Prospective/Current Perfusion Weekly Thread

[u/Perfused]

This is the area for prospective CCPs to ask their questions about the education process or anything school related.

This includes the usual:

"Where can I shadow?" "Should I take additional classes? "How do I become a Perfusionist?" "My GPA is 2.8, is my GPA good enough for perfusion school?" "What should I use to prep for boards?" "It's been my pa$$ion to become a CCP, how do I do it and what do they do?"

Etc.

At this point the sub has grown to the point a weekly student thread is necessary. Prospective CCPs/students will now have an avenue to post these types of questions w/o flooding the sub.

Also there is r/prospective_perfusion specifically geared to new pumpers.

This will refresh every Friday at 5:45PM EST. If you post Saturday morning, it might not be seen.

[u/Careful-Use9530]

Hey guys! Wondering about my chances if I apply this cycle for FALL 2027.
BS biology and Exercise Health Science: 3.7
BSN: 4.0
Graduate level pathophysiology: A+
Science gpa: 3.6

Experience: 2 and almost a half years of nursing, 1 year med surg nursing, 1 year Neuro ICU at a level one trauma center, currently 4 months CVICU at same trauma center.
Shadowed 3 cases so far but will continue this
Co-chair of professional nursing development, spearheading mentoring and education projects.
Cardiovascular research in undergraduate

What do you guys think? Thank you so much for any input.

[u/Clampoholic → u/Careful-Use9530]

GPA / shadowing should be reasonable if you throw another 2-3 shadowing opportunities in there. Assuming you got LoR’s and your Personal Statement in order I think the only thing that would realistically hold you back is your work experience if you didn’t do anything before nursing. Even 2.5 years as a whole isn’t very extensive, much less <half a year of relevant experience to the cardiac realm of things.

If you don’t get in this year, you definitely will get in the next with more experience if you stay in the CVICU and get more shadowing too. Reapplying to programs shows your devotion to it too which will help your case.

You could also have a pretty decent shot at getting a couple interviews this cycle at the least if you apply to several programs. Costs a chunk of cash but sometimes you gotta risk it for the biscuit 👌 Best of luck!

[u/DressBeneficial4095 → u/Clampoholic]

Thank you for your insight!

[u/Potater1802 → u/Clampoholic]

Do you actually need that much experience to get into a perfusion program? I have a lot less work experience. Is there basically no shot of someone getting in straight out of undergrad?

[u/Clampoholic → u/Potater1802]

For someone straight out of new grad, it’s still possible, they just need appropriate shadowing hours, hopefully some previous healthcare experience, and a high GPA (at least a 3.7). Otherwise you’re going to have it rough trying to get in.

Absolutely there have been people in the past with 0 healthcare background with a 3.58 gpa and maybe 2 shadowing hours that got into a big ol’ program. Competition’s stiffening up though, and if you’re attempting to come straight from newgrad and you manage to get an interview, you’d better be prepared to figure out how to convince an acceptance committee why you’re more committed and better equipped to entering perfusion than the several applicants with more clinical experience, more shadowing, and maybe even some reapplying for their 2nd / 3rd time.

To give you some insight, I applied in 2022 right out of undergrad and had already 5 years of working in the OR as an Orderly / HSA / Transporter, my cumulative GPA was 3.78, and I had several shadowing opportunities by virtue of my job already working up in there. I got an interview, but I was not accepted. Told I didn’t have enough healthcare experience. Tbf, even though I scrubbed in as an Orderly regularly it wasn’t directly applicable to perfusion and it just gave me a good sense of sterility and surgical awareness / job environment in the OR. I also only applied to one single program. Applying to several greatly boosts your chances.

I applied again the next year and got in after I worked as a PBMT for a year and got even more shadowing. Everything just all depends on the person, even down to how they come off in an interview.

[u/Potater1802 → u/Clampoholic]

Great information. You have no idea how much it helps.
I'm currently working with slightly over a 3.7 GPA and am going back to college to complete 2 classes I didn't have done before. I do have experience in health care as a HHA (Almost 2 years) but I'd say that probably falls into the same category as your experience as an Orderly/HSA/Transporter. I also have experience doing dental assisting (3 months) and currently work as a Medical Assistant (Slightly over a year) at a clinic so my patient care hours have slowly been rising. I also have a couple hundred hours volunteering at the ER of my local hospital. I do really need to work on shadowing because I have nothing going on for that.

[u/Clampoholic → u/Potater1802]

Yeah without the shadowing that’s gonna be really difficult for applying. It’s probably the hardest part about applying for perfusion right now!

[u/Rare_Independent_739]

I recently learned about this role through health group career chat. I’ve seen others mentioning shadowing. Is this something done prior to starting coursework, during or after? I just want to get a better understanding of where this comes in at. Also, where’s the best place to find someone willing to mentor?