Curriculum

Core Curricula

All PhD students must complete a Core Curriculum. The Core Curriculum will vary depending on the training area and the specific PhD degree (Biomedical Sciences or Neuroscience). The Core Curriculum provides the students with a strong set of general concepts and vocabulary that underpins so much of cutting-edge biomedical research in their area of interest.

All MD/PhD take Biomedical Sciences for the MD/PhD Student as their Core Curriculum. This Core has been developed with the unique training needs of the dual MD and PhD degree students.

The majority of students in the PhD in Biomedical Sciences program will complete Biomedical Sciences Core, a yearlong course that consists of six units. They are BMS Fall: Enzymes and Metabolism; Genetics and Genomics and Gene Expression and Biological Chemistry); BMS Spring: Cell Biology; Development and Regeneration and Mechanisms of Disease.

Some students may choose to enroll in the Pharmacology and Therapeutic Discovery (PTD) training area Core course, instead of the BMS Core and some training areas will accept PTD Core as a substitute for BMS Core. This will be decided on an individual basis and will depend on the student’s prior course work. It is possible that some training areas will require that the student take all or part of BMS Core in their second year, if they took the PTD Core in their first year. In such a case, the PTD Core may be counted as elective credit.

Students in the Neuroscience PhD program must complete the Neuroscience Core curriculum, found in the corresponding MTA chapter.

In exceptional cases, students who have had prior graduate level coursework relevant to a Core Curriculum may seek exemption from a core course. Refer to Chapter 3: Grading Policies for information about course waivers and transfer credits.

Satisfactory completion of the initial General Program Requirements (i.e., excluding advanced coursework and seminars) will be evaluated at the end of the first year in the Program:

Advanced Coursework

Students in their second year are required to pursue advanced courses that are recommended by their MTA and appropriate for their particular interests. Please see the MTA chapter for more details on the typical courses taken in each MTA