MD/PhD Program

Contact Information:
Tel: 508-856-8025
URL: http://www.umassmed.edu/gsbs/prospective-students/mdphd-program/program-overview/
Courses: http://www.umassmed.edu/mdphd/academics/courses/

Requirements for Graduation
All MD/PhD students must complete:

T.H. Chan School of Medicine All requirements as set forth by the T.H. Chan School of Medicine.

Graduate School – BBS Track Core Curriculum

• If required by your thesis advisor, Blocks 1, II, and III of the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Core.
• A minimum of two summers in laboratory rotations; one prior to the start of the T.H. Chan School of Medicine Yr. One and one following MS1 (FOM1). A split rotation is allowed after MS1 in the form of two, minimum four-week rotations.
• MDP740 during every FOM1 and FOM2 semester and the summer following first year.
• MDP741 during every Graduate School semester; fall, spring and summer.
• MDP742 MD/PhD HIPAA and OSHA Certification during each fall of full-time graduate studies.
• MDP743 Preparation for Thesis Research; taken after completion of year two in the T.H. Chan School of Medicine, while enrolled in CCE, while completing four months of Care of Family and Care of Adult clerkships prior to full-time research.
• MDP744 Learning Communities during each semester of full-time research.
• BBS 860 MD/PhD Qualifying Exam; register fall semester of the first year of full-time graduate studies.
• BBS 865 MD/PhD TRAC Meeting every fall and spring semester after passing the Qualifying Exam and forming the Thesis Research Advisor Committee TRAC.
• MDP800 MD/PHD Seminar Series during each fall and spring of all years in the program.
• Responsible Conduct of Research.
• Basic Biomedical Sciences course, Communicating Science.
• Any advanced topic course required by your TRAC.

Qualifying Examination

• Graduate School Year One: Presentation and defense of a research proposal within six months of starting full-time research (See Qualifying Exam Guidelines for specific MD/PhD instructions).
• Enrollment in Pre-Qualifying Research until the Qualifying Exam is passed.
• Successfully defend, edit and submit the research dissertation prior to returning to the T.H. Chan School of Medicine.

Thesis Research/Graduate Research

• Enroll in Thesis or Graduate Research until the TRAC approves progression to dissertation defense.
• Twice annual TRAC meetings during each year of Thesis Research to review progress of student’s research.

Teaching Requirement

All MD/PhD students are required to complete the teaching requirement with the preparation and presentation of teaching skills. The teaching requirement can be fulfilled at any point during the graduate school program.

• The MD/PhD Student Seminar (MDP800) presentation can be used to fulfill this requirement in the upper graduate school years.
• The teaching requirement can be fulfilled at any time during the graduate program. There is no limit to the number of attempts a student may make to fulfill the teaching requirement, although it must be successfully completed before the dissertation defense can be held.
• The MD/PhD Graduate Program Director will determine if the student has met the Teaching Requirements.

Graduate School – CPHR Track

Clinical and Population Health Research Program (CPHR): MD/PhD students entering into the CPHR track will have a different PhD Program structure than those in the BBS track. Students in this track will fall under the guidelines of the CPHR Program and work on an accelerated schedule which should allow them to complete the PhD in three years. If necessary, a fourth year curriculum would be identical to the third.

All students in the CPHR track will complete the core curriculum, pass a qualifying examination/paper, and a dissertation defense in addition to all MDP course requirements including MDP 741, MDP 742, MDP 743, MDP 744, MDP 800 as listed above in the BBS Program requirements.