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Office of Graduate Studies

Track Advisors

HSC Division of Student Services

 

For all offices listed above:
Health Professionals and Education Building 1 (HPEB1)
8447 State Highway 47
Bryan, TX 77807-3260
First Floor "Student Services"

Introduction

This booklet summarizes the requirements for the completion of degree requirements for the Ph.D. degree in Medical Sciences through the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in the College of Medicine (M.S. degree requirements are summarized at the end). The Interdisciplinary Graduate Program offers specialization in the following areas: Cellular and Molecular Biology, Molecular Pathogenesis, Systems Biology/Translational Medicine, Biochemistry and Structural Biology, Neuroscience, and Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, and Space Life Science. General requirements for the Medical Science degree are reviewed initially and specific requirements for the individual tracks are presented in detail

Overview of the Program

The Medical Science graduate program provides students with formal course work and experimental research leading to the Ph.D. degree.  Students are expected to demonstrate professional level knowledge and research skills in their chosen area.  The first year curriculum is meant to provide a broad-based foundation for students in the Medical Science program through course work in medical sciences and through research rotations leading to the selection of a faculty research advisor. In subsequent years, students must complete their formal course work, pass a preliminary examination, conduct an independent research project, and prepare a dissertation. It is expected that research worthy of a Ph.D. will constitute a significant contribution to the field in general and should be publishable in a peer-reviewed journal. Evaluation of the quality and quantity of the student's research will be the responsibility of the student's Advisory Committee. A general timeline for the program is shown below. Details and specific stages are discussed in the following sections.

Year 1:

  • Core Courses
  • Rotations (3 total) – submit rotation forms
  • Choose Research Advisor – submit letter of agreement

Year 2:

  • Choose Advisory Committee Members
  • Annual meeting with Advisory Committee
  • File Degree Plan
  • Discipline-Specific Courses
  • Start Research Project
  • Give Yearly Research Seminar – as described in track

Year 3:

  • File Proposal
  • Meet with Advisory Committee
  • Give Yearly Research Seminar-if required by track
  • Finish Any Remaining Courses
  • Preliminary Exam
  • Admission to Candidacy

Years 4–5:

  • Research
  • Give Yearly Research Seminar (If required by Track)
  • Meet With Advisory Committee
  • Final Defense

Academic Requirements

Successful completion of the Ph.D. degree requires 96 credit hours beyond a baccalaureate degree (64 credit hours beyond a Master's or Professional degree). Within the Medical Sciences program, 32 of the 96 hours will typically be in formal course work and the remainder in research hours. Some latitude is possible, however between formal course hours and research hours. Consult the Track Advisor for specific cases. Full-time graduate students supported by Graduate Assistantships must enroll in a minimum of 9 credit hours for fall and spring semesters and 6 credit hours for the summer (either 6 hours for the ten-week session or a combination of hours for both 5-week sessions). Students are required to remain in good academic standing with a minimum average GPA of 3.0. Failure to maintain this standard will result in the student being placed on academic deficiency, potential loss of stipend and can lead to dismissal. In addition to the formal graded course work, students are required to maintain adequate progress in their research endeavors and to participate in departmental functions such as seminars, journal clubs, lab meetings, and any other professional activities. For specifics for each Track see track requirements.  

By state law and HSC policy, credit hours in excess of 130 will be billed at the out-of-state tuition rate rather than the in-state rate.  Consequently, students are strongly encouraged to complete their Ph.D. studies in 130 hours or less, which is 5 years and 1 semester of full-time enrollment.

Other Policies

Absence during the semester: Students are obligated to inform the program if for any reason, they are unable to participate in classes, rotations, or other programmatic activities for any significant time (typically more than 1 day).  In such cases, the student should notify the Office of Research and Graduate Studies (contact: Rachel Levins at levins@medicine.tamhsc.edu) or the student’s advisor if he or she has chosen an advisor.

Leave policy – If extended leave (Greater than 10 working days) is requested for any reason, the student must have this approved by the advisor or have an approved Leave of Absence, on file with COM.

Year 1

Role of the Track Advisor
The Track Advisor serves as the general program advisor to Medical Sciences graduate students and as academic advisor to first-year students. Questions about policies, procedures, and program requirements should be directed to the Track Advisor. First-year students should consult with the Track Advisor about their academic curriculum, and must obtain approval from the Track Advisor before registering for courses. Once a research advisor is identified, academic advisement becomes the responsibility of the Research Advisor.

First Year Curriculum
The first year should be directed primarily towards meeting the core course requirements of the Medical Sciences Program. Each student should consult with the Track Advisor to develop a specific curriculum, which is most appropriate for that student and that meets the requirements for that track.

Choosing a Research Advisor - Laboratory Rotations
Students should select a faculty mentor (Research Advisor) by the end of their first academic year (generally by the start of the Summer session for students entering the previous Fall). To facilitate this process, first year students supported by College of Medicine assistantships must participate in a minimum of two laboratory rotations during the academic year. More rotations may be completed if a lab has not been found after the minimum rotations. The laboratory rotations provide the student an opportunity to become acquainted with the faculty, other graduate students, the available research projects, and specific laboratory techniques.

Students are encouraged to contact faculty members individually to discuss further specific projects and research opportunities in each lab.   Track advisors are also a good source of potential rotation labs.   Rotation forms should be completed and returned to the Graduate Office after deciding the labs in which the student will rotate.

During rotations, it is the student's responsibility to arrange sufficient time to participate fully in lab activities. Typically, this will include discussions with the faculty member, contribution to ongoing research projects, attendance at lab meetings, and acquisition of specific technical skills specified by the faculty member. By the end of the Spring semester, the student should be prepared to make a final decision regarding a choice of faculty mentor. When choosing faculty to rotate with, it is important to ask the individual faculty members if they are planning to take students that year and also whether he or she has available funding.  Faculty members are not obligated to take students into their programs and may be unable to do so due to lack of space, funding, or time constraints. It is the student's responsibility to initiate discussions with faculty members about the availability of research positions in laboratories.

Finalizing Lab Choice
A letter of agreement should be submitted from the faculty mentor to the Graduate Office through the Department Chair stating their willingness to take this student. The proposed track for matriculation should be indicated at this time.  EXAMPLE FORM LETTER

Year 2


Advisory Committee Structure
Each student is required to form an Advisory Committee that will oversee the student's progress toward the Ph.D. Members of the committee will be determined by the Research Advisor in consultation with the student. All members of the Advisory Committee must be Graduate Faculty of the SGS (Request for Appointment to Graduate Faculty); see http://sgs.tamhsc.edu/ for the current list of SGS Graduate Faculty. The Research Advisor serves as chair of the Advisory Committee, however, if the Research Advisor does not have a faculty appointment in the College of Medicine, then the Advisory Committee must have a co-chair who is appointed in the College of Medicine. The Advisory Committee should be formed no later than the end of the first semester in the second year of study. After the first year, the Advisory Committee is required to meet with the student at least once annually to review the student's progress Annual Review Form.  Failure to do so may result in the student being blocked from registering.  The committee will consist of no fewer than four members of the graduate faculty of Texas A&M HSC, one of which will be the student's Research Advisor. The Research Advisor will be the chair of the committee unless the advisor is not a member of the College of Medicine Graduate Faculty. In that case, a member of the College of Medicine Graduate faculty must serve as co-chair and must approve the committee membership. At least one of the committee members should be from a department other than the home department of the student, however, this requirement can be waived by the Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies with appropriate justification.

Degree Plan
Students are required to file a Degree Plan with the College of Medicine Office of Graduate Studies.  The Degree Plan lists the courses, including research hours, which the student will complete as part of the Ph.D. degree. The Degree Plan must be approved by the Advisory Committee and the Department Chair prior to submission to the COM Office of Graduate Studies.  The Degree Plan should be filed during the second year of study, and must be filed no later than 30 days prior to the preliminary examination. Any changes in the Degree Plan require approval by the Advisory Committee and the Department Chair, and must be petitioned through the COM Office of Graduate Studies. 

 

Year 3


Dissertation Proposal
Students are required to submit a detailed proposal outlining their research project. The proposal should include relevant background information and sufficient description of the experimental approaches so that the merit and feasibility of the project can be evaluated. The proposal must be approved by the Advisory Committee, and the Department Chair prior to submission to the COM Office of Graduate Studies. The proposal should be approved and submitted no later than the end of the third year of study.

The Dissertation Proposal is a description of proposed research and defines the scientific problem to be studied for the dissertation research.  The Dissertation Proposal. can be prepared as soon as the overall research plan is developed.  There is no requirement or even expectation that a Proposal will contain significant preliminary data.

The Proposal should explain the rationale or approach and the methodology to be used. The final copy of the proposal should be at most 10 pages, single-spaced (not including Preliminary Data and References).  A well-written proposal is organized according to NIH Grant Guidelines and should include 4-5 sections: 1) Specific Aims, 2) Background and Significance, 3) Preliminary Data (optional), 4) Experimental Design and Methods, and 5) Literature Cited.

Specific Aims
The Specific Aims answer the question "What do you intend to do?" The proposal should state the broad, long-term objectives and list concisely and realistically what the specific research described in this application is intended to accomplish and the hypotheses to be tested.  One page is recommended.

Background and Significance
This section should answer the questions "What has already been done?" and "Why is the work important?"  Provide a brief sketch of the background for the present proposal, and also critically evaluate existing knowledge and specifically identify the gaps that the project is intended to fill.  State concisely the importance of the research described in this application by relating the specific aims to the broad, long-term objectives. Two to three pages are recommended.

Experimental Design and Methods
Explain how you will do the work. Students may use figures and diagrams to explain the background material or how certain kinds of experiments will be performed. Clearly outline the experimental design and the procedures to be used to accomplish the Specific Aims of the project. The Experimental Design and Methods section of the proposal should NOT be the kind of detailed description of protocols used in the Materials and Methods section of a paper.  Rather, it should focus on how the data will be collected, analyzed, and interpreted.  Describe any new methodology and its advantage over existing methodologies. Discuss the potential difficulties and limitations of the proposed procedures and alternative approaches to achieve the Aims. Provide a tentative sequence or timetable for the investigation. The inclusion of Preliminary Data is encouraged to support feasibility, but it is not required. If Preliminary Data is included (title the section Preliminary Data), it should be brief (3 pages at most). Although no specific number of pages is recommended for this section of the application, the total for Sections 1, 2, and 4 may not exceed 10 pages.

Literature Cited
Use references to support statements or concepts. List references at the end of the proposal rather than throughout the text.  Each citation must include the names of all authors, the title of the article or book, the name and volume number of the journal, page numbers, and year of publication.  The list should be relevant and current; it need not be exhaustive. Students are expected to have read and understood all, or the pertinent parts, of each reference listed.  References may be organized in any consistent fashion; for example, list in order of appearance and number consecutively in the text, or cite the authors in the text and list the references alphabetically by author.


Preliminary Examination
The Preliminary Exam has two parts: written and oral. The exact format of the exam is determined by the specific tracks and are ultimately left up to the Advisory Committee.  The student should verify with their Advisory Committee the specific requirements of the exam. For example, the written exams are usually scheduled prior to the oral exam, with each member of the committee allotted one day.  Each member of the Advisory Committee gives the student a written examination. The student should discuss the format of each exam beforehand with the respective committee members.  An individual member may choose to waive a written exam.  The entire Preliminary Exam must be completed within three weeks. Upon successful completion of all written exams, the oral examination may be taken. A typical oral exam begins with a discussion of the written exams with the student out of the room followed by the student fielding questions from the Advisory Committee. At some point, the student will be asked to leave again and the committee will discuss the student's performance. At the conclusion of the Preliminary Exam, the student will be notified of his or her performance and the chair of the student’s committee will submit the Report of the Preliminary Examination form to the Office of Graduate Studies.  The Preliminary Exam should be completed by the end of the third year.

The specific requirements of the Preliminary Exam are determined by the track and the expectations of the Research Advisory Committee.  Some of the tracks link the Preliminary Exam with a defense of the Dissertation Proposal or may require the presentation and defense of an unrelated research proposal.   It is important that the student verify with the Research Advisory Committee the specific expectations and requirements for the Preliminary Exam.

Prior to scheduling the Preliminary Exam the students should review the Preliminary Examination Checklist and submit to the Office of Graduate Studies with the appropriate signatures.

Seminars and Journal Club Participation
See specific requirements for individual Tracks for expectations concerning seminar presentations and participation in departmental journal clubs.

Residence Requirement for Degrees Awarded by the Texas A&M Health Science Center
A major purpose of the residence requirement for graduate study is to ensure the advantages of the university environment. These activities include, among others, accessibility to libraries, laboratory experiences, seminars and colloquia presented by faculty and other professionals, and numerous cultural events. The requirement also provides the faculty the opportunity to properly evaluate the student and their development, to guide and direct studies, and to determine competency. The majority of credits toward a graduate or post-baccalaureate professional degree must be earned through the Texas A&M Health Science Center. The dean of an academic unit may consider exceptions to this policy under special circumstances

Admission to Candidacy
To be admitted to candidacy, the student must have:
  • Completed all formal (graded) course work on degree plan
  • Maintained a GPA of at least 3.0 with no grade lower than a C in any course on the degree plan
  • Passed the Preliminary Exam
  • Submitted an approved dissertation proposal
  • Met the residency requirements

Year 4-Completion


Dissertation
The dissertation is a scholarly document which presents the research findings of the student in the context of the field of study. The format of the document is dictated by HSC Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies Thesis Manual.  http://sgs.tamhsc.edu/overview.html.


Final Examination
Candidates for the Ph.D. degree must pass a  final examination administered by their Advisory Committee. The examination consists of two parts: 1) a public seminar where the student presents their research findings to an audience of faculty, students, and staff and 2) an oral defense of the dissertation conducted by the Advisory Committee.  As the final examination represents a culmination of the student's graduate program, all faculty and students are encouraged to attend the public seminar. The Final Defense and Oral Examination Request and Announcement should be filed with the Office of Graduate Studies at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the Final Examination (http://gsbs.tamhsc.edu/forms/index.html).  The student should consult the academic calendar for the deadlines to schedule a defense for that semester and for the last day that a student can defend to qualify for graduation that semester. The outcome of the oral defense form and written defense form should be signed by the Advisory Committee members and filed with the Office of Graduate Studies to complete the defense.


ADDITIONAL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Students Entering with Advanced Degrees – students entering with an MS or DVM are required to complete 64 credit hours, where approximately one-third will be course work.

Transfer Credits - Up to 12 hrs may be transferred with approval by the Advisory Committee and COM-Office of Graduate Studies

Petitioning to Waive Required Classes - A letter should be written from the student, through the advisor to Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies and delivered to  the COM-Office of Graduate Studies.

Requirements for MS thesis option – 32 hrs, approved proposal, 3 committee  members

Requirements for MS (non thesis)  - 36 hrs, no research (691 does not count)

Stipend – The College of Medicine will provide stipend support for first-year graduate students (G1s) at an amount indicated in the offer letter.  Subject to the availability of funds, the College of Medicine will typically provide stipend support for second-year graduate students (G2s) as well.  Beyond year 2, stipend support will be the obligation of the student’s Research Advisor.  Minimum stipend levels for each year will be set by the Graduate Instruction Committee in consultation with the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies. Students will be notified annually of stipend amount. For G2s and beyond, their faculty mentors and/or departments are strongly encouraged to provide full support for tuition/fees.  Graduate students are encouraged to discuss tuition/fee support with their mentors. 

Academic Standing  -Maintaining a 3.0 GPA is considered to be satisfactory academic standing.  If a student falls below this minimum, two long semesters (excluding summer) are allowed to achieve satisfactory standing. If the student fails to meet satisfactory academic status at the end of this time, loss of stipend or dismissal can be expected.

Forms: