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PhD Course Requirements

A minimum of 72 hours is required for graduation, which includes credit earned from didactic courses, tutorials, seminars, and research courses.

Due to the extensive course requirements of the Medical Physics area of research concentration, students specializing in Medical Physics must complete a minimum of 82 semester credit hours.

Tutorial rotations are trial periods in which students are assigned research projects that help them learn about the scientific research process. Each tutorial rotation is work two semester credit hours (10 weeks per tutorial, 20 hours per week, or other arrangements that result in a total of 200 hours in the laboratory).

All first-year PhD students are expected to take and pass three tutorial rotations with three different GSBS faculty members during their first year.

Please note that PhD students may only register for tutorials with Regular GSBS faculty members. GSBS membership type is specified in red text under the faculty member's name in our Faculty Directory.

Tutorials have two main purposes:

  • To introduce incoming students to a variety of research environments
  • To provide the primary mechanism for students to make an informed choice of the laboratory where they will do their dissertation research

Please visit our Tutorial Rotations page for more specific information regarding these important research trial periods.

  • Three Tutorial Rotations

    Tutorial rotations are trial periods in which students are assigned research projects that help them learn about the scientific research process. Each tutorial rotation is work two semester credit hours (10 weeks per tutorial, 20 hours per week, or other arrangements that result in a total of 200 hours in the laboratory).

    All first-year PhD students are expected to take and pass three tutorial rotations with three different GSBS faculty members during their first year.

    Please note that PhD students may only register for tutorials with Regular GSBS faculty members. GSBS membership type is specified in red text under the faculty member's name in our Faculty Directory.

    Tutorials have two main purposes:

    • To introduce incoming students to a variety of research environments
    • To provide the primary mechanism for students to make an informed choice of the laboratory where they will do their dissertation research

    Please visit our Tutorial Rotations page for more specific information regarding these important research trial periods.

  • GSBS Breadth Requirement

    All GSBS PhD students must complete coursework that ensures they have broad knowledge in the Biomedical Sciences that extends beyond the area or research concentration. For most students this is accomplished by completion of one of the two core courses listed below:

    • GS21 1017 Foundations of Biomedical Research
    • GS21 1018 Foundations of Biomedical Research for Quantitative Students

    For students in specific PhD programs, it is possible to meet the breadth requirement through other coursework as indicated below:

    Medical Physics Program

    The curriculum of the Medical Physics Program broadly covers the biomedical sciences through completion of the following ten semester credit hours of required courses:

    • GS02 1052 Imaging Science (quantitative)
    • GS02 1072 Statistics for Medical Physicists (quantitative)
    • GS02 1063 Fundamental Anatomy, Physiology and Biology for Medical Physics I
    • GS02 1073 Fundamental Anatomy, Physiology and Biology for Medical Physics II (cellular, molecular and systems)

    Neuroscience Program

    The Neuroscience Program requirements include a core curriculum that provides the necessary breadth of knowledge and accommodates students with diverse academic backgrounds.  All students take Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Systems Neuroscience (including Neuroanatomy), and a course in biostatistics.

    MD/PhD Program

    Students acquire breadth in the biomedical sciences through the integrated medical science curriculum completed in the first two years of medical school.

  • Ethics Course Requirement

    All GSBS students are required to take The Ethical Dimensions of the Biomedical Sciences. The course's goal is to provide students with a framework to recognize, examine and resolve ethical conflicts in their professional lives.

    PhD students usually take the course during their first Fall semester. Students that choose not to take it their first semester are required to take it before they petition to take their candidacy exam.

    Students are also required to take two online modules. Detailed information on how to sign-up for the modules will be sent to students by Bunny Perez.

    • Data Acquisition and Management

    • Responsible Authorship and Publication

  • Scientific Writing Requirement

    Students may take either Scientific Writing or any Program-specific scientific writing course.

    Currently, the Program-specific courses approved to meet the requirement are:

    • GS03 1111 Scientific Writing for Grant Proposals
    • GS04 1811 G&E Scientific Writing
    • GS07 1092 Topics in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

    Students must satisfy this requirement prior to petitioning for PhD candidacy.

  • Program Course Requirements

    All PhD students must choose a primary research area of concentration by affiliating with a GSBS PhD Program. Each program has a set of specific course requirements, which may be found on each PhD Program page.