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Many of you have probably seen the 2024 US News Nurse Anesthesiology Program Rankings Report in your social media ads or perhaps from some programs you are considering attending for a CRNA school. Dr. Mike MacKinnon is here to discuss where the study came from, what data it consists of, and what information it did not actually explore. He also explains how you can use the rankings report to your advantage when looking at nurse anesthesia programs.
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View the full US News and World Report 2024 Nurse Anesthesia Program Rankings here: https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-health-schools/nurse-anesthesia-rankings
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The 2024 US News Nurse Anesthesiology Program Rankings Report – What You NEED To Know
This episode is about the US News World Report Rankings For Nurse Anesthesia Programs. I am sure many of you have seen that report that came out. It looked at the rankings of a number of CRNA programs across the nation. We’ve probably seen that within your inboxes for your email, maybe in some of your social media ads, or maybe even from some of the programs that you’re considering attending for a CRNA school.
What we want to talk to you about in this episode is looking at that report and understanding where the studies came from, what the report means, and how you can use that as you look at the nurse anesthesia programs. We were lucky to have one of the faculty members from across the nation join us, who dove really deep into the details of this and can share some information with you.
I’ll introduce him in just a minute. Our disclaimer is that as we talk about this and then look at it, there’s going to be a number of programs that are ranked high and a number of programs that are not. We are not saying, at CRNA School Prep Academy, that we believe that the rankings of those that are high should not be high and those that are low should not be high and vice versa.
We just want to really come to you and share information with you about what the report means. How did they do the report, how did they do the studies, and how can you possibly utilize that when comparing CRNA programs? Also, what should you use when you’re comparing CRNA programs from across the nation and considering which ones to go to?
I want to introduce Dr. Mike MacKinnon. Dr. MacKinnon is a nurse anesthetist. He’s a program faculty member at a highly regarded institution of training. He’s also a member of the board of directors for the AANA and also a fellow of the AANA. He’s well-accomplished and well-credentialed in the areas of education, practice and advocacy, and we were very lucky to have him come on and do a session for us so that we could dive into and look at these rankings, how they do them, what do they mean.
A disclaimer from CRNA School of Prep Academy and myself is that we are not saying that rankings of those that are high should not be high because there are a lot of great programs out there across the nation and there are a lot that are ranked high here that deserve to be ranked high and there are some that are not ranked as high that deserve to be ranked high also. This is just for information.
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My name is Dr. Mike MacKinnon. I am here to talk about the US News Nurse Anesthesiology Program rankings. Now, these rankings are done by the US News Magazine, put out every year around March or April and they rank programs every year. As consumers of education, I think you want to learn how these rankings are done. I’m here to tell you what this data means and what you get out of it. For some disclosure, I am an Assistant Program Director at a nurse anesthesiology program. I won’t be talking about or disclosing any program names here. I’m just specifically talking about the data and the information from the US News Survey. Let’s get into it.
Target Audience
The first thing we want to talk about is who was surveyed. When you’re looking at any kind of datasets, you really want to know who the target audience is because that’ll inform you about the results. In this case, 112 graduate nurse anesthesiology programs are accredited by the Council of Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs, and that’s the accreditation agency that decides whether a program can be accredited or re-accredited. They make the decision. They’re kind of the gatekeeper.
Of those 112 programs, about 54 % responded to the survey, which is just over half and that may not sound like a lot, but that’s actually quite a bit for surveys. The only people who were actually targeted were people that were found either on the website of the program or through the Council of Accreditation website, which lists the program and assistant program directors. For the most part, after my correspondence with the US News Survey people, they said that typically, it’s program administrators who would be like the program director, the assistant program director, and maybe deans or provosts if they’re listed on the website.
Methodology
The methodology for the US News can be found right on their website. Remember to look specifically for nurse anesthesiology program methodology because all of the different graduate and undergraduate program methodologies are different. The nurse anesthesiology program is what you want to look at. What was then the methodology for this? Those who took the survey had all of the programs listed, all 112, and only one question that they had to answer for each program. That was to rate the academic quality of a program on a scale of 1, marginal, to five, outstanding. That is the only question in the US News Survey for nurse anesthesiology programs.
As I mentioned, some other types of programs may have more survey data, but this is the only one that is asked of nurse anesthesiology programs. One simple question. What is your personal opinion of the academic quality of the program listed and do that for every program? Who was not surveyed? As important as who was surveyed is who wasn’t surveyed. Who didn’t the US News decide to ask questions of because it wasn’t in the purview, it wasn’t their focus for this survey.
Rankings Report: Some other types of programs may have more survey data, but only one simple question is asked here: What is your opinion of the academic quality of the program listed? Share on XThey didn’t ask any current nurse anesthesia residents in a program to rate the program. They didn’t ask any recent or past graduates of the program to rate the program either. They didn’t ask any current faculty of the program either. They also didn’t talk to any current clinical coordinators of the program who arguably are seeing on the ground the results of the program in the clinical residency portion. They didn’t ask any postgraduate employers of any of the nurse anesthesia program graduates. If you graduate and you’re working for someone, they thought you’re just great and they’ve have 2 or 3 people they’ve hired from a program and then obviously have some insight in the program.
None of these entities or individuals were surveyed in this data because that is not the focus of the US News survey. It is only focused on asking other program directors, assistant program directors, and typically deans or provosts what they think personally of other individual programs. What was not asked? Just as important as who was asked is what the information was asked. We already know that the only information asked was about the actual personal opinion of an individual about the quality of all these programs on a 1 to 5 scale.
How To Pick The Right CRNA School For You
What are the things that are very important to determine whether or not a program is right for you as a potential applicant and potential customer or consumer of education? Case volume is very important. How many cases does someone get when by the time they graduate the program? If you barely get the minimum cases, you’re probably not getting the most amount of education and experience throughout the program.
Are the cases very short or very long? Do you do a nice range of cases? Do you get to do everything? Are you doing all kinds of OB cases and all kinds of GYN cases and also all kinds of other specialty, ortho, etc. cases or are you doing a lot of just GI cases that’s bolstered the numbers? The case volume, and the type of cases the quality cases, that’s important to know. Are you getting a lot of ultrasound-guided regional block numbers?
Ultrasound-guided regional blocks have become ubiquitous in nurse anesthesiology and surgery now. Orthopedics, general surgery, podiatry, back surgery, any list of surgeries can utilize different types of blocks which are become very important for patient comfort outcomes and surgeon satisfaction. It’s become a very important part of training and programs. Does the program train you how to do these? Do you get good experience and a high number of these skills within the program by the time you graduate so that you’re comfortable enough to go out into practice and start doing blocks?
Remember, you’re paying for your education. Are you going to get the education that allows you to just start working? The only way to know that is to get some of these data points that are not part of this US News Survey. It’s not what the US News survey is focusing on. How about Point-Of-Care Ultrasound Education or POCUS? POCUS has become really important in nurse anesthesiology and just anesthesiology in general.
It’s being labeled as the new stethoscope, something that is going to be important to have. Does the program provide you or have you purchased, through a purchase plan, a hand ultrasound like a vScan, a butterfly RQ, or any of the other number of options out there so that you can train to be really good with point-of-care ultrasound? When people come in and they’re on a GLP1, like semaglutide or tirzepatide, you can do a gastric scan to determine if their stomach is full or not and proceed safely with surgery. It’s informational or someone comes in with heart conditions and you can scan their heart and see if there’s an issue or not. These things are important. That’s not asked in the survey.
How about independent practice exposure? Are there rotations? Does everybody in the program get to have a rotation? How many rotations will you get in the program in autonomous and independent practice rotations as a nurse anesthesia resident? That’s very important for your capability upon graduation. Not asked. Epidural spinal numbers. These numbers are what eventually will determine your capability and comfort by the end of the program. Not asked.
The quality of faculty didactic instruction, there’s no information on that. There’s no information on the quality of clinical sites. Are you going to go to clinical sites that are highly restrictive and you never get to do anything? You don’t get to do blocks. You never get to do central lines. Are you limited? Are you limited in your critical thinking and decision-making? If that’s the case, that may not be a program that you want to go to. It all depends on what your focus is, but these things are not asked in the US News survey.
What else was not surveyed? There were no questions to the nurse anesthesia residents in or after a program about their satisfaction with the program. They didn’t ask about board pass rates, attrition rates, or publications within the program, and tuition costs are a big one. How much does it cost for the value you’re going to get? What kind of resources exists for faculty and nurse anesthesia residents? Do they have a nice SIM lab? They do a lot of simulation. Do they have a number of different types of simulation experience? Do they use any kind of special VR, AR, or MR, which is becoming the new thing?
Are they doing anything like that? Do they have enough resources for the amount of nurse anesthesia residents they have in the SIM lab so they get a lot of time simulating before they actually go out into clinical? None of these questions are asked. I think these are very important questions that you need to know the answers to make a definitive decision on what kind of program it is to determine whether you want to go there or not and spend your money there.
Breaking Down The US News Report
What does this all mean? Let’s break it down. What do the US News rankings not tell you? It does not tell you the quality of the program. There’s clearly no association or correlation between the ranking and the quality of the program. That doesn’t mean that programs that are ranked very low are bad or the programs that are ranked very high are bad or vice versa. It really says nothing about the actual quality of the program. It just says that people know the name of the program and people have ranked it high on a 1 to 5 personal opinion who have never necessarily gone there.
It doesn’t tell you about the capability or the preparedness of the graduates of the program. There’s no information there. We’re not asking that question from the US News survey, so we really don’t know how those program graduates end up being. It doesn’t tell you a value for cost. If you’re going to spend a lot of money on tuition in the top 5 % of the country, are you getting a top 5 % education with all the metrics I mentioned or are you not or are you just paying for a name? You don’t know because this is not something that’s measured.
I want to stress that there are a number of things that are opinion-related about this survey. What is it then? It’s not scientific. It’s a non-evidence-based qualitative ranking of what one program administrator that surveyed thinks of another program and just ranks them. That doesn’t account for some variables that we like to control in data sets. They’re not controlled for here because that’s not the focus of US News ranking.
One example might be biased, friends who rank other friends’ programs high. “I know that guy is a great guy. I’m sure his program is great. 5 out of 5.” They may know nothing about the program, but they know that guy or girl, and that must mean the program’s good, but that is not objective. That’s entirely subjective. How about competition? What if someone decides to rank programs around them lower because they want people to see their US news ranking as higher than others and, therefore, choose their program?
I’m not saying that people do that, but it’s not controlled. There’s no way to know that that’s not the case. Why? It’s because there’s only one question and it is simply a qualitative ranking on personal opinion. The last and most important part is there’s no knowledge prerequisite. It’s not controlled for. You may know nothing of the program that you’re doing a survey on. It may be across the country.
You’ve never been there. You’ve never heard the name before and you just rank it higher or lower for no apparent reason. Unfortunately, these rankings then become meaningless for those programs because you’ve given them a rank and it means nothing because you know nothing about the actual program. That may impact that program’s place in the rankings, making it less reliable for any real data.
Why do some programs covet the rankings? That doesn’t mean they’re a bad program. It also doesn’t mean that they’re doing something wrong. The problem here is that a lot of deans or higher admins and programs see this as a great marketing tool, which it is because if you’re not an informed consumer who looks deep into the methodology of the US News rankings, you would think that this means something when they rank a program.
Some program administrators are being judged by their universities on these rankings. It’s not about what they think of the rankings. It’s that they’re being judged as an employee based upon the rankings of the program, if they’ve moved up every year, etc. Even though these rankings mean nothing about the quality of the program, it doesn’t matter. The truth is, the vast majority of people see the US News rankings all over the news and assume that it means something about the program’s quality when it really doesn’t. It’s just an opinion one individual has of another program they may or may have no knowledge of.
We want consumers like you to understand what this really means and what it really tells you. You want to be an informed consumer. Lots of criticisms out there. This particular article is written about called The Order of Things by Malcolm Gladwell in the New Yorker and they talk about a number of things. One of the things he says is that they rank on a scale 1 to 5 and it’s far from clear how any Individual could have any insight into that many institutions. A 112 institutions, you’re ranking them, do you really have any insight into 3/4 of them? Probably not. I sure don’t.
Penn State Law School was actually ranked in the middle of the pack law school, fifth among ten schools listed, except Penn doesn’t even have a law school. There’s another example. One of the things I thought was important from this was sound judgments of educational quality have to be based on specific hard-to-observe features, like the things that I mentioned at the beginning, but reputational rankings are just simply inferences from broad, readily observable features of an institution’s identity.
Maybe it’s history. Maybe the prominence in the media, maybe things like the elegance of its architecture. These are prejudiced in their opinions. They’re not based on good data. Another one in the Los Angeles Times says a welcome revolt against the flawed college rankings. Stanford and Columbia pulled out of the US News World Report and other programs like UC Berkeley, Yale, and Harvard pulled out for some of their specific programs. The reason why is that they felt that this was based on flawed methodology and prized wealth and reputation over educational quality.
Reputational rankings are simply inferences from broad, readily observable features of an institution’s identity. These are opinionated and not based on good data. Share on XThe problem with being a consumer looking at education is the rankings kind of do you a disservice because they can be misleading. A less expensive college might have a lower ranking in areas like reputation because nobody really knows their name because they’re not in the news all the time or they’re not like Harvard, but they may provide a better educational experience for a prospective student than a highly ranked one. You don’t know because no one tells you that in the data. The US News is not hiding this. They keep it right there. They’re being very transparent. It’s right on their website, but it requires people to do the looking to determine whether or not this is important for them or what that data means to them.
How To Be An Informed Consumer of Nurse Anesthesiology Programs
What can you do to get accurate data as a prospective prospective consumer of educational nurse anesthesiology programs in places you want to apply to? The first thing you can do is get the stats from the program’s website themselves. If they have them on there, get them and then ask questions and emails to administrators. Ask for the data that you want things that I talked about previously. Get that from them. Ask to get in touch with current and former nurse anesthesia residents from the program or graduates.
You want to get a range of assessments. Don’t just talk to one. Try to find ones all over the place, be it from social media or through the program administrator or former graduates that you know work at a facility. Ask them about the program. Ask them to put you in touch with others about the program. You don’t want just a couple of people. You want a broad range of opinions so that you get a lot to look at. Trust but verify.
Just because someone says something great about something doesn’t mean it’s great. Someone tells me chocolate ice cream is the best ice cream in the world and I don’t like chocolate ice cream. It’s not great. You have to decide based upon your lens of what you want in your career as a nurse anesthesiologist, a prospective one, what is important to you? Be an informed consumer. Make sure you understand the data that you’re being provided where it comes from.
Clearly, survey data from the US News survey gives one data point about what the opinions are of other program administrators of other programs, but it’s entirely subjective and doesn’t provide data on the quality of the program and it’s not intended to. They make that very clear. It’s important for you to know that. That’s why I made the video. I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.
Important Links
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Thousands of nurses have gained CRNA school acceptance with CRNA School Prep Academy. Join today for access to all of the tools proven to accelerate your CRNA success! Click here:
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