School Of Nursing Graduate Applicants Letter Of Reference: Fill & Download for Free

** Warning, this is an incredibly long and detailed post!**These answers will be for the USA. I’m not familiar enough with requirements elsewhere to speak about them. There are several paths and I’ll address the most common ones below. I have written elsewhere about entry into nursing school and different levels/types of RN lisc. processes. Given how long this post already is, I’m not adding that content here.The first step is to find and get into a university with a nursing program. That involves such things as completion of high school or GED, presentation of transcripts, essays, completion of test such as ACT or SAT, letters of reference may be needed or other materials.At this point, you can declare nursing a major and start your program of study for the next four years for one if you go a classic route, or you can go accelerated baccalaureate or via a community college or OCNE.Classic- note that it is not unusual to do summers in nursing school, so not just 9 months or 10 months of the year. The curriculum is packed and minors may be possible but double majors in 4 years is quite rare.Freshman is general prerequisites such as history, English and so on plus math and science basic courses. Chemistry, biology, basic maths, general psych, nutrition and the like.Sophomore sometimes has a nursing course or two in it but that depends on the program. Usually, you are science heavy and building on year one courses. Organic chemistry, microbiology, a full year or two semesters of anatomy and physiology, genomics, statistics, computer science, medical ethics may be here or early third year as a junior.You’ll also apply and complete applications at this point for the upper division nursing major. The 2017 data shows 64k qualified applicants were turned away. So just because you have completed coursework doesn’t mean you are guaranteed a slot. There are things you can do to help your application be more competitive. I have written about that elsewhere on Quora as have others. Many times, programs will require at least a 3.0 GPA in the sciences. Some students will take courses multiple times to get that grade average. Which is a problem because when you’re in program, there isn’t much room for do overs.If you are accepted, you begin third year courses. These will definitely have two or more terms of pathophysiology and pharmacology. You’ll also have a fundamental skills/intro to nursing course. The curriculum may diverge widely from there. Some programs do an intro to population/community health. Some do health promotion. Some do a first clinical/theory course in a long term care setting and have gerontology content or chronic illness. You will have a clinical and theory course each term/semester plus the patho and pharm. Patho and pharm are “cut” courses sometimes. It is one of the reasons for the 3.0 in the sciences. These two sets of courses tend to be one students may have trouble with.Note that theory and clinical courses go together. So if you are taking an acute care course, you will have a theory and clinical combo. Often, you’ll need to pass both components to advance. Nursing is a practice discipline. You have to be able to both do the theory part and the clinical. Some students are better at one or the other.Theory will consist of didactic, learning activities, and bridge activities between clinical and theory that link them. Lecture, role playing, written assignments, tests, case studies, care plans, papers and other activities will be part of the courses. Many courses use an electronic learning system of some sort and may have discussion groups/forums and other activities. Any or all of these may be graded and what you have will vary from course to course.A word about NCLEX prep. NCLEX is the examination you will take at the end of your program. It is the examination that you take to obtain your RN license. More about that later. I strongly recommend that students get a used NCLEX book from the year that just graduated. You can find them all over once the previous class has taken their exam for cheap. Spend a certain amount of your time doing NCLEX questions each week. Make them related to your content that week. According to the recommendations I last saw, 7,000 questions is best for practice. You won’t get all that at the end, you’re too exhausted and too busy. Start early. It will also help because the exam questions in your courses are written NCLEX style. This is not the usual thing you’re used from previous classes! You may get a multiple choice question where all the answers are correct and you have to pick what to do first, or the one that is most important or most correct for the situation you are given. They are written at application level. Again, practice discipline. You need to take what you are learning and apply it. Look at Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom) to get an idea. You’ll find that the course and learning objectives use these too.Clinical consists of patient care time, time in skills labs (learning and practicing psychomotor skills primarily) and simulation. Simulation occurs in varying ways. In all clinical work, you do your prep before you come to clinical. You have to be ready to go. You may haveactors playing patient roles,use a realistic dummy that has heart and lung sounds, can talk to you and have vital signs, tubes and so on.equipment such as IV arms to practice phlebotomy and IV starts, handwashing and sterile gloving and so on.Skills labs usually have a demo and then a practice before a testing return demo component.Senior year means you’ve usually had one or more hospital based experiences.Not all students get hospital pediatrics or OB anymore, primarily for three reasons. First, most of these populations are healthy and you may get experience in a birthing clinic, a school, or other site because that is where you’ll find your patient population. Second, there are small numbers of such sites and competition is fierce to gain access. So, even if a clinical site has round the clock students, there just aren’t enough. Finally, most people are not going to go into those areas and they will have other opportunities later if that is their particular practice interest.Usually you will have epidemiology and population/community based health as a clinical and theory your senior year. You may also have a separate leadership course or research course. Some programs just build that content into each term or spread it out in other ways.You will usually have some sort of capstone course. This course has minimal theory and maximal clinical time in an area you have some say in choosing. You will work with a preceptor or two in clinical. The clinical instructor visits and is on call but is not with you in clinical as in previous courses. This is right before you graduate.Near the end of your program of study, schools of nursing will often have you take an NCLEX prep assessment of some kind. This is a timed test, on computer, just as you would take for NCLEX. You’ll get a printout of what you did well on and what you need to study more on. How they do that will vary by school. Nursing schools are assessed on their NCLEX pass rate, so this is important for everyone concerned. If a school falls below a certain point, the school’s state board of nursing gets involved and it isn’t fun. Your early practice will help you a lot here. There are also apps that have NCLEX style questions you can get and use and practice sites on the web. So, getting an app at some point late in junior year or early senior, so you get used to seeing thing on computer, may be a good idea.Once you graduate, the school of nursing sends in your completion to the state board that you indicate you’ll be testing in. The state board has a process for notifications and exam taking on their homepage. So you can get more info there. They’ll also tell newly graduated nurses what the process is.Take the NCLEX! You have up to 6 hours and only need to get a minimum of 75 answers correct to pass since the answers can go up or down in terms of difficulty based on prior answers. You answer as many questions as needed to prove mastery of the content. The exam is on computer at a testing center and proctored. If you do not pass, you can retake after a certain period. The vast majority pass the first time. After that, the state board will send you your license and you’re an RN! Yeah!!Accelerated Baccalaureate Programs- These are for people who already have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in another field and who have completed all the prerequisites (as above) plus whatever other entry criteria the program has, and been successful in their application to the nursing school. The application will include transcripts, certification of previous degree(s), essays, face to face interviews and other activities as designated by the program you’ve applied to.Programs are intensives and usually, people do not work as they are spending a minimum of 60 hours a week in class, clinical and studying. I was the director of an acc bacc program and taught in one for years. I’ve had students tell me this is more doctoral level in terms of intensity than undergrad. You are usually in class/clinical 5 days a week. Study time is evenings and weekends plus whenever possible during the day during the week.Patho and pharm, community and epi, hospital based/acute care, leadership, research and so on all get done but in a condensed format lasting 12 to 18 months of continuous courses.All the info about NCLEX and so on still applies but you have less time to do prep for it.Community college to university is another option. This involves taking prerequisites (first two years usually) at a community college. It is cheaper and more accessible than 4 year as people don’t have to move til later. It can be an issue however, because the four year college is usually on semesters and the community college on terms, so you may have to take extra credits to get enough to transfer.Once you complete your community college courses/prerequisites, you go thru application as above for the university.The junior and senior year are identical to the classic program. You’ll do the same for the NCLEX as well.Your terminal degree, as with all of these will be a BSN or Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing.OCNE stands for the Oregon Consortium for Nursing Education Welcome to the Oregon Consortium for Nursing Education (OCNE). The program started in Oregon where I taught. Please see the info on that site. There are now about 30 programs in the USA offering some version of OCNE. I’m not going to go into this in detail but there are several paths and ways to get to your RN and perhaps, BSN, via these pathways.You asked about nursing schools and how they work.Nursing schools in a university setting offer at least a BSN. They may offer other levels and programs as well. They may or may not have graduate, doctoral, or postdoctoral programs.The size can be highly variable. I did my prereqs Freshman year at Southwestern Oklahoma State University, which at that time was graduating about 8 to 10 students a year I think. Small school in a rural area. Other schools, like OHSU that I taught at, can graduate 100s of students per year.Programs may or may not be affiliated closely with a health sciences center, a particular hospital system where you’ll do most of your clinicals, or other institutions.Baccalaureate and higher programs are accredited by the American Academy of Colleges of Nursing. Make sure your program is accredited!!! It is something employers will ask about.Accreditation is a long and expensive process for a school to go thru and occurs at predetermined (by the accrediting body) intervals. Yet the school is doing things at all times to be compliant with accreditation. You can read more about it and the process if you’re interested at the AACN web site.Some schools only offer the classic program. Others offer other programs. Since you are asking about RN and so on, I’m guessing that you are not already an RN, so I haven’t talked about bridge aka 2 plus 2 or the other varieties of programs that have someone with an ADN (associate’s degree rather than BSN) come back to complete their BSN.Faculty are usually experts in their content area or can get guest speakers who are. It is important to recognize what it takes to get and maintain that expertise and faculty can’t be experts at everything, anymore than a nurse can. You may see team teaching. For example, I used to teach acute care adult content with someone with a peds background as our course was acute care across the lifespan. I don’t do babies, mamas or peds. Makes warding sign, hides. I do not have any expertise in that area. And I would arrange guest speakers when there was a topic that I knew less about or when I could get someone who did whatever it was full time. So having a master’s prepared, certified wound and ostomy nurse come and talk about the niceties of wounds and ostomies is a win for everyone! Plus the students don’t have to hear me droning on anymore.Okay, I’m getting silly so time to stop. Hope this proves helpful to you. Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Depending on where you are planning to live and work.Nursing shortage never really stopped - but a few years ago, things were bad, so older nurses weren’t retiring fast enough. New grads (that what you will be) weren’t getting hired that quickly.It’s changed. Many new grads I know get hired right out of school. There are usually two windows - one in Winter and one in the beginning of the Summer, when HR accepts those applications. You need to get a letter of reference from one of your teachers, and I suggest you don’t wait until the last week or day to ask.Best wishes

Q. Can someone do a sub-internship in the USA, being a medical graduate?A. My standard answer would have been sub-internships are reserved for medical students who have not graduated. Until I saw this listing:Postgraduate Sub-Internship ProgramOtherwise, graduated physicians can apply for observerships which may or may not allow much direct patient care. Below are programs for IMG listed with the AMA.Observership Programs for International Medical GraduatesObserverships are designed to help international medical graduates (IMGs) adapt to the practice of medicine in the United States. Review the list of observerships that have registered with the AMA.American International Integrated Observership Program (MedicalObs)New applications are being accepted for 2018 positions at this time. Scholarships now available for highly competitive candidates.At MedicalObs, our focus is on the applicant’s experience. While there are many programs to choose from to help better prepare for entry into U.S. medical residency programs, what distinguishes us is our customized, integrated and individualized program curriculum designed to formulate an action plan to set applicants apart from the competition. Our values and philosophies are centered around the importance of personal growth, innovation, communication, commitment, teamwork and reliability.Length of Program4-12 weeksPreceptorsMedical Director for Hospitalist Program, Internal Medicine Physicians, Emergency Medicine Physicians, Psychiatry, SubspecialistsProgram OverviewObserving with U.S. licensed physicians in a hospital-based settingPerformance and evaluation review with chairman/program director*Letter of recommendation from chairman/program director*Certificate of completion with honors from AIIOP-MedicalObs*Review and edit of personal statement for residency applicationLive mock interview seminarsComplex clinical case reviews and live didactic sessionsAccent reduction and dialect coaching coursesAttending colloquium guest speaker series run by U.S. physician leaders and coachesExclusive alumni membership network with U.S. physicians via MedicalObsIntegrated cultural experiences with local community groups and social events*Based on a successful performance/evaluationEligibility CriteriaForeign medical graduates (FMG) from medical school and ECFMG certifiedU.S. senior graduatesU.S. FMGsNonmatched residency graduatesRecommend completion of USMLE Step 1 and Step 2Applications for Observers/PreceptorsGo to www.MedicalObs.com, click on the “apply now” section to fill out formsFor questions and enrollment, email us at [email protected] us via phone at 1 (833) 876-3627 or 1 (833) USMDOBSApplication DeadlinesWe screen applications year round.We accept and screen applications from all countries.Tuition and fees to be paid in full prior to start.AmeriClerkships Postgraduate Subinternships With Residency ProgramsLength of ProgramMinimum 4 weeks; maximum 48 weeks. Start in as little as 2 weeks.​PreceptorsProgram Directors (PDs), Associate PDs, Residency Program Faculty, Teaching Attending Physicians and ResidentsProgram OverviewAmeriClerkships Medical Society (AMS), in partnerships with Graduate Medical Education (GME) departments offers a rare opportunity for medical graduate members of AMS to enroll in Postgraduate Subinternships (PGSIs) in over 30 specialties.PGSIs are designated as AMS-PGY1CONNECT sites, meaning that AMS members have secured residency interviews and even “matched” into such hospital(s).A typical “matched” AMS member who has matched into a PGSI residency program has:Completed 12-28 weeks of PGSISecured 2-4 letters of reference directly from PGSI supervising attendingsIs a U.S. citizen or permanent residentPassed USMLE Step 3By enrolling as an AMS PGSI, medical graduates may expect to gain first-hand exposure to the inner workings of U.S. GME and medical residencies (even in 100% inpatient settings), and develop into an effective PGY1 by learning how to:Become an integral member of U.S. medical residency teams who manage acute and chronic medical problemsRotate and collaborate with top residency program faculties, teaching attending physicians, chief residents and even program directorsParticipate in teaching rounds, and possibly present in journal clubs and residency conferencesRefine history taking and physical examination skillsFormulate problem lists, prioritize medical problems, select laboratory and ancillary tests, as well as institute drug and supportive therapiesUtilize subspecialty consultative servicesDevelop definitive plans for ongoing care and follow-up of dismissed patientsUpon satisfactory completion of each PGSI clinical block, AMS PGSI will be evaluated based on the 6 ACGME Core Competencies, and may request a performance-based letter of recommendation on official GME/teaching hospital letterhead.For questions and enrollment, please contact AmeriClerkships Medical Society directly at +1 (949) 417-8980, or visit the website.Bridgeport Family Medicine Externship/Preceptorship ProgramBridgeport Family Medicine offers real hands-on experience in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and urgent care medicine. The program is structured as a "mini residency program" to prepare IMGs for the U.S. medical system by using state of the art EMR/HER systems.Length of the Program:4-12 weeks, extern may start any Monday of the weekProgram OverviewThe extern interviews the patient, performs the physical exam along with attending physician and discusses differential diagnoses, management options, labs, imaging and forms a management plan. In addition, the extern will:See and manage patients with their preceptorLearn on a state-of-the-art Electronic Medical RecordImprove physical examination skillsImprove patient note taking skillsImprove history taking skillsLearn to perform EKG, Phlebotomy, PFTs and UADiscuss family medicine topics and the latest guidelines on a daily basisFor more details, visit www.usmedicalextern.com or email: [email protected] Medicine® Physician Refresher/Re-entry PreceptorshipDrexel University College of Medicine has a tuition-based structured preceptorship/observership for IMGs preparing for a U.S. residency. Preceptorships are offered in internal medicine, pediatrics, OB-GYN, surgery and anesthesia. Rotations are all on the main university campus in Philadelphia.Length of Program6-week rotations; repeatable once. The course starts on the 1st Monday of every month and is first come, first serve. The application process takes 4–6 weeks.Program OverviewAttend inpatient and outpatient rounds, core conferences, lecture and learn about medical care in the United StatesAttend didactics: morning reports, noon reports, grand rounds and clinical case discussionsHomework will be assigned to hone in on medical knowledge, clinical reasoning and communication skillsMeet weekly with preceptor to review the exercises and receive feedbackFind more details on the program or call (215) 762-2580.Griffin Medical Clinical Observership ProgramThe application process for 2017-2018 runs through Sept. 30, 2017. New applications are accepted during this time only.The program is no longer accepting applications for October 2017 - January 2018. All positions for time have been filled. Only applications for the months of February 2018 - June 2018 are being accepted.Length of Program4 weeksProgram OverviewTo familiarize yourself with the U.S. medical systemTo become proficient in presentation of history and physical examinations on daily roundsTo become proficient in ascertaining patients' acute symptoms and making a therapeutic planTo learn to write daily progress notesTo learn how to interpret basic lab tests and radiology data such as blood, urine serum, X-rays, etc.Eligibility CriteriaForeign medical student graduates must be:Graduates of a medical schoolMust be ECFMG certifiedApplicationsThe following are required to be submitted to the Committee for consideration of participation in the program:A completed application or ERAS application (for ERAS, months for which the candidate is applying should be indicated in the email. In the event that ERAS application is not available, a common application form can be substituted)A cover letter detailing desired rotationA curriculum vitaeAt least 1 letter of reference from a clinical supervisor or advisor, or an attending physicianUSMLE score reportsMedical school diplomaECFMG certificateTOEFL score report ( if available)Documentation of up-to-date immunization record (including flu shot during flu season (Oct-March)Proof of health insurance coverageA recent photograph for identificationCopy of passport and valid visaApplication DeadlineA completed application must be received no later than Oct. 1Formal start date is usually the first working day of a calendar monthTiming is at the discretion of the program coordinator and teaching service schedulesVisit Griffin Medical’s website for more details and to apply.International Observership ProgramAllegheny General and West Penn hospitals host observers from around the world. This program was designed for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, medical students, physiotherapists, technologists, technicians and health administrators.Length of Program4 weeksThe observership is a specific exchange program in which the observer accompanies the medical staff through their daily hospital routine, sharing experiences with doctors, residents, staff and students. This program is not for academic credit.Program OverviewObservation of the clinical care of patientsParticipation in lectures, grand round and other related eventsNo privileges are granted to participate in the clinical treatment of patients to assist in any medical procedures, test or surgeriesFor inquiries about international educational opportunities available through Allegheny General, call International Services (412) 359-5269 or email [email protected] Memorial HospitalIt is the policy of the Public Health Trust to accept physicians or resident physicians desiring to participate as an observer/rotator at Jackson Health System facilities. All requests for observer/rotators must be reviewed and approved by Risk Management.Length of ProgramObserverships may last up to 4 weeks (1 month), longer if written approval by the department is obtained.Program OverviewThe individual desiring to participate must provide the Office of Physician Services all required documentation as set forth in this policy in order to be considered for a rotation or observership. Jackson Health System will not provide professional liability coverage for any resident for an outside institution. If the home institution will not provide the coverage, then they will be classified as observer status only. An observer is a health care professional or student who will not provide patient care or have direct patient contact. Observers differ from students in an academic program in that the observership is not an educational requirement of any academic program (see administrative policy 389 for students).Observer may be one of the following:Physicians (foreign or domestic)Registered nurses (foreign or domestic)Other health professionals (e.g. radiology, respiratory therapy, psychology, pharmacy technicians, etc.)Students not covered under an existing affiliation agreementObserverships may be in an inpatient or outpatient setting and must be approved by the Jackson Health System facility’s department(s) director(s) of the area being observed. For physicians, approval is needed from the associate/chief medical officer. For residents, approval is needed from the GME office. For nurses, approval is needed from the director of patient care services and/or the chief nursing officer. For all other students, approval is needed from the associate/chief medical officer.For more information, view the Policy & Procedure Manual.Contact InformationGraduate Medical Education OfficeJackson Memorial HospitalInstitute 118B1611 NW 12th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33136Phone: 305-585-4310Fax: 305-585-4309For more information on visiting medical students, please visit the information page.Somerset Family MedicineHands-on externship/observership in outpatient family medicine in Michigan for FMG, international medical graduates, Caribbean medical students and Caribbean graduates. Outpatient family medicine office in Troy and Sterling Heights, Michigan.Length of ProgramMinimum 4 weeks; maximum 12 weeksPreceptorNeil Jaddou, M.D., M.S. board-certified family medicine, clinical assistant professor of family medicine and community health, Wayne State School of Medicine and Oakland Beaumont Medical School. Staff at 4 hospitals and affiliated with St. John Oakland-Macomb medical students teaching program.Program OverviewBecome efficient in electronic medical or health records.Get familiar with the health system in the United States.Practice on presenting a patient and doing history and physical examinations.Learn how to interpret basic lab tests and radiology data such as blood, urine, X-rays, EKG and PFT.Expand your medical knowledge and build on your differential diagnosis.Improve your scores on CK, CS and USMLE Step 3.Tour the hospitals and attend conferences when available.Online lectures given by Dr. Jaddou on common problems in family medicine, taken from future textbook by professor Jaddou.Opportunity to publish patient education article in the community newspaper.Receive a letter of recommendation at the end of the rotation that has a university and hospital logo.Receive a certificate of completion at the end of externship. There is also a possibility of finishing with honors and student of the month award.Opportunity to be chief extern and teach others.Volunteer in the church clinic once a week.Eligibility CriteriaUSMLE not required.Immediate availability. Start any day that is convenient for you.Must be living in U.S. to apply. We do not sponsor visas.All visas are accepted as long as you are physically present in U.S.ApplicationVisit www.americanexternship.com for details on price and submitting an application. For additional information or questions email us at [email protected].