Admission Requirements

In addition to the requirements of the Graduate School and College, applicants to the Nurse Anesthesia Across the Lifespan program must have:

1. Current unrestricted licensure as a Registered Nurse, current license in North Carolina or a compact state or the state identified by faculty for clinical practice before enrollment
2. Master’s degree in Nursing from an accredited program
3. Evidence of a GRE score. Score of 293 on the revised GRE or 950 on the old GRE is preferred (MAT scores are not accepted)
4. Application to CMC accompanied by current fee
5. An essay (statement of purpose) in application package describing the applicant’s experience and objective in undertaking certificate study
6. For the three letters of recommendation required by the Graduate School, all must be from persons familiar with the applicant’s professional qualifications, such as clinical manager or supervisor, academic professor, or physician.
7. A grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for all undergraduate work after high school
8. A grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for all basic undergraduate science courses (Chemistry, Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Pathophysiology, and Microbiology)
9. Current certification in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
10. A minimum of 18 months of current full time critical care experience with adult clients prior to matriculation
    1. Acceptable experience includes: Intensive Care Unit, Coronary Care Unit, Trauma Intensive Care Unit, Neuro Intensive Care Unit, Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit
    2. Experiences not acceptable include: Flight Team, Emergency Room, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and Post Anesthesia Care Unit
11. Completion of an Advanced Human Physiology within the past 3 years
12. Applicants who meet the academic admission requirements will be eligible to be invited for an interview with the Clinical Program Admissions Committee. Only after a successful interview will the applicant be admitted.
    1. Interviews are conducted twice a year: November and February.
    2. All application materials must be submitted to the Graduate School and the Nurse Anesthesia program no later than six weeks prior to the interviews. The final application deadline is January 15.

Application Process

The application process requires two applications - one to UNC Charlotte and one to Carolinas Medical Center.  Only after a successful interview will the applicant be admitted.

1. The UNC Charlotte application is completed online and information can be obtained from:

Graduate Admissions
UNC Charlotte
210 Cato Hall
9201 University City Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28223-0001
704-687-5503 (phone)
704-687-7254 (fax)
graduateschool.uncc.edu

2. The Carolinas Medical Center application forms and materials can be obtained from:

Carolinas Medical Center
Nurse Anesthesia Program
P.O. Box 32861
Charlotte, NC 28232-2861
704-355-2375 (Phone)
704-355-7263 (Fax)
atriumhealth.org/education/graduate-medical-education/school-of-nurse-anesthesia

Certificate Requirements

Total = 52 Credit Hours