Master's of
Nurse Anesthesia
The 27 month program comprises didactic courses and clinical experience
- integration of clinical training
with coursework is a key feature of the program, and students begin
supervised clinical experience in the first semester.
Clinical experience includes
a minimum of 550 anesthesia cases
covering a variety of general and regional anesthetics for
pediatrics, obstetrics, geriatrics, cardiovascular-thoracic,
neurological, plastic otolaryngology, ophthalmology, urology,
orthopedics, and radiological procedures.
The program is fully accredited for the maximum 10 year period by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia
Educational Programs. The 1999 accreditation site visit acknowledged the value of the partnership between USC School of
Medicine and Palmetto Health Richland Medical Center. Both the quality of clinical training and the strong coursework emphasis
in basic medical sciences were recognized as strengths of the training program.
Through careful selection of applicants, quality instruction,
and supportive environment, 97% of our admitted students succeed
in completing the program and earning their masters degree.
All of our Masters trained graduates have passed the certification
examination of the Council on Certification of Nurse Anesthetists
and have scored at or above the national average. The first
time rate for passing the Certification Exam has been 92% for
the past five years.
A School of Nurse Anesthesia Program was first
established in 1969 at Palmetto Health Richland Hospital.
School of Medicine Faculty have participated in the training program
since 1985 with required courses in pharmacology and physiology.
A cooperative program between the School of Medicine and Palmetto
Health Richland established a Master's of Nurse Anesthesia degree
program in 1993 with now over 200 masters graduates. For
more information on the history of the nurse anesthesia program,
the School of Medicine, and Palmetto Health Richland, select the
Program Manual - 2009 from the list on the left of the
page.
Currently , the University of South Carolina School of Medicine,
in collaboration with Greenville Hospital System, is exploring
the possibility of providing for distance education courses and
clinical experiences which will be designed to expand the USC/PRMH
Graduate Program in Nurse Anesthesia. The goals and objective for both traditional courses and those provided by distance education will achieve the same outcomes. Tuition and fees for both the traditional courses and those provided by distance education will be the same. The website will reflect
any changes that will be made with regards to the program expansion.
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