Graduate Level Midwifery Education
Educational Achievements of Certified Nurse Midwives and Certified Midwives
Along with other misconceptions regarding nurse-midwifery practice is the idea that CNMs/CMs are inadequately educated when compared with physicians. Historically, with the advent of obstetrical physicians, and with the medicalization of normal women experiencing normal childbirth, anything short of a traditional medical school education has been considered inferior. As previously mentioned, certified nurse-midwifery education has never proposed to confer skills specific to a medical model of care, although there is expected overlap between models for certain aspects of care.
Different Educational Paths
Different types of midwives follow different educational paths. CNMs are educated in two disciplines; nursing and midwifery. They earn graduate and doctoral degrees, complete a specific midwifery education program accredited by the Accreditation Commission of Midwifery Education (ACME), and pass a national certification examination administered by the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB) to receive the professional designation of CNM.
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Certified Midwives
Certified Midwives (CM) are educated in the discipline of midwifery. They hold graduate degrees, meet health and science education requirements, complete a midwifery education program accredited by ACME, and pass the same national certification examination as CNMs to receive the professional designation of CM. CMs are not attached to a background in nursing and enter the profession of midwifery without undergraduate nursing degrees, yet they function in the same capacity and with the same post-baccalaureate midwifery education, competencies, and skills as a CNM. The only significant difference between a CM and CNM is that nurse-midwives enter midwifery from a nursing background with its traditions, clinical skills, biases and problematic relationships with medicine. CMs enter the profession of midwifery free from the influences of traditional nursing.
Graduate Level Degrees In Midwifery
The ACNM, ACME and AMCB consider a graduate level degree as the basic foundation for nurse-midwifery practice. All students must achieve the Core Competencies for Basic Midwifery Practice, whether this is accomplished at a master’s or doctorate level. Nurse-Midwifery in America became legalized and accepted as a healthcare profession due, in large part, to its association with nursing. Most midwifery education programs are associated with schools of nursing. Following is a partial list of colleges and universities that currently have post-baccalaureate midwifery education programs. 1
1 1. Baylor University, 2. Baystate Medical Center, 3. Bethel University, 4.California State University, 5. Fullerton Case Western Reserve University, 6.Columbia University, 6. East Carolina University, 7. Emory University, 8. Fairfield University, 9. Frontier Nursing University, 10. Georgetown University,11. Georgia College and State University, 12. Keiser University, 13. Marquette University, 14.Midwifery Institute at Jefferson College of Health Professions, 15.New York University, 16 Ohio State University, 17. Oregon Health Sciences University, 18. Rutgers College of Biomedical Health Sciences, 19. Seattle University, 20. Shenandoah University, 21. State University of New York (SUNY), Stony Brook University, 22. Texas Tech University, 23. University of California at San Francisco, 24. University of Cincinnati, 25. University of Colorado, 26. University of Illinois, 27. University of Kansas,28. University of Michigan, 29. University of Minnesota, 30. University of New Mexico, 31. University of Pennsylvania, 32. University of Pittsburgh,33. University of Utah,34. University of Washington, 35. Vanderbilt University, 36. Wayne State University, 37. Yale University.
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