a nurse and are eased into the professional nursing courses, and in the spring have their first clinical experience (I think it is maternity, but don’t quote me on that). The junior and senior years are all professional nursing classes and clinicals. Seniors do a capstone practicum in a specific field (psychology, pediatrics, maternity, ICU, etc), which can be done either at the hospital or any other site.
Also, starting next year they are providing the option for some nursing students to live together.
I hope that helps to answer some of your questions. I had many questions and the accepted student visit was very helpful. None of this info was provided on the regular tour, so I suggest signing up for ASV.
@TheLastStooge Thank you so much for your insight! I didn’t go to the open house because I am leaning towards attending Simmons College now, but honestly UVM is an amazing college and I would be so happy to go there. It all depends on financial aid.
What is a capstone practicum? How likely is it for you to do yours in the ICU? I want to go to grad school to become a CRNA and I need to work in an ICU for about 1-2 years before I can apply. ICU is hyper-competitive though, so I’m looking for a school that will give me the best chance at a phenomenal education and getting into an ICU.
I’m having a similar dilemma, and trying to decide which factors matter most to me now and what might matter in 3 years or so if my plans change. But I don’t know exactly what direction I want to take with a nursing degree, so my biggest priority is finding a school that will throw me into a clinical setting as early as possible.
At UVM there are 588 required clinical hours which begin in the sophomore year. The capstone practicum is an extended clinical with a concentration of your choice. It requires 126 clinical hours in the spring of senior year, and the student chooses the concentration & location based on personal preferences and career goals. That way, students can graduate with a field of concentration to aid their job outlook. I don’t know whether it is a guarantee that you would be placed in your preference, but the students I spoke with indicated that it was completely oriented toward the student’s aspirations. Some of the seniors mentioned that they were completing their practica at Fletcher Allen, but other local sites also including Dartmouth Hitchcock were mentioned as available options.
I’m not sure how this experience compares with Simmons. I do know that Simmons requires about 600 clinical hours and a senior preceptorship. My speculation is that the clinicals at UVM are convenient (right on campus even) and at a reputable teaching hospital at a public research university, but at Simmons you would would have access to excellent healthcare facilities with greater competition in a large college-friendly city. I’m assuming that when applying for Nurse Anesthetist grad school, experience at a larger ICU in a major center is always better, which might be better found in Boston. But again, I am not certain how Fletcher Allen or its ICU ranks in comparison with the Boston facilities.
Good luck with your decision! I have an aunt who is a CNRA, and she loves the flexible hours and responsibilities of working in a surgical ICU. She works in Boston now, so I hope you love it as much as she does! You seem very motivated, I’m sure you will thrive wherever you go!