Graduate Program in Nurse Anesthesia
Courses
- Chemistry for Anesthesia Practice
- Pathology for Allied Health
- Clinical Biochemistry
- Professional Aspects of Nurse Anesthesia
- Anatomical Science
- Physics in Anesthesia
- Genetics for Allied Health
- Immunology for Allied Health
- Human Physiology
- Nervous System
- Pharmacology in Advanced Practice Nursing
- Principles of Anesthesia
- Human Anesthesia Simulation
- Integrated Anesthesia Concepts
- Radiology for Allied Health
- Biomedical Instrumentation
- Health Research Methods
- Clinical Orientation
- Critical Concepts in Anesthesia
- Evidence-based Anesthesia Practice
- Problem-oriented Anesthesia Management
- Research Colloquium in Anesthesia
- Clinical Curriculum
- Capstone Project
Chemistry for Anesthesia Practice
This course is designed to outline fundamental concepts of general and inorganic chemistry, discuss the relationship between chemistry and anesthetic drugs, and outline fundamental concepts related to organic compounds.
Pathology for Allied Health
This course will provide an overview of the basic pathological concepts most relevant to clinical applications for the allied health provider. Topics include cell injury, death, repair, and inflammation as well as neoplasia and hemodynamic changes.
Clinical Biochemistry
This course is aimed at teaching allied health graduate students the basics of clinical biochemistry in order to prepare them for their further studies. The course will review basic organic chemistry pertinent to understanding metabolic pathways. The course will emphasize different aspects of clinical biochemistry including structure and function of proteins, enzyme kinetics, metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids and amino acids. Special attention will be given to nutritional needs.
Professional Aspects of Nurse Anesthesia
Student learning is directed at issues pertaining to the history of nurse anesthesia, professional responsibility, medicolegal implications, standards of practice, ethical standards, health care systems, reimbursement, peer assistance, and psychological aspects related to the profession.
Anatomical Science
This course will cover the basic concepts in human anatomy. The course includes a cadaver lab in which the students will appreciate the detail of both human anatomical structures and their associated functions.
Physics in Anesthesia
This course reviews the laws of physics as they relate to the practice of anesthesia with emphasis placed on clinical application. Topics presented include the gas laws, force / pressure of fluid flow, fires, explosion hazards, osmosis and diffusion.
Genetics for Allied Health
This course includes lectures on basic genetic information (the structure of DNA, RNA and protein synthesis) and clinical genetics (human development, gene analysis, disease producing mutations). Emphasis is placed on the clinical application of genetic concepts.
Immunology for Allied Health
This course is designed to facilitate learning the basic principles governing the function of the immune system. It will address the immune responses against infectious microbes as well as immunologic diseases.
Human Physiology
This course will explore the concepts in human physiology from a cellular to organ-based level. Emphasis will be added in the clinical application and integration of human physiologic concepts with other concurrent courses.
Nervous System
This comprehensive course is a survey of the nervous system. It incorporates not only basic science disciplines such as, neuroanatomy, chemistry, physiology, but also neuropathology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology.
Pharmacology in Advanced Practice Nursing
This is an in-depth study of the pharmacology of not only anesthetic agents, but also drugs currently used in human medicine. The student should gain an understanding of the uptake, distribution, biotransformation, and elimination of drugs that are currently used in clinical anesthesia practice or prescribed for human conditions.
Principles of Anesthesia
Topics covered include basic principles of anesthesia practice, including pre-anesthetic and post-anesthetic evaluation, premedication, formulation of anesthesia management plans, anesthetic techniques and procedures, equipment requirements, monitoring, and record keeping.
Geriatric, pediatric, obstetric, neurosurgical, cardiovascular, thoracic, abdominal, urological, and ENT procedures are also covered, with emphasis on anesthetic agents and techniques in surgical situations.
Human Anesthesia Simulation
The practice of anesthesia is a dynamic process requiring tight integration of cognitive and psychomotor skills. The integration of high fidelity human patient simulation into the curriculum enables the student to develop their skills in a non-threatening environment prior to actually caring for a patient in the clinical arena. The human patient simulator is programmed to mimic the physiology of almost any patient. Altering up to 200 physiologic parameters of that particular patient does this. A scenario is then programmed to follow the events of that particular case. These allows the mannequin to breath, move, open it's eyes and respond to drugs just the way a patient would. The course will include standardized scenarios with the flexibility to adapt to individual students' learning needs. http://www.bcm.edu/anes/simulator.cfm
Integrated Anesthesia Concepts
Integrated Anesthesia Concepts is designed to utilize a case-based format to integrate knowledge learned from other courses, as well as advance knowledge. Students integrate physiologic concerns, gather pertinent information, formulate anesthetic plan of care and present and discuss cases in a group format.
Radiology for Allied Health
This demonstration-seminar module is designed to acquaint the students with the basic principles involved in and the clinical value of radiology examinations. The module will emphasize normal radiographic anatomy as compared with abnormalities and findings associated with various disease states. The primary effort is directed at teaching students how to use radiology examinations to diagnose various medical disease/disorders.
Biomedical Instrumentation
This course is designed to educate the student regarding the essentials of biomedical instrumentation utilized in anesthesia. Topics include capnography, pulse oximetry, invasive / noninvasive monitoring, awareness monitoring and mass spectrometry.
Health Research Methods
This course is designed to introduce the student to (a) research methods used in clinical and community-based research, (b) evidence-based medicine used to evaluate potential treatment alternatives, and (c) critical evaluation of the published literature. Lecture topics include problem definition/hypothesis formulation; selection of study design, subjects, measurements, and statistics; research ethics; interpretation of results, and techniques of evidence based medicine. Journal club forums are used to apply knowledge from the didactic lectures to actual research, to promote small-group interaction towards a research agenda, and to become familiar and comfortable with constructive criticism of peer-reviewed publications.
Clinical Orientation
Clinical orientation is a one credit course. The overall goal of this orientation is to provide geographic and basic clinical orientation to facilitate the student's transition from the classroom into the anesthesia provider role.
Critical Concepts in Anesthesia
Critical Concepts in Anesthesia consist of a series of clinically relevant reviews and examinations of critical anesthesia concepts in order to foster continued academic development and integration of theoretical knowledge into clinical practice. Concepts and principles pertinent to each examination will be formally reviewed with students on a monthly basis.
The course is designed to enhance the student's theoretic foundation and aid in the development of critical thinking abilities.
Evidence-based Anesthesia Practice
Evidence-based Anesthesia Practice is designed to enhance the student's theoretic and clinical foundations via an incorporation of evidence-based theory into clinical anesthesia practice. The course consists of weekly anesthesia seminars presented by students on selected clinical topics. The course revolves around reviews of current published research germane to faculty-generated clinical vignettes and questions. Students are required to develop, under faculty advisement, in-depth presentations utilizing an evidence-based approach that integrates research evidence into current clinical practice. Presentations are semi-formal requiring handouts and audiovisual supplementation.
Problem-oriented Anesthetic Management
Problem-oriented Anesthetic Management consists of weekly presentations delivered by senior nurse anesthesia students and faculty on a variety of clinical topics. The presentations revolve around reviews of the current literature and practice, as well as case discussions and clinical case management sessions. Patient management discussions will reinforce clinical decision-making on the basis of published clinical research.
Research Colloquium in Anesthesia
Research Colloquium in Anesthesia consists of in-depth, critical analyses of published clinical research from approved anesthesia journals. The analysis will reinforce knowledge concerning research design, methodology, data collection, statistical methods, results, and implications for clinical practice. This process will also enhance the student's fund of clinical knowledge promoting the philosophy of evidence-based practice.
Clinical Curriculum
Eighteen months are spent in clinical practice in Baylor's Affiliated Teaching Hospitals. The clinical experience covers all areas of anesthesia practice. The current clinical rotations include the following.
- Ben Taub General Hospital - 6 months (Main OR)
- Ben Taub General Hospital - 3 months (OB/GYN)
- Veterans? Affairs Medical Center - 3 months
- The Methodist Hospital - 1 month (General OR)
- The Methodist Hospital - 1 month (Neuro OR)
- The Methodist Hospital - 2 months (Fondren Cardiovascular OR)
- St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital - 1 month (General OR)
- Texas Children's Hospital - 1 month (Pediatric)
Capstone Project
The course is dedicated to the development and presentation of the capstone project in anesthesia. With the guidance of a faculty advisor, each student completes an approved master's paper during the final nine months of the clinical phase of the program. Completion of this learning activity serves to deepen the students' fund of knowledge as well as promoting the development of critical thinking abilities through critical analysis of current literature and exploration of key anesthesia care issues. Emphasis is placed on the enhancement of the students' abilities to communicate with precision, cogency, and force in both written and oral forms. Satisfactory completion of the capstone project is a final requirement for the M.S. degree