MSTP students enter the Biochemistry Ph.D. program at the beginning of the fall semester, following completion of their first two years of medical school. The MSTP program covers tuition and stipend for the student’s first year in the Ph.D. program, after which responsibility shifts to the Ph.D. preceptor.
The Graduate School requires 72 hrs for the Ph.D. degree. 48 hours of credit from medical school coursework/training transfer from VUSM years 1 and 2 to the Graduate School and count towards the required 72 hours of credit. (According to the program proposed here 15 hours of the 48 hours of credit count towards diactatic credit hours and 33 hours of credit will count for research hours).
This leaves 9 didactic hours of coursework to be completed by the MSTP student during their first year of Ph.D. study.
The 15 didactic hours that transfer to the Biochemistry program are derived from the following year 1 VUSM courses but may change as the VUSM course requirements change:
Human Blueprint and Architecture: 6 hours
Microbes and Immunity: 2 hours
Homeostasis: 2 hours
MSTP seminar (Fall): 1 hour
Endocrine, Digestion, and Reproduction: 2 hours
Brain, Behavior, and Movement: 1 hour
MSTP seminar (Spring): 1 hour
The coursework to be completed by the MSTP student during their first year in the Biochemistry Ph.D. program is as follows:
MSTP seminar (Fall): 1 hour
Biochemistry 8327 (Scientific Communication): 2 hours
Electives: 6 hours
Electives should be chosen based on student’s interest and should be approved by their mentor.
After joining the Ph.D. program, students will continue to participate in the MSTP seminar, but register only for the Fall semester of year 1 in the Ph.D. program.
In addition to the above didactic requirements, students will need to complete 15 hours of research after joining the Ph.D. program to reach the 72 total hours required for a Ph.D.
Students will work with their advisor and the DGS to compose a Ph.D. committee according to the same timing and criteria as for the standard Ph.D. program (see earlier sections of this document), with one exception: one member of the Ph.D. committee should be a current or former member of the MSTP Faculty Advisory Committee. This member can be either one of the 5 required members or a 6th member of the committee.
The qualifying exam process is exactly the same for MSTP students as for regular Ph.D. students. The same is true for all post-candidacy requirements for completing the Ph.D. degree. In terms of timing, MSTP students undertake the qualifying exam process during their first spring after joining the program, in synch with the students in regular Ph.D. program.
MSTP students are typically expected to complete their Ph.D. degrees by the end of their 4th complete year in the program (end of 6th year after entering VUSM). However, the requirements for the Ph.D. are identical to those of other Biochemistry graduate students.
MSTP students are strongly encouraged to apply for an NIH F30 fellowship during their 1st year of Ph.D. training. The proposal developed in Biochemistry 8327 (327) can often be adapted for this purpose, in which case students would likely submit their applications for the April or August deadlines. The MSTP office provides assistance with preparing and submitting these proposals.