Curriculum Planning, Review, & Revision

The Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia curriculum planning, review and revision reflect the philosophy of the School that true education involves the growth of the spiritual, intellectual, and physical aspects of the student. In keeping with this belief, the faculty, staff, and administration shall seek to collaboratively provide a balanced program between the didactic and clinical phases, so that concurrent knowledge and skills may be developed. Learning of both intellectual and technical skills should start with the basic and simple, and progress in logical steps to the more complex and advanced; each step building on previous knowledge and skill. Throughout the entire educational process, the spiritual aspect, like a golden thread, is encouraged to be emphasized in the daily lives of administration, faculty, staff, and students, for their benefit and for the benefit of their patients.

MTSA will implement an entry to practice curriculum that has academic and clinical experience integrated throughout the program. As the curriculum of MTSA is reviewed and revised, it will maintain a balance between academics and clinical assignments. A major responsibility of the NAP Council is to recommend revisions of the academic curriculum at its spring meeting or at other meetings, if necessary. Additionally, it determines the need for changes in the clinical curriculum with input from the Clinical Faculty Committee. All academic faculty members are encouraged to attend NAP Council meetings, but especially the spring meeting for a general discussion of the total academic curriculum (program). Academic faculty members are requested via email to make budgetary requests for the coming year. These requests are collected at the spring NAP Council meeting and are submitted to the Nurse Anesthesia Program Council, which then submits the requests to the President’s Council.

The Outcome Criteria (educational goals) for student achievement and Learning Objectives for clinical achievement shall be reviewed annually and revised as necessary by the NAP Council. These objectives are to be written in measurable behavioral terms. All clinical objectives are reviewed annually by the Clinical Faculty and NAP Councils.

Curricular content is evaluated via review of the content outlines from the syllabus for each course, scores of the graduates on the National Certification Examination (NCE), which is composed by the National Board on Certification and Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA), and the scores of current students on the Self-Evaluation Examination (SEE), which is also composed by the NBCRNA. The Program Administrator reviews all formal courses and assures that specific objectives and content outlines exist for each. This review is reported to the NAP Council.

The Council on Accreditation (COA) requirement of minimum hours in each subject area is reviewed relative to the actual hours taught at MTSA and reported to the Nurse Anesthesia Program Council and NAP Council. The NBCRNA required and recommended total numbers of cases and numbers of specific clinical experiences will be reviewed for compliance. The master class schedule reflecting the sequence of subjects and required class/clinical hours per quarter will be reviewed. As changes in the clinical requirements are made by either the COA or NBCRNA, MTSA’s ability to comply with these changes is assessed and reported to the Nurse Anesthesia Program Council and NAP Council.

Planning for and recommending to the President’s Council, additions or changes to provide adequate and appropriate learning resources is a responsibility of the Nurse Anesthesia Program Council. The previous years’ evaluations of the Learning Resource Center, which include technology in the computer lab, are reviewed by the Evaluation Committee.

Recommendation for revision of the curriculum, additions to learning resources, and need for additional simulation models may be made by the NAP Council and/or by the Nurse Anesthesia Program Council to the President’s Council. The President’s Council may accept, modify, or reject the recommendation. In addition, should it be determined that alteration in the curriculum, additional learning resources, or models are needed on an interim basis, the Nurse Anesthesia Program Council is authorized to make the needed alterations exclusive of the NAP Council’s recommendations.