General Requirements

The course requirements for the doctorate program in Investigative Medicine are completion of six required courses plus two electives, either in laboratory-based patient-oriented research or clinically-based patient-oriented research.

Most required courses are to be completed by the end of the first year of study. Before registering for a second year of study, students must have completed IMED 5630, Ethical Issues in Biomedical Research. Electives are often taken in the second year with the expectation that the courses will be completed by the end of the second year of study. The Director of Graduate Studies provides approval of the course selections by the students.

Students are required to hold their first qualifying committee meeting by January 31 of the first year at which time the preliminary prospectus is presented, reading topics for the directed reading course (IMED 5635) are assigned, and an estimated timeline is set for the comprehensive qualifying examination.

To be eligible to take the comprehensive qualifying examination, students must achieve the grade of Honors in two courses (one course if a full-year course), have a minimum grade average of High Pass, and have completed a minimum of six courses.

To be admitted to candidacy, students must pass both a written and oral comprehensive qualifying examination (the prospectus examination) and submit a thesis prospectus that has been approved by their qualifying committee. To be eligible for the comprehensive qualifying exam, students must achieve a grade of Honors in two courses, have a minimum grade average of High Pass, and have completed at least six courses.

Students admitted to candidacy will then continue their dissertation research. Oversight during this period will be provided by the student's thesis committee. Thesis committee meetings are required at 6-month intervals throughout the duration of training. The remaining degree requirements include completion of the dissertation, writing of the dissertation, and its oral defense. It is expected that students will complete the program in three to five years. There is no foreign language requirement.