Master of Medical Science, M.M.S.

Director: Deborah Budash, PhD, OTR/L

Saint Francis University offers a Master of Medical Science (MMS) degree through a collaborative agreement with various academic institutions. This degree is offered to physician assistant students enrolled in their clinical year of training who hold a bachelor’s degree.

The MMS program consists of the following four online courses (13 credits) and is completed with the acceptance of 20 transfer credits from the affiliated physician assistant program.

Admission Requirements

• A full-time Physician Assistant student in good standing, preparing to begin clinical clerkships at an affiliated institution.
• Completed online application: http://francis.edu/master-of-medical-science/
  • Non-refundable application fee of $55.00
• Completion of, at a minimum, a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution with a GPA of 2.5 or higher. An official transcript must be sent directly from the granting institution to the MMS Director.
  • For students with degrees from Universities outside of the United States, a degree assessment must be completed, at the student’s expense, by a NACES (www.naces.org) approved independent credentialing agency, such as the World Education Service (www.wes.org). An original report from this agency must be submitted as part of the admission application.
  • For any prospective MMS student anticipating the use of Title IV (federal financial aid), all post-secondary transcripts must be submitted.
• Submission of current curriculum vitae/resume to the MMS Director.

• Non-duplicated email address

• Access to a computer and reliable Internet service

• Knowledge and understanding of the Internet and computer programs to complete the course requirements

• Transcript from PA Program to verify active status in or graduation from program and GPA in PA Program. Ideally, MMS candidates should have a 3.0 GPA in their PA program. For those that do not, a recommendation from their PA Program Director is required.
• Acceptance to the MMS program, if not completed concurrently with the PA program, must be within 2 years of PA program graduation.
• Applications received after the published deadline will be considered for admission for the next semester. Application and enrollment deadlines are firm.

Graduation Requirements

In order to receive the Master of Medical Science degree, the student must:

• Complete all required coursework and program requirements for the MMS degree.
• Maintain good academic standing in the student’s affiliated PA Program, obtaining a grade of “C” or better in clinical rotations.
• Receive a minimum “C” grade in each clinical accepted as a SFU clinical rotation course with overall GPA of 2.8.
• Successfully complete Physician Assistant training at the affiliated institution.
• Repeat any SFU course in which a final grade of “D” or “F” was obtained. 
• Achieve an overall minimum GPA of 2.8 in the MMS Program.
• Submit official transcript with degree conferred from PA school.
• File for degree by completing an Application for Degree (Diploma Card) and submitting directly to MMS MHS Department.
• Complete all above requirements within three (3) years from enrollment date.
  • Please note that all required documents must be submitted to the MMS MHS department within one semester from the completion of the degree requirements for degrees to be posted at the nearest University graduation date. 
  • After one semester but within one year from the completion of the degree requirements, the conferral date will be the nearest university graduation date (May, August, and December).  
  • If the Application for Degree (Diploma Card) and/or official physician assistant program transcript are received after one year from the MMS Program completion date, the MMS degree will be conferred at the next University graduation date with the actual MMS Program completion date noted on the official SFU transcript.
• Settle all unpaid accounts with the SFU Business office in order to receive diploma.

Students are encouraged to participate in the SFU Commencement Ceremony in May.