A new doctoral program in nursing is coming to the University of Michigan-Flint campus.
Approved Thursday by the Board of Regents, the Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice degree is slated to start in the fall of 2018, replacing the existing Master of Science in Anesthesia program. The university expects final, formal approval in October from the Michigan Association of State Universities. The program also has applied for accreditation by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs, and is pending review and approval.
As part of UM-Flint’s School of Health Professions and Studies, the DNAP degree will be a three-year program designed to allow students to continue in their nursing job for the first year.
“Advancing the nurse anesthetist program from the master’s to doctoral level will provide more educational time with students, ensuring they are well educated in contemporary anesthesia practice,” said Donna Fry, dean of the School of Health Professions and Studies.
UM-Flint’s anesthesia program, working in partnership with Hurley Medical Center, already is an educational leader and innovator in the field. The university opened the state’s first fully accredited clinical doctorate nurse anesthesia completion program in 2011 and awarded the state’s first Doctor of Anesthesia Practice degrees in 2013.
This existing doctorate is for professionals who already are certified registered nurse anesthetists, but who want to advance their skills and prepare for expanded leadership roles and teaching careers. There also is an option for students to earn this degree in conjunction with the Master of Business Administration degree for those interested in leadership roles within business or health care administration.
“Besides making them excellent clinical practitioners, we are preparing students to embrace broader roles within health care,” said Shawn Fryzel, the anesthesia program director at UM-Flint.
UM-Flint will accept about 20-25 new students to join the program every academic year, said Fryzel. They are required to be nurses with at least a bachelor’s degree and clinical experience.
The new DNAP degree program will train students to become certified registered nurse anesthetists, pending a national certification exam.
