Mission Statement

My intention in writing this blog is primarily to keep my family and friends up to date on how things are going in the world of nurse anesthesia. A secondary purpose is to provide individuals who may be interested in pursuing a career as a nurse anesthetist or in pursuing an Air Force scholarship through the HPSP (Health Professional Scholarship Program) with the inside scoop based on my experience. That being said I feel it may be necessary to say that my opinions and experiences do not necessarily reflect your experience or opinion. I am not a spokesperson for the Air Force or the AANA (American Association of Nurse Anesthetists). I would refer you to both websites for more information directly from the source.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way let me introduce myself. My name is Brett. I am a 33 year old father of three. I have been married to my beautiful wife for going on 13 fabulous years. I live in Utah, and yes, I am a Mormon. I am in my junior year at Westminster College. I started the 27 month Master’s of Nurse Anesthesia Program in August of 2009. I was commissioned as a 2^nd Lieutenant in the United States Air Force in March 2010 and received the HPSP scholarship at that point. My wife and I had discussed all of our options for paying for school and had settled on going the route of student loans. Now like most of the Christians in the world I have a fervent testimony of prayer. Upon making the decision to pay for school with loans we took our plan to the Lord and felt OK about it. There was no heavenly manifestation or burning bush but just a feeling that it would be alright. However, knowing that what I think is not always what would be best I suggested to my wife that we pray about joining the Air Force. And so we did. The answer was completely different, there was absolutely no doubt that the best thing for me and my family would be to join the Air Force. The funny thing about prayers is that once you get an answer it is hard to go back to what you wanted to begin with, especially when there was such a distinct and palpable difference in the answers. So, obviously we took a leap of faith and accepted a commission with the USAF. The great thing about the scholarship is that it pays for all of your tuition (from the time you are commissioned, not retroactive to the beginning of the program as a recruiter may tell you) and they pay you a living stipend of $2000 a month. I do not have any commitment to the Air Force until I pass my boards and am a fully qualified CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist). Then I will attend Commissioned Officers Training for five weeks in Alabama. I will then be recommissioned into the Nurse Corp as a Captain (because of how many civilian years of experience I have, 2 years civilian exp. counts as 1 military year of exp.). Then I go directly to my first duty station. I was asked to pick my top 5 base choices for my first duty station which were: Langley, Virginia; San Antonio, TX; Dayton, Ohio; Colorado Springs, CO; and Eglin, FL. I owe the Air Force three years of active duty service and 5 years of inactive reserve after which we will be done, unless of course we decide to make a career of it.