Postmaster in Nursing - Application Process & Instructions

APPLICATION PROCESS

The School of Nursing admits students primarily for fall semester each year. A small number of students may be admitted for spring semester, depending on the area of concentration. If any questions regarding this, you can contact our office at 919-966-4260 or by email via nursing_applications@unc.edu

Fall Semester - Final Application Deadline: March 31

Spring Semester - Final Application Deadline: October 1

NOTE: Applications must be totally complete by submission deadlines.

This document contains instructions specific to the application process.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

There are six parts to the application for admission to the Postmaster’s Program in the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

• Completed on-line application
• College or university transcript (Master’s only)
• Completed Health Assessment Skills Evaluation Form
• Professional Statement
• Professional resume or curriculum vitae
• Current Employment Reference Form

1. Application: You will locate the Postmaster’s School of Nursing Online Application from the School of Nursing Homepage, which is http://nursing.unc.edu or you can go directly to http://nursing.unc.edu/admissions/application.html
   
   The School of Nursing must receive all of the above before your application can be considered for admission. It is your responsibility to check with the School of Nursing to be certain that all parts of your application have been received.
   
   Make certain that your application reflects your abilities and experience accurately. The accompanying materials should be complete, and should be proofread carefully.
2. Professional Statement: The quality of the Professional Statement is often crucial in admissions decisions, since it provides the Faculty Admissions Committee a first-hand example of your writing skills and your ability to present ideas in a clear and logical manner.
   
   Address the following in your professional Statement:
   1. State your professional goals.
   2. Describe your experience and how it relates to the Postmaster’s Program, you have chosen. Provide information about your employment, including location type (rural, urban, etc.), practice setting, population served, and your practice area.
   3. Discuss how you believe the Postmaster’s Program you have selected (Adult, Primary Care-Family, Health Care Systems, Pediatric, Women’s Health or Psychiatric-Mental Health) will help you achieve your professional goals. For example, if you are applying to the Primary Care-Family Nurse Practitioner Program, you might discuss your view of community-oriented primary care, give examples of your prior activities in community level work, and discuss how achievement of your goals will allow you to provide primary care in a particular community or to a specific population group.
   4. Describe your clinical and academic strengths and weaknesses, and explain how you expect them to relate to your performance in the Postmaster’s Program you have selected.
      
      Consider this your opportunity to communicate with Admissions Committee members about your professional background and your reasons for pursuing a Postmaster’s Program in your selected area of concentration.
      
      The Professional Statement should be three to four typed, double-spaced pages and should focus in detail on the questions above. The document should then be submitted with your application as an uploaded MS Word “doc.” file.
3. Resume: Please submit a current resume or curriculum vitae with your application as an uploaded MS Word “doc.” File.
4. Health Assessment Evaluation Form: Indicate on the application, Health Assessment Evaluation Form section, if you have completed or plan to complete a health assessment course. A course approved by the School of Nursing is required and must have been taken within two years prior to enrollment in clinical courses. The course shall consist of a thorough review of all body systems including demonstrations and practice performing health assessments on each system. The course must have a minimum of 24 hours of classroom instruction and 24 hours of lab/clinical practice. Note: Applicants to the Health Care System specialty are exempt from the Health Assessment requirement.
   
   If you have taken a course other than what is offered by UNC-CH School of Nursing, submit a syllabus or other course material for review by the School of Nursing. You will be notified of the outcome of this review.
   
   Please be advised: In addition to fulfilling this prerequisite for admission, you will be required to demonstrate basic competence in health assessment skills. You will need to do the following early in your first clinical course in order to continue with your clinical coursework; this typically occurs within the first two weeks of the first clinical course:
   
   • Interview a patient (on videotape) and write a report of the history of present illness.
   • Perform a physical examination as a faculty member observes and write a report on the examination.
   • Achieve 80% on a written examination covering techniques for patient interviewing, structure of the health history, techniques for performing physical examination, and knowledge of common normal and abnormal findings, which may be found on physical examination.
   • Transcript of Master’s Degree: One official transcript from your Master’s Program. The transcript should be submitted to:

   The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
   School of Nursing
   Office of Admissions & Student Services
   1200 Carrington Hall; CB #7460
   Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7460

5. Employment Reference: With the information that you submitted on your application, your current employer will be notified to submit the current employment reference.

If you have questions about the admission procedure, please call the Office of Admissions and Student Services at 919-966-4260.