MD Thesis

MD Students:

The Office of Student Research has worked with the Dean’s Office and other educational stakeholders to establish deadlines for theses submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation in May 2026. The deadlines ensure that students have sufficient time to complete their theses and that there is sufficient time for rigorous assessment and revision before final approval. These deadlines are strictly followed. Students are strongly encouraged to submit their theses well before the Class of 2026 Thesis Deadlines provided below. This timeline provides students, mentors/advisors, and sponsoring departments sufficient time for useful review and revision. It should be recognized by all concerned that the integrity of the thesis requirement and effective, rigorous review requires adherence to these deadlines. The OSR will hold periodic Zoom “Class of 2026 Thesis Check-in Sessions” and will distribute reminder emails with more detailed instructions as these deadlines approach.

*Students missing the August 21st, January 22nd, and/or March 27th deadlines will be referred to the Progress Committee to ensure they receive adequate support to make progress towards this graduation requirement. Students missing the January 22nd and/or March 27th deadlines will be ineligible for thesis prizes at graduation.

Extensions beyond the above thesis deadlines will be granted only for special circumstances and must have the approval of the student’s thesis mentor/advisor, Head of Advisory House, and the Departmental Thesis Chairperson. Students seeking an extension for the January 22, 2026, deadline must submit a Thesis Deadline Extension Request Form to their Head of Advisory House, and the Departmental Thesis Chairperson, for approval. Extensions, if granted, are granted in 2-week increments. An OSR staff member will confirm that an extension for the student has been received and will provide an updated timetable of deadlines that the student must adhere to. If a student is unable to meet the extended deadline for thesis submission, they must submit a new Thesis Deadline Extension Request Form following the same process listed above. A new Thesis Deadline Extension Request Form is required for each 2-week extension period. Students missing the August 21st, January 22nd, and/or March 27th deadlines will be referred to the Progress Committee to ensure they receive adequate support to make progress towards this graduation requirement. In the event of an extension, if granted, the following absolute Class of 2026 Thesis Extension Deadlines will apply:

*All late theses require an extension. The student must submit the initial Thesis Deadline Extension Request Form by January 22, 2026, at 5 pm.

MD-MHS Students:

Consistent with degree requirements, MD-MHS students must present their thesis to their three-person Thesis Committee prior to the January 22nd deadline. Students are encouraged to start arranging the date of this committee meeting in the fall to avoid unanticipated delays. The MD-MHS process will be tracked in Medtrics.

*Students missing the August 21st, January 22nd, and/or March 27th deadlines will be referred to the Progress Committee to ensure they receive adequate support to make progress towards this graduation requirement. Students missing the January 22nd and/or March 27th deadlines will be ineligible for thesis prizes at graduation.

MD-MHS students in need of an extension beyond the January 22, 2026, thesis deadline must adhere to the same process listed above under the Class of 2026 Thesis Deadlines – MD Students for requesting an extension.

MD-PhD Students:

A different process applies to students in the MD-PhD program. For students enrolled in the combined MD-PhD Program, the dissertation submitted to and approved by the Graduate School will satisfy the MD thesis requirement. Therefore, MD-PhD students who have already defended their dissertation and received their PhD should provide this information to OSR via Medtrics.

To ensure compliance with YSM graduation deadlines, MD-PhD students must defend and submit their dissertation to the Graduate School no later than March 15, 2026, to meet the Graduate School’s Spring degree deadline for the conference of the PhD degree. MD-PhD students in the class of 2026 who do not defend and submit their dissertation to the Graduate School by the March 15, 2026, deadline will be required to submit a copy of their dissertation directly to the OSR in order to fulfill the MD thesis requirement. Further instructions and deadlines will be provided in the fall of 2025. MD-PhD students who have not yet defended their dissertation should provide this information to OSR via Medtrics. If there are any questions about the process, please contact the MD-PhD Office.

Financial support is not provided for writing the thesis.

Preparation for thesis submission begins in the summer of the fourth year. At this time, timeline and practices are posted to the OSR website, distributed via email, and reviewed with students in class meetings. Because thesis approval is a lengthy process involving three levels of review, students are encouraged to manage their time well and start writing their first draft early in the fall semester of their final year of medical school. The thesis approval process will be tracked in Medtrics.

July: OSR website is updated, thesis deadlines are distributed via email to all students in the graduating class, and an informational session is held. Students should be on track to complete their thesis research by early-fall. Any student anticipating a challenge in this regard should contact the OSR as soon as possible. By late-August, all students expecting to graduate in May must submit their tentative thesis title and thesis mentor/advisor through Medtrics. The OSR will contact all thesis mentors/advisors to confirm this role and to provide information and expectations regarding the thesis process. Therefore, students should confirm the faculty member’s willingness to serve as thesis mentor. Students missing this deadline, or whose mentors/advisors express concern regarding the students' progress, will be referred to the Progress Committee to ensure adequate support for this graduation requirements.

August – December: Students should finalize research and draft their thesis. As the semester progresses, activities should shift from data generation/analysis to thesis writing. Students should do their best to complete the first draft of the thesis by mid-late December. Because students are also involved in the residency application and interview process, they are discouraged from starting new projects at this time.

December – January: This period is devoted to reviewing and editing of the thesis draft that is ultimately approved by the faculty thesis mentor/advisor and submitted by the student to the Thesis Chair of their sponsoring department. The YSM faculty thesis mentor/advisor will be asked to complete a thesis assessment that evaluates the student’s performance on YSM’s research-related educational objectives and provides formative summative feedback via Medtrics.

January – March: The Departmental Thesis Chair coordinates thesis review by external reviewers. "External" in this case means external to the project, rather than external to Yale. In most cases, reviewers will be Yale faculty with a primary YSM appointment. This reviewer reads the thesis, completes the assessment, provides formative summative feedback, and makes recommendations for any required changes to the thesis. Departmental Thesis Chairs review assessments and transmit thesis approvals to the OSR. These assessments and approvals will be managed via Medtrics.

March: Theses and their associated assessments undergo school-level review by the OSR. Students receive YSM approval of their thesis along with summative feedback obtained during the review process. Students incorporate any required changes into their thesis and upload to the Yale School of Medicine Digital Thesis Library/Eli Scholar via the ProQuest platform.

April: The OSR confirms that theses have been deposited into the Yale School of Medicine Digital Thesis Library and the YSM registrar receives the names of students who have completed the thesis requirement.

The central role of the medical student thesis is to assess student’s performance on the YSM’s research-related educational program objectives. As such, all students are expected to produce an excellent piece of scholarly work. In recognition of these achievements, the OSR has worked to develop an award process that celebrates the outstanding research done by YSM students without creating a competitive atmosphere. Hence, thesis awards are based on milestone-based assessments submitted by thesis mentors/advisors and reviewers during the approval process, and internal review of the final thesis that was deposited into the Yale Medicine Digital Thesis Library. Consistent with all other graduation prizes, YSM MD Thesis Awards will remain confidential until they are announced in the YSM Commencement Program on May 18, 2026. While some departments may elect to confer thesis “honors” based upon their own internal review, this recognition is distinct from YSM graduation prizes and is not under OSR’s purview.

Read about the required formatting and components for the thesis.

See helpful examples for reference section formatting.

Read about avoiding the risk of copyright violation when submitting the MD Thesis.