Medical Scientist Training Program

Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) Curriculum

Offered jointly by the School of Medicine and Graduate School, the MSTP curriculum prepares future academic medicine leaders through a strong foundation in clinical medicine and rigorous scientific training.

Your Curriculum Map

The curriculum path, typically completed in seven years, includes two years of medical school (M1 and M2), three to four years of graduate research (G1–G4), and then a return to medical school to complete one immersion year (clinical training combined with didactic training).

  • Year 1: Foundational Medical Knowledge
    • Preclinical coursework: Anatomy, histology, physiology, pathology, and foundational sciences taught in lecture, team-based settings, and small-group case-based learning format
    • Physical Diagnosis: Introduction to clinical knowledge and skills essential for performing a medical history and physical examination. This course takes place in lectures, simulation centers, observed clinical encounters, outpatient clinics and the hospital setting and exposes students to hands-on patient care in the first month of medical school.
    • Learning Communities: Groups of students and faculty nurturing clinical reasoning, critical thinking, ethics, bias, leadership, health care policy and more
    • Foundations of Health Care Delivery: Integrate patient care with other health professions and systems knowledge in the context of social determinants of health, settings of care, and patient safety.
    • MSTP Seminar: Students, residents, and faculty members meet for journal club presentations, clinical cases, extra-curricular academic and wellness activities
    • Foundations of Biomedical Research I: Students learn how to critically review research articles, conduct robust statistical analyses, and conduct reproducible research
    • Laboratory Rotation: Lab rotations last approximately three weeks and are selected with the guidance of the MSTP Leadership Team
  • Year 2: Foundational Clinical Care
    • Six blocks of clinical clerkships: Internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, neurology, psychiatry, and time for elective opportunities
    • Diagnostics and Therapeutics: Focuses on the strengths and limitation of different clinical labs and treatment approaches
    • Continuation of: Learning Communities, Foundations of Health Care Delivery, MSTP Seminar
    • Foundations of Biomedical Research II: tailored to the interests of individual students and mentors, with emphasis on examining papers foundational to the students’ field of research, examining advanced scientific rigor and reproducibility concepts, and surveying the process of applying and reviewing individual fellowships.
    • Laboratory Rotation(s): A minimum of two lab rotations are required with room for additional optional rotations if desired
  • Years 3-6: Graduate Research
  • Year 7: Clinical Immersion
    • Highly personalized courses: Building on clinical and foundational scientific knowledge through clinical engagement in areas of interest
    • Leadership Workshop 2: Provides continued leadership training to MSTP students in their final clinical year of medical school to build on concepts from Leadership Workshop 1 during graduate school
    • Application to residency
    • Continuation of: Learning Communities, Foundations of Health Care Delivery, MSTP Seminar

Advising College

The Vanderbilt MSTP advising system is organized into four colleges, each comprising 3–4 students per class year (M1–M2–G Phase–M4) and led by three faculty advisors. Each college also includes 2–3 Associate College Advisors—physician-scientists in residency or fellowship—and a student-led Advisory Board that helps coordinate programmingand advisor engagement.

These advising colleges foster community, promote interclass connections, and offer both peer and faculty mentoring. They meet regularly for social and professional development events, and are designed to:

  • Facilitate interclass mentoring and build a broad advising network
  • Support students through key transitions (e.g., entering med school, starting research, returning to clinical training)
  • Identify and assist students facing challenges at any stage
  • Encourage lasting faculty-student relationships
  • Provide career guidance and connect students to specialized resources
  • Engage MSTP alumni and the broader physician-scientist community

Sample MSTP Year 1 Curriculum

A sample weekly schedule for a first year MSTP, with a mix of lectures, labs, and independent study.