Expert: Bruce - 12/17/2008

Question
I am interested in becoming a neonatal Nurse Practitioner.  I am going to go to Virginia Highlands community college for my basics and to become a registered Nurse but i do not know where to go after that.  I need to find a school where i can take classes and become a pediatrician then become a neonatologist.  i need your help finding the right college for me to go to.  I live in Abingdon, VA so i need a college somewhere near there.

Thanks,
Amanda

Answer
Hi Amanda,

Thanks for your question.

You actually ask about 2 different careers here. Nurse practitioner and pediatrician require different levels of education and training.

Pediatrician - 4 years for bachelors degree, 3-4 years of medical school and residency, possible additional specialist study after that. Results in MD degree.

NP - 4 years for BA or BS and then a specialized program for NP, which I believe is 2 years. Does not result in MD.


As far as I know, what you need to do is to complete your bachelors degree, and it probably can be in nursing or in the sciences. Then you need to look into a NP masters program. To go neonatal, you will probably need to pick up that specialty through the practical parts of your RN and NP training.

I don't have expertise on state of VA colleges, but suggest you start looking at VA state colleges, VCU, Intermont, etc and see what they offer. Your NP program will probably be located near a decent size population center so as to be close to hospitals.

Hope this helps.

Bruce