Program Requirements & Curriculum

• Cumulation of at least 20 credit hours of PATH 7970 (PhD Thesis Research). Each semester all students must complete 9 credit hours in total made up of classes and PhD thesis research. Over the summer students that used Tuition Benefit (TBP) in the Fall or Spring prior, will register for 3 credits of Thesis Research. Those that are on T32, F awards, or have exceeded their TBP, or used XTB should check with Kim Springer prior to registering for Summer courses. 
• Teaching Assistant (TA) duty is required for one semester or two half-semester courses, regardless of the source of individual stipends, for all students who have entered the M&I Graduate Program. Available TA assignments can be obtained from Kim Springer for various courses offered by the departments who participate in the combined MB/BC programs. International students are required to successfully pass a SPEAK test and attend the International TA Program Workshop prior to fulfilling their TA responsibilities. MD/PhD students are not required to fulfill this TA duty requirement.
• Ethics Training An examination of research integrity and other ethical issues involved in scientific research. Topics may include scientific fraud, conflicts of interest, plagiarism and authorship designation, and the role of science in formulating social policy. The MBIOL 7570 and PATH 7800 courses are designed for graduate students, post-docs and regular faculty in the sciences. These courses are mandatory for all M&I Gradua­te students, but students admitted from the MB/BC program are exempt if they have already taken these courses in their first year.
• NIH F31 / F30 proposal After completing your qualifying exam, the “PATH 7150-001: Hypothesis design and Scientific Writing” course will take you through mentored writing of an NIH F31 / F30 proposal that can be used to craft other grant applications.

Elective Courses

Regardless of the M&I Graduate Program track, you can choose electives to tailor your studies to your interests. It is advisable to talk with your thesis advisor about your elective choices.  You will need to take at least one graduate-level didactic course (numbered 6000 or above) and at least one graduate-level special topics course (numbered 6000 or above).  The specific elective courses you choose must be approved by your Thesis Advisor and/or Thesis Advisory Committee. Courses numbered 5000-5999 may be taken for graduate credit with prior approval by the student's Thesis Advisor and/or Thesis Advisory Committee.
Elective courses might change from year to year but possible electives include: