MSPAS – Admissions

Francis Marion University Physician Assistant Program (FMU-PAP) utilizes the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA) for processing applications and the FMU Graduate application Process. The FMU-PAP application cycle opens at the end of April each year starting in 2025, and continues through January 15th of the following year. The initial cohort of students will begin in early August 2026, and each August thereafter. To apply to the FMU-PAP program, you must submit a CASPA application and complete the supplemental Francis Marion University graduate application. (https://www.fmarion.edu/admissions/applynow/)

Application costs:

1. CASPA:   (CASPA has a initial application fee and an additional fee for each PA Program submission.)
2. FMU Graduate Application Fee:    Non-refundable graduate application fee ($41)

Documents that must be submitted to CASPA:

• Official transcripts from all colleges attended
• Current Resume or Curriculum vitae (CV)
• 3 letters of recommendations

• Personal Statement of 400-750 words, explaining the student’s desire to attend the Francis Marion University Physician Assistant Program. (The student’s clinical experience relevance should be included in the statement.)

Application Assessment Criteria

All applications are screened once they are received from the Centralized Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA).  (*Note: Applicants should allow 2 or more weeks prior to deadlines for completion of the verification process for the application to be considered complete.) All applications that are verified and complete, including all required criteria, will have an Interview Qualification Score sheet completed in order to determine whether the candidate is invited for an interview. The FMU-PA Program conducts admissions through an “rolling admissions” process. (*Students should submit applications early since admission decisions are offered as applications are received.)

Preferential Interviewing:

• All FMU students and graduates who meet the minimum requirements to FMU-PAP will be granted an interview.  FMU students must meet the minimum requirements after all the interviews have been conducted will not be granted an interview for that cycle. (A3.13a)
• The applicant has served and is a Veteran with an honorable discharge: confirmed with DD214 discharge papers and meets the minimum requirements to FMU-PAP will be granted an interview.(A3.13a)
• All students accepted into the PA program must satisfy all requirements of the didactic and clinical years of study. (A3.13a,c)
• A more competitive applicant will have more than the minimum required “Patient Contact Experience” (PCE), and this will be weighted more favorably in the application process. (A3.13b)

Education requirements:  (A3.13b)

• Completed Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution in the U.S. recognized by CHEA and  the USDE.
• Minimum 3.0 GPA on 4.0 scale requirement for both cumulative and prerequisite requirements.

Work Experience:

• A minimum of 250 hours of direct patient care experience (PCE) is needed at the time of application. A more competitive applicant will have more than the minimum required PCE and this will be weighted more favorably in the application process. *(A3.13b)
• (* Direct Healthcare experience = EMT, Paramedic, Nursing, Respiratory therapist, Athletic Trainer, Medical Assistant, Med Tech, Radiology Tech, ER Tech, Pharmacy Technician, Medical Scribe, Medical Military areas)

Required prerequisites (with labs where applicable):  (A3.13b)

• • Biology with lab (4 credits)
  • Anatomy and Physiology with lab (8 credits, may be taken as two combined anatomy and physiology courses with lab or one anatomy course with lab and one physiology course with lab)
  • General Chemistry I with lab (4 credits) and 1 additional chemistry with lab from choices on next line.
  • General Chemistry II  with lab (4 credits) or 1 from the alternate list with lab: (Organic, Biochemistry, Analytical, Inorganic, or Quantitative)
  • Statistics or biostatistics (3 credits)
  • Psychology (6 credits, one course needs to be upper level; recommend abnormal or lifespan development)
  • Microbiology with lab (4 credits)
  • Healthcare terminology (1 credit)

**On-line courses and labs are accepted but must be from a U.S. regionally accredited College or University.

**To benefit the applicant matriculation and to make an application more competitive, it is highly recommended course work be taken in person at a regionally accredited 4-year college or university. (A3.13b)

**Note: There is no time limit on age of required prerequisite courses. Students with Anatomy and Physiology courses older than 5 years are encouraged to audit or retake these courses to refresh their understanding of subject material.

(Courses taken between January 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021 and awarded a Pass or Satisfactory on a grading scale from an institution that moved to a Pass/Fail grading scale, will be accepted. Please note that a Pass or Satisfactory grade does not impact the GPA and the FMU- Physician Assistant Program will only consider the CASPA overall, overall science, and prerequisite GPA calculations.)

• • • On-campus Interviews
    • Candidates are selected for interviews based on their Interview Qualification Score.  All applicants receive a score for GPAs, healthcare experience, personal statements , and letters of recommendation.  Invitations for interviews are extended to the most competitive applicants. These interviews will be conducted using Panel Interviews approach. The interviews will be held at regular intervals throughout the application timeframe.

• • • Selection Process
    • During the selection process, the Admissions Committee will place applicants in one of three categories: Accept, Waitlist*, and Denied.  Accepted candidates will be notified by phone of their acceptance followed with a letter by mail.  Candidates placed on the Waitlist or Denied will be notified by mail.*Waitlist: If a place becomes available, waitlisted candidates will be contacted by phone for acceptance, in order of ranking. The program does not reveal waitlist rankings to candidates. Interviewees will be notified of the admissions decision within one month of the interview.