Education

Overview

The department offers courses of study leading to two graduate degrees in Physiology, the Master of Science (M.S.) and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.). A combined M.D./Ph.D. degree program is also available through this Department and the School of Medicine. It is generally recommended that students intending to pursue careers as professional physiologists should attempt to earn the Ph.D. Work done in partial or complete fulfillment of the requirements for the M.S. may be applied toward the PhD degree provided that it is of adequate quality. A one-year post-baccalaureate Certificate program is also available for premedical and other students.

Graduate education in Physiology is a highly individualized enterprise of which the formal course requirements comprise only a portion. The degree programs described here provide an opportunity for apprenticeship in research and, through this, the development of a capacity for scholarship. The essence of this type of education lies in the development of a close relationship between the student and the faculty advisor. The advisor and the student, jointly and with the approval of the Chairman of the Department and the Dean of Medicine, select the student’s Graduate Advisory Committee.

The Graduate Advisory Committee serves several functions. First, it guides the student's selection of elective courses and conducts such oral examinations as are appropriate to the degree program. It also helps to guide the student’s dissertation research, determines acceptability of the dissertation and conducts the student's final oral examination. The importance of selecting an advisor and committee requires that this be done no later than twelve months after matriculation. Changes may be made in advisor or composition of the committee any time thereafter. Prior to the selection of a definitive advisor, the Director of Graduate Programs will serve as temporary advisor to new graduate students and it is the student’s responsibility to maintain close contact with the Director during this time.