Distance nursing masters programs
Q. I would like to study to be a heart surgeon entirely by distance. What
are my options?
A. Bogus response: Contact Les Snell at Monticello University, or Ron Pellar
at Columbia State University (c/o California Penitentiary). I'm sure that
one of them will have an "accredited" degree program that will suit you
fine.
Legitimate response: Assuming you're serious, there are obviously no
complete DL medical programs, however there is one program that is something
of an enigma: the IUHS program in St. Kitts.
http://www.iuhs.webnet.net
Note that I'm not *endorsing* this program, per se... only that I've checked
out the credentials of the top administration folks, and they're all
apparently legitimate folks with legitmate, verified ties to accredited
hospitals and medical schools, so if it's a scam, it's a *really* good one.
I've also had some email correpondence with one of the founders, a physician
on the staff of a teaching hospital in Florida.
Their program apparently offers DL delvery of the basic science and most of
the classroom/lecture portion of the medical education, and claims to
partner with a number of hospitals and residency programs in the US, UK, and
in Europe for the clinical education portion.
So... you certainly can't get a legit credential in cardiac surgery through
a 100% DL program, but you *might* get a non-traditional program that would
allow you to complete the medical program while doing something else part
time. Keep in mind, though, that at the end of the process, you'll have to
pass the ECFMG exam, which by all accounts I've heard is about 10 times
tougher than the exam that US-trained physicians must pass. Students from
some schools fare quite well, others (particularly the ones in little,
out-of-the-way places like obscure countries in South America and St. Kitts)
typically fare dismally.
I'm not sure what Regents College means by 'residency',
since they are, as far as I know, a 100% external,
non-instructional institution. Also - I checked their web
page, and they directly state that it is an 100% online
course. The only residency of any kind that they require is
a 3-day visit in the final phase of the program. Refer to
their MSN FAQ at http://www.regents.edu/844.htm . They do
require weekly *participation* for most (if not all) of the
courses, but this is a different thing from *residency*, in
which you be expected to actually show up on campus.
As for the University of Phoenix, you may have misunderstood
what you saw on their web site. They do have a residential
MSN degree. However, you can also complete the MSN degree
via their Online Campus or (apparently) via directed study,
where you (typically) email your assignments to your
instructor and communicate weekly that way, or via
telephone. The main difference between online and directed
study is that with the online program, you must sign on for
some period of time each week, and participate with an
assigned group of people as a 'study group'. The directed
study option is more or less a correspondence course...
except the correspondence is via telephone and email (vice
regular old US mail).
As for Taft, I strongly recommend that you reconsider your
preliminary decision. Taft is not regionally accredited,
and particularly in YOUR case, where licensure is an issue,
they represent a poor and perhaps dangerous (to your career)
alternative to regionally accredited institutions such as
UoP and Regents.
The mere fact that this gentleman from Taft is offering you
an MSN for a money order payment of $10,000 speaks volumes,
don't you think? How many legitimate institutions have you
seen who will do such a thing?
Would you be so kind as to divulge the gentleman's contact
information (name and email address would be fine), so that
we can engage him in further discussion of this matter?