This page was last updated in 2022.
The complexity and diversity of available clinical services is one of USC Medical Center’s most compelling recruiting advantages.
University of Southern California Nurse Anesthesia Program
USC Medical Center
Department of Anesthesiology
Keck School of Medicine
1540 Alcazar Street
CHP #205
Los Angeles, CA 90089-9012
Contact Information
Elizabeth Blu Bamgbose, PhD, CRNA
Clinical Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology (Clinician Educator);Co-Program Director of DNAP
ph: (323) 442-8843
fax: (323) 865-9518
email: elizabeth.bamgbose@med.usc.edu
Jeffrey Darna, CRNA, ACNP-BC
Clinical Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology (Clinician Educator);Co-Program Director of DNAP
email: darna@usc.edu
General inquiries
ph: (323) 442-2037
email: uscnap@usc.edu
Quick Facts
CRNA Degree offered
DNAP
Program Length
36 months, full time
Credit Hours
78 semester units
Starting Month
June – online hybrid, August is on campus.
Application Deadline
September 30th. Candidate interviews will be held in December.
Entire Cost of CRNA School for University of Southern California Nurse Anesthesia Program
Tuition is calculated at the 2019-2020 rate. Tuition at most schools increases each academic year. Over the duration of the program, expect to pay a tuition that is 5% to 15% higher than what is shown here.
Cost of Tuition: $150,384
Fees and expenses: $4,434
Grand Total: $154,818
Tuition link
Class Size
16 – 20 students
Number of Applicants
2020: 86 applicants, 20 accepted.
CRNA Training
Consistent with most nurse anesthetist programs, Keck School of Medicine is primarily front-loaded, with the majority of your core classes offered the first year of classes. Your clinical residency will begin the Summer semester of your second year.
As part of Keck’s CRNA Program, your clinical experience will provide you with everything you need to be a successful CRNA. Their Anesthesiology Department supports the busiest penetrating trauma service in the United States, and the clinical activities of the USC University Hospital receive Medicare’s highest clinical severity index of all academic centers in the state.
Clinical sites of the USC Program of Nurse Anesthesia include:
Los Angeles County + USC Medical Center
Keck Hospital of USC
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System
Long Beach Veteran’s Administration Medical Center
Arrowhead Regional Medical Center
UCLA Medical Center
Hallmark Surgery and Pain Management Center
Los Angeles Downtown Medical Center
University of California Irvine Medical Center
Raymond Renaissance Surgery Center
Students will have at their disposal the most sophisticated anesthesia equipment, including the use of the patient simulation center.
Under the guidance of expert CRNA and management of:
- general anesthesia
- regional anesthetic techniques
- modalities of invasive monitoring
- acute and chronic pain management
Program Requirements
BSN:
Baccalaureate degree in nursing or other discipline.
RN:
RN with active licensure. A current CA RN license is needed by program start date. A graduate degree is acceptable.
Critical Care:
1 year of critical care experience as an RN (Average clinical experience of accepted students is 4.0 years). Applicants must have a minimum of 2 (TWO) years of critical care experience by the start of the program in June.
Critical care is defined as the current and consistent delivery of high acuity professional registered nursing care to patients with complex pathology who may require mechanical ventilation, vasoactive infusions, and advanced hemodynamic monitoring.
Critical care patient population includes adult, pediatric, and neonatal.
While ED and PACU nursing is complex and important, it does not meet the program’s definition of critical care.
GPA:
Minimum of 3.0 (2020 Average Cumulative GPA of accepted students was 3.65)
Minimum GRE scores:
Minimum combined score of 300 is required on the verbal and quantitative sections of the GRE general test. (2020 average GRE score was 308)
Certifications:
- BCLS (Basic Cardiac Life Support)
- ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support)
- PALS (Pediatric Advanced Life Support)
Conversational Spanish is strongly recommended
Shadowing Experience
Qualified applicants will have quality shadow experience of CRNAs or anesthesiologists (no minimum hours required)
CRNA Educational Requirements – satisfactory completion of the following college classes:
- Combination of inorganic, organic and biochemistry (lab not required). Classes can be combined – all content must be covered. One semester of each (individual or combined) is acceptable.
- Statistics OR Nursing Research (one semester)
- Anatomy (one semester)
- Physiology (one semester)
- Biology or microbiology (one semester)
- Physics – introductory or general (lab not required; one semester)
- English comprehension or equivalent writing course (one semester)
- Health Assessment (one semester)
University of Southern California Nurse Anesthesia Program
CRNA School Performance
Accredited CRNA Programs are reviewed regularly.
USC Medical Center Nurse Anesthetist Program was last reviewed 05/2019. It will be reviewed again 05/2023.
Pass Rate for CRNA Boards at USC Medical Center
First-time test takers: 100% (Class of 2020)
National average (2020): 84.8%
Attrition Rate: 0% (Class of 2020)
Employment Rate: 100% (Class of 2020)
CRNA Salaries
An average nurse anesthetist salary in University of Southern California Nurse Anesthesia Program, California.
California CRNA salaries are among the highest in the U.S., largely because of the higher cost of living. Average annual wage is $227,290.
An average annual nurse anesthetist salary in the US is $181,040 (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics 2019 study).
Salaries pulled from Bureau of Labor Statistics
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