Military-Trained Healthcare Personnel

 

CHALLENGE/ADVANCED PLACEMENT FOR MILITARY-TRAINED HEALTHCARE PERSONNEL POLICY

 

BACKGROUND:

This policy has been updated to be in compliance with the information provided by the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) in EDP-I-37, revised in September 2019. According to current BRN California Code of Regulations (CCRs), individuals who present with relevant military education and experience equal but not limited to Basic Medical Technician Corpsman (Navy HM or Air Force BMTCP), Army Health Care Specialist (68W Army Medic), or Air Force Independent Duty Medical Technician (IMDT 4N0X1C) are eligible for advanced placement in a pre-licensure nursing program. Any nursing courses can be challenged; however, individuals must have prior relevant education and experience that meet the specific requirements of each course. The Nursing Program limits the total number of units of nursing courses which may be challenged to 8 units of nursing.

 

1. Military experience and/or education must be within the previous 2 years prior to the application period. The following are examples of documentation to be submitted.
   1. DD Form-214 demonstrating honorable military discharge.
   2. Official transcripts with syllabi of relevant military education and clinical experience demonstrating satisfactory completion of coursework and clinical experience.
2. Applicants must meet all general entrance requirements of the Associate Degree Nursing Program, including but not limited to completion of science pre-requisite courses and the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS).
3. In order to be eligible to challenge nursing courses, individuals must score in the top 40 of the applicants applying to the Nursing Program as determined by the California State Chancellor’s multi-criteria screening tool.
4. Applicants considering this option should review the College Credit by Examination Policy in the College Catalog (Under Credit by Examination) and Class Schedule.
5. Advanced placement of Military-trained students into the Associate Degree Nursing Program is contingent upon space availability and successful passing of the challenge exams:
   1. Written Course challenge exam with minimum score of 75%.
   2. Dosage Calculation challenge exam with a minimum score of 75%.
   3. Passing score on Skills competency challenge exam.
6. Candidates who completed Nursing courses from other colleges in which they earned a grade of C- or lower will not be eligible for admission to the Associate Degree Nursing Program.
7. Information regarding evaluation and granting equivalency credit through challenge exams is available on the Grossmont College nursing website.

 

PROCEDURE:

1. Interested candidates must request an appointment with the Nursing Program Director prior to applying to the nursing program to discuss eligibility requirements for the Associate Degree Nursing Program.
2. Interested candidates must complete the entire nursing application which can be found on the Grossmont College Nursing Website. Additional information that must be included with the application is evidence of relevant military experience and education. 
3. If a candidate is accepted into the nursing program, they must make an appointment with the Nursing Program Director to arrange for scheduling of the challenge exams.
   1. The challenge exams must be completed at least 6 weeks prior to the start of the semester in order to allow time for placement in the appropriate clinical group.
   2. If space is not available in the class, the candidate will be given the following options:
      1. Enter the nursing program in the entry level courses (Nursing 118 and 120).
      2. Defer entry to the nursing program and check with the Nursing Program Director the following semester to see if space is available in the class. The candidate will not have to reapply to the nursing program. The deferment can be done only once.
4. The following materials will be available to the applicant once challenge confirmation is made:
   1. Course syllabus, including course objectives, content outline, and Textbook list.
   2. Example of style and format of challenge examinations.
5. The applicant will be informed of the results of the challenge exams within one week of taking them.