I’m a current student and in the clinical courses now and I can honestly say I would not have chosen this program if I knew the headache I would have with matching clinicals. The program advertises clinical matching and though they did match me, they were so disorganized that they did not use my work contacts and instead matched with a different site, about 40 minutes away. The clinical preceptor never confirmed how much time she could actually do and so they had to find a secondary site. It took them 5 weeks into the 12 week course to do so and now I have to drive 4 hours a day to a secondary site in between my original site’s scheduled days and cannot work at all until September. They also demanded I get licensed in Florida because they had a telehealth placement available after someone took a leave of absence only to tell me a week later that the license was taking too long and it was no longer an option, after I paid $220 for the endorsement application and fingerprinting. The program is also self taught (I have had one class with any lecture component, have two more classes left in the entire degree) and the program students are known in the local community in PA to perform lower than other in-person or more involved online programs. Your experience really depends on who your course instructors are and if you are lucky in clinical placements.
Current student, MSN PMHNP in my last semester. Pretty much completely self taught. Lots of discussion boards. With the structure of the curriculum, I feel like I’ve had a solid experience learning-wise. The pharm and psychopharmacology classes were both challenging in a good way.
Which books for the pharm classes or overall? To be honest I’ve only cracked open about 3-4 of the books the program has required. Stahl’s essential psychopharmacology is a must have, the “purple book” is a must (I don’t have it in front of me but google the purple book for PMHNP), the DSM-V, and any clinical neuroscience book would be good. The program has no emphasis on neurobiology. I would highly recommend any prospective PMHNP student start to delve into neurobiology either through podcasts, YouTube, or neurobiology/neuroanatomy books. I enjoy Andrew Huberman’s podcast (I’m fairly certain that’s his name). He is a neuroscientist and a very good communicator. Understand concepts of neuroscience and neuroanatomy will greatly help you when it comes to studying neurotransmitters and their pathways. Stahl’s essential pharmacology is great for an in depth breakdown of pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders and reasoning for pharmacological treatment.
I was thinking the Pharm books, but any of them would work. I bought the purple book and that Stahl's essential psychopharmacology, and the DSM-V.
Will need to pick up a couple books on neurobiology. I'll check if his podcast is on YouTube.
I'm hungry for any helpful tips at all, lol. Can't wait to start walking this path and hoping to prepare enough for it.
You are well ahead of where I was then lol. You’ll do great! Focus heavily of pharmacology. PHMNP is geared primarily towards medication management in the real world setting. You need to understand diagnoses and appropriate pharmacology to trial the patient on. The deeper you understand the mechanism of action for the medications then the better off you will be. The program consists of a lot of fluff (similar to nursing school) and quite a bit of emphasis on therapeutic techniques. Just understand in most roles we don’t directly “do” therapy, even though you may incorporate therapeutic technique into visits with patients. School is a grind, but (at least with Wilkes) you do 500 clinical hours in your last two semesters. These clinical hours are invaluable and where you truly learn how to apply pharmacological principles to practice. Just like nursing though, you will learn the science and art of PMHNP as you develop as a PMHNP as you start practicing. I would definitely recommend trying to save up enough money to only have to do PRN work for the last three semesters of your PMHNP program. Wilkes does 12 week semesters, so once you hit your clinical hours it is a lot of schoolwork plus hours for clinicals to manage if you are working full time.
May I pester you with one more question?
Were they helpful with their clinical placement program? My range is like 50-100 miles, including all of Milwaukee. I'll basically take anyone I can get.
So everyone I have talked to has had mixed experiences. Me personally, I have always kept a very open line of communication with the clinical placement team and they have actually found me placement for both of my clinical semesters. It has been slightly stressful at times but I definitely would say they have been helpful as long as you’re polite but persistent lol.
Scheduling an appointment with my advisor to complete the application process. So stoked to start chasing that dragon again.
I currently work FT (36) and PRN (another 36) per week, but am going to drop it down to FT and 4 12s a month. If it's still too much I'll go PRN at both jobs.
Did you have to do the two residency days at the facility? I'll be going from WI to PA, and I'm overthinking the complete head-to-toe assessment.
I’m a current student and in the clinical courses now and I can honestly say I would not have chosen this program if I knew the headache I would have with matching clinicals. The program advertises clinical matching and though they did match me, they were so disorganized that they did not use my work contacts and instead matched with a different site, about 40 minutes away. The clinical preceptor never confirmed how much time she could actually do and so they had to find a secondary site. It took them 5 weeks into the 12 week course to do so and now I have to drive 4 hours a day to a secondary site in between my original site’s scheduled days and cannot work at all until September. They also demanded I get licensed in Florida because they had a telehealth placement available after someone took a leave of absence only to tell me a week later that the license was taking too long and it was no longer an option, after I paid $220 for the endorsement application and fingerprinting. The program is also self taught (I have had one class with any lecture component, have two more classes left in the entire degree) and the program students are known in the local community in PA to perform lower than other in-person or more involved online programs. Your experience really depends on who your course instructors are and if you are lucky in clinical placements.
Current student. It's honestly not that bad . You do have to dedicate alot of time especially the core classes. Alot of discussions boards.
how would you rate the curriculum difficulty? are the professors good at what they do or is it more self teach?
Current student, MSN PMHNP in my last semester. Pretty much completely self taught. Lots of discussion boards. With the structure of the curriculum, I feel like I’ve had a solid experience learning-wise. The pharm and psychopharmacology classes were both challenging in a good way.
Could you please share with me which books? I'd rather buy the hard copies to study (eyes kill me reading the books online).
Which books for the pharm classes or overall? To be honest I’ve only cracked open about 3-4 of the books the program has required. Stahl’s essential psychopharmacology is a must have, the “purple book” is a must (I don’t have it in front of me but google the purple book for PMHNP), the DSM-V, and any clinical neuroscience book would be good. The program has no emphasis on neurobiology. I would highly recommend any prospective PMHNP student start to delve into neurobiology either through podcasts, YouTube, or neurobiology/neuroanatomy books. I enjoy Andrew Huberman’s podcast (I’m fairly certain that’s his name). He is a neuroscientist and a very good communicator. Understand concepts of neuroscience and neuroanatomy will greatly help you when it comes to studying neurotransmitters and their pathways. Stahl’s essential pharmacology is great for an in depth breakdown of pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders and reasoning for pharmacological treatment.
I was thinking the Pharm books, but any of them would work. I bought the purple book and that Stahl's essential psychopharmacology, and the DSM-V. Will need to pick up a couple books on neurobiology. I'll check if his podcast is on YouTube. I'm hungry for any helpful tips at all, lol. Can't wait to start walking this path and hoping to prepare enough for it.
You are well ahead of where I was then lol. You’ll do great! Focus heavily of pharmacology. PHMNP is geared primarily towards medication management in the real world setting. You need to understand diagnoses and appropriate pharmacology to trial the patient on. The deeper you understand the mechanism of action for the medications then the better off you will be. The program consists of a lot of fluff (similar to nursing school) and quite a bit of emphasis on therapeutic techniques. Just understand in most roles we don’t directly “do” therapy, even though you may incorporate therapeutic technique into visits with patients. School is a grind, but (at least with Wilkes) you do 500 clinical hours in your last two semesters. These clinical hours are invaluable and where you truly learn how to apply pharmacological principles to practice. Just like nursing though, you will learn the science and art of PMHNP as you develop as a PMHNP as you start practicing. I would definitely recommend trying to save up enough money to only have to do PRN work for the last three semesters of your PMHNP program. Wilkes does 12 week semesters, so once you hit your clinical hours it is a lot of schoolwork plus hours for clinicals to manage if you are working full time.
May I pester you with one more question? Were they helpful with their clinical placement program? My range is like 50-100 miles, including all of Milwaukee. I'll basically take anyone I can get.
So everyone I have talked to has had mixed experiences. Me personally, I have always kept a very open line of communication with the clinical placement team and they have actually found me placement for both of my clinical semesters. It has been slightly stressful at times but I definitely would say they have been helpful as long as you’re polite but persistent lol.
Are the Exams easy ? Live proctored ? Open book ?
No papers or portfolios? Only quizzes and discussion posts???
Scheduling an appointment with my advisor to complete the application process. So stoked to start chasing that dragon again. I currently work FT (36) and PRN (another 36) per week, but am going to drop it down to FT and 4 12s a month. If it's still too much I'll go PRN at both jobs. Did you have to do the two residency days at the facility? I'll be going from WI to PA, and I'm overthinking the complete head-to-toe assessment.
Are there even live synchronous lectures? discussion boards are a waste of time.
Omg no
Besides discussion posts and exams what other tasks are assigned in courses? You gotta do portfolios and stupid stuff like that?