Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy, M.D./Ph.D.

Program Requirements

Dual degree students earn both the M.D. and Ph.D. degrees according to the requirements described in this section.

Requirements for the M.D. (227.5 credits)

Dual degree students complete all requirements for the M.D. listed in the “Doctor of Medicine, M.D.” section of this Guide with the following modifications:

The Scholarly Project classes are not required:

SCHI 701A Intro to Scholarly Project 1 Credits: 0.5
SCHI 701B Intro to Scholarly Project 2 Credits: 0.25
SCHI 701C Intro to Scholarly Project 3 Credits: 0.25
SCHI 702 Scholarly Project Work Credits: 1 to 18

Clinical Experience Electives

JCON 725 MD/PhD Clinical & Translational Research Clerkship Credits: 8 fulfills both 8 credits of Clinical Experience Electives and the Continuity Requirement.

Rural Requirement

Not required

Continuity Requirement

Students take JCON 725 MD/PhD Clinical & Translational Research Clerkship (8 cr.), which fulfills both 8 credits of Clinical Experience Electives and the Continuity Requirement.

No classes fulfilling the Ph.D. can be applied to the M.D.

Requirements for the Ph.D. (135 credits)

Dual degree students complete a Ph.D. in one of the following fields:

Behavioral & Systems Neuroscience
Bioinformatics & Computational Biomedicine
Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical Sciences
Health & Clinical Informatics
Neuroscience

No classes fulfilling the M.D. can be applied to the Ph.D.

For the Ph.D. in Behavioral & Systems Neuroscience, Ph.D. in Bioinformatics & Computational Biomedicine, Ph.D. in Health & Clinical Informatics, and Ph.D. in Neuroscience:

No modifications are made to the Ph.D. requirements for dual degree students

For the Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering:

Dual degree students complete all requirements as listed in the “Biomedical Engineering, Ph.D.” section of the Guide except:
- The “Elective Courses” requirement is reduced to 2 courses (4-6 cr.), and
- The “Additional Courses” requirement is increased to 66-68 cr.

For the Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences, dual degree students complete the Ph.D. curriculum detailed below.

Total credits for completion: 135

GPA and grade requirements: Minimum overall GPA of 3.0; minimum grade of “C+” in all courses

Core Courses (6 credits)

BMSC 664 Research Models & Methods Credits: 2
BMSC 665 Scientific Logic Credits: 3
MGRD 650 Practice & Ethics of Science Credits: 1

Basic Biomedical Content (3 credits)

Select one course:

BMSC 661 Structure & Function of Biological Molecules Credits: 3
BMSC 662 Genetic Mechanisms & Bioregulation Credits: 3
BMSC 663 Molecular & Cell Biology Credits: 3

Journal Club (11 credits)

CONJ 606MD MD-PhD Journal Club Credits: 0.5 (11 credits required)

MD/PhD Joint Courses (1 credits)

CONJ 640 Professional Development Fundamentals Credits: 1

Dissertation (27 credits)

BMSC 603 Dissertation Credits: 1 to 16 (27 credits required)

Additional Courses (87 credits)

Can be met by any of the following.

BMSC 601 Research Credits: 1 to 16
BMSC 603 Dissertation Credits: 1 to 16
MGEN 611 Departmental Grand Rounds Credits: 1
Advanced Electives: Any 500- or 600-level course with prefix BCMB, BEHN, BEST, BME, BMI, BMSC, CANB, CELL, CONJ, MBIM, MGEN, NEUS, PHPH, including Seminar courses

Non-course Requirements

Milestone tracking paper 1
Milestone tracking paper 2
Qualifying examination
Doctoral dissertation and defense