Charleston Southern is one of South Carolina's largest accredited, independent universities, enrolling 3,600 students. The University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's degrees and master's degrees.

Master of Medical Science in Physician Assistant Studies

Charleston Southern University's program consists of didactic and clinical academic work over the course of 24 months or 6 continuous semesters.  The mission of the Charleston Southern University Master of Medical Science in Physician Assistant Studies Program is to educate compassionate and highly motivated individuals in a Christian environment who excel in providing patient-centered care, practicing as an inter-professional team, serving as leaders in their communities, and advancing the PA profession. 

Admissions

The PA Program is committed to recruiting diverse and highly capable students for the Program. Special consideration will be given to CSU alumni and military veterans as well as for foreign language proficiency, medical training or certifications, advanced degrees, leadership, and volunteerism as we review applications for consideration of interviews. 

Step 1: Review Application Requirements

• A bachelor’s degree from a regionally accredited institution or an equivalent from a foreign institution. 
• Minimum for both cumulative GPA and science GPAs is 3.0
• The GRE (taken within 5 years of application) is required for all applicants to apply to the program.
• A minimum of 500* hours of direct patient care experience is required.
• 26 hours of prerequisite coursework:
  • Human Anatomy and Physiology Lecture with Lab (8hrs)
  • Microbiology Lecture with Lab (4hrs)
  • Organic Chemistry OR Biochemistry with Lab (4hrs)
  • Upper Level Biology, Chemistry, or Physics Courses (6hrs)
  • Statistics (3hrs)
  • Medical Terminology (1hr)

For additional information and requirements please review the application requirements.

*PCE hour requirement has been reduced for this application cycle in light of COVID-19 interruptions. 

Step 2: Apply

The Charleston Southern University Physician Assistant Program utilizes the Centralized Application Process for Physician Assistants (CASPA) for application processing. A supplemental application is not required. 
      CASPA Application Opens: April 2021
     CASPA Application Deadline: September 1, 2021
     Classes Begin: January 3, 2021

Step 3: Interview

Interview invitations are extended to the most competitive applicants for admissions. The interviews will be held during the summer of 2021, and exact dates will be communicated to candidates with an offer to interview.

To find out more about the application requirements please visit our website, CSU PA Program.

IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19

With COVID-19 continuing to have a significant impact on potential applicants, it has been decided that the Charleston Southern University Physician Assistant Program will allow the following changes for the 2021-2022 CASPA application requirements:

• Courses taken between January 1, 2020 and September 1, 2021 and awarded satisfactory completion (P), to meet prerequisite requirements, will be accepted to accommodate students enrolled in these courses whose universities who have moved to a P/F grading scale.

• Please note – In situations where candidates are awarded P/F grades, the grade point average (GPA) for those grades is not impacted in the calculation of GPA. The CSU PA Program will only consider CASPA calculated GPAs.

• Courses taken between January 1, 2020 and September 1, 2021 including those with lab components that were transitioned to an online format will be accepted if completed with a grade of “C” or higher or with a satisfactory completion (P).

• The minimum of 1,000 hours of direct patient care experience required at the time of application submission will be reduced to 500 hours of direct patient care experience to accommodate for situations in which an applicant may not have been able to complete these hours due to clinic closures or removal of students from those settings.

• Please note – This requirement will be modified for the 2020 – 2021 and 2021 – 2022 application cycles only.

• Three letters of recommendation are required for the application to be considered complete. However, only one of these letters must be from a healthcare setting. All remaining requirements for letters of recommendation are unchanged.

• Please note – This requirement will be modified for the 2020 – 2021 and 2021 – 2022 application cycles only.