MTSA recognizes that there are hospitals and anesthesia groups willing to give clinical instruction to students that cannot accommodate the entire student body of MTSA. For this reason, the Senior Elective has been developed. Each student enrolled in the Practice Doctorate Program is required to participate in a Senior Elective taken during the last semester of the program.
A clinical affiliate agrees to have the position for a limited number of MTSA students. These facilities have the right to approve or deny student participation at the affiliation. MTSA reserves the right to limit the number of students in a Senior Elective at a site to prevent dilution of the clinical experience. Those requests made first, and those with hospitals already having contracts with MTSA, will be considered first. The cost of the Senior Elective is included in the tuition. All tuition and fees are set by the MTSA Board of trustees.
A list of facilities that have participated in MTSA’s “Senior Elective” program is available in the office of the Coordinator of Clinical Support.
To be eligible for consideration for a Senior Elective of their choice, the student must meet the following criteria:
- Maintain an overall 3.0 GPA
- No failures in any class
- Above average clinical evaluations
- Met or have the potential to meet all case requirements
- No Progressions Committee action preventing student’s participation
- Specific permission from the Progressions Committee if the student has been on probation for any cause during his time in the program
Students not meeting these criteria or not submitting their Senior Elective paperwork prior to the stated deadline will be assigned at any one of the regular active affiliates, including those located in other states, or at another senior elective affiliate with whom MTSA already has a current contract. In either of these cases, the student will be personally responsible for the entire cost of the Senior Elective, including any additional expenses, such as housing, travel, and non-NLC state RN licensure (if applicable).
MTSA is willing to develop a Senior Elective with any anesthesia group willing to offer specific clinical experience to students, and whose anesthesiologists and CRNAs are capable and desirous of becoming clinical instructors and are willing to enter into MTSA’s senior elective contract agreement. MTSA does not provide living accommodations for students, so the affiliate or student is expected to cover this expense. The student is responsible for identifying the Senior Elective site of their choice.
The contract must be in progress during the student’s Semester 6 at MTSA. All final paperwork must be submitted to MTSA by the end of March in Semester 7. Please see Coordinator of Clinical Support for actual calendar date.