PhD and MD-PhD candidates must meet the following academic requirements:
All graduate students are required to complete certain courses for the degree.
PhD Program:
MD-PhD Program:
Concentration-Specific Requirements and Recommendations
During the first year, graduate students complete various laboratory rotations.
PhD students are required to complete a minimum of two laboratory rotations in the first year, during the designated rotation periods as listed on the academic calendar. At the end of the second rotation (or third rotation, if applicable), students are expected to declare a thesis mentor/laboratory and basic science concentration.
MD-PhD students perform their laboratory rotations during the first and second summers in the program. MD-PhD students declare a thesis mentor/laboratory and basic science concentration at the end of the second year in the MSTP.
A comprehensive written and oral examination for advancement to candidacy for the PhD degree taken in year two of the PhD program and year three of the MD-PhD program.
Students are required to have frequent meetings with their Student Advisory Committee (SAC). The purpose of the SAC is to provide critical feedback on the research plan, to assess experimental progress, and to advise the student when to write and defend the Thesis.
A public seminar followed by an oral defense of the doctoral dissertation, an all-encompassing document describing original research carried out by the candidate.
