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Why Creighton over other natural methods? What makes it so special? In addition to the science and NaPRO TECHNOLOGY, the quality of the Creighton Practitioners can’t be overlooked. When I was discerning becoming a Creighton Practioner, I went to visit a friend of mine who teaches Creighton to find out more about it. She said to me, “Jenny, it’s like getting a Master’s Degree. And I know what that’s like because I have a Master’s Degree. The only caveat is you have to do it in 13 months.” As someone who is currently getting a Master’s Degree in Theology and Bioethics, I can agree whole-heartedly; except that I might add I actually think becoming a Creighton Practioner was more difficult. I left that visit feeling further convicted that I was being called to teach fertility care to women. I was, after all, a long-time user of the system. “How hard can it be”, I thought? I was using pre-peak yellow stamps and on Last Day of K instructions. Because of the Creighton Model FertilityCare System (CrMS), and NaPRO, I had two beautiful babies after years of infertility. “If anyone is prepared for this, it’s me,” I so boastfully proclaimed to my highly arrogant self. Well, I quickly learned that I wasn’t nearly as ready (or awesome) as I thought I was.
After applying for the CrMS Practioner Education Program (an application that was far more difficult than getting into grad school), I received my textbooks. Each of the three, 300-page textbooks needed to be read thoroughly prior to the first in-person Education Phase. And while that was a daunting task, I was completely unprepared for the actual training.
Education Phase I (EPI) was a 9 day, total submersion into the Creighton Model System. Each day had 10 to 12 hours of classroom instruction followed by private study to prepare for the two tests that had to be taken in order to proceed to the next stage of education. The whirlwind week and a half consisted of learning the history and philosophy of natural methods, physiology, anatomy and endocrine functions of the male and female reproductive systems, how to teach CrMS, how to record and troubleshoot client cases and other random odds and ends that were necessary to know.
I left EPI a brand new Creighton Practioner Intern... and I actually thought I was going to die from exhaustion. Fortunately, that didn’t happen and I was able to enter the Supervised Practicum Phase I (SPI). The Supervised Practicums are 6 month periods in which you actually teach clients while being supervised by a Certified Creighton Educator. Easy, right? Nope. Because Creighton has such high standards for their Practitioners, Interns are required to turn in MOUNTAINS of paperwork documenting everything for each client. If an appointment with a client took an hour, the paperwork took an hour. It was intense.
After completing SPI, I had to travel out-of-state again to Education Phase II (EPII) which was equally as extreme as EPI but was mercifully only 6 days instead of 9. This was the phase where we learned advanced case troubleshooting and how to assess charts for potential medical issues and to refer to and work with NaPRO doctors. We learned advanced ethical issues and also supplement protocols. It was incredible. After leaving EPII, I entered into Supervised Practicum II (SPII) which was similar to SPI except you needed to see twice as many clients and have advanced difficulty cases. The entire program was then capped off with a 6-hour comprehensive exam.
So what makes becoming a Creighton Practioner any different from someone who learns to teach another natural method of family planning? Don’t all the methods have equally as intensive training? Well, one of my primary job duties at the diocese is to help people who are interested in teaching a natural method get trained in the method of their choice. Because of this, I am intimately familiar with what it takes to teach each of the methods. From a purely objective standpoint, the other method’s instructor training programs pale in comparison to the CrMS Education Program. Knowing all of this, you can feel confident that when you come to Groesbeck to learn to use CrMS, you are being taught by highly-educated, caring and compassionate women.