Core Graduate School/PhD Curriculum

All MD/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.

Lab rotations

MD/PhD student complete one rotation over the course of four to five weeks during their first summer in the program. And they complete their second and third rotations, also four to five weeks in length, during their second summer in the program. Please refer to the PhD Chapter for more information on laboratory rotations.

Seminars, Works-in-Progress, and Journal Clubs

Please refer to the PhD Chapter for information on seminars, works-in-progress, and journal clubs.

The PhD work is usually completed in four years after the initial two years of the Medical School. Students will complete the final clinical training component of the Medical School curriculum after the doctoral dissertation has been successfully completed. During the PhD phase, students are encouraged to build upon the pathophysiologic and clinical diagnosis material already mastered through continued clinical exposures, through participation in EHHOP and other activities.

Prior to Reentering Medical School Curriculum

During the final year of PhD phase, students will participate in an intensive MD/PhD Clinical Refresher Course. This is an eight-week course during which time students participate in a full day orientation that refreshes clinical skills including history-taking and physical examination skills and oral and written presentation skills. Students engage in weekly clinical encounters where they receive tailored feedback on their oral and written presentations. Sessions are geared toward expectations of clinical clerks during their third year, communication skills, use of the electronic medical record, and focused case-based pathophysiology sessions.

MD/PhD students will not be permitted to begin the third year of the Medical School curriculum after the PhD period of work unless the dissertation is both defended and deposited. The responsibility for open, realistic and careful planning is shared by the student and dissertation advisor.

Please refer to the PhD Chapter for more information on course requirements.