The M.D./Ph.D. program typically requires seven to eight years to complete the combined degree requirements. Students entering the program are required to begin the training during the first week of June prior to the start of the first year of medical school classes. During this summer semester, the student registers for 3 hours of graduate research credit and undertakes an 8-10 week rotation in a research lab chosen by the student in consultation with the Program Director. This time is used to introduce students to our laboratories and potential research advisors. The summer between the first and second year of the basic science medical school curriculum is also used for this purpose. Although all students are required to do a research rotation between the first and second years of medical school, registration for graduate credit is optional. Throughout their training, M.D./Ph.D. students are required to participate in our weekly journal club, "The Scientific Basis of Medicine", a course in which recent papers in the medical literature are discussed.  In addition, M.D./Ph.D. students are encouraged to attend at least one research seminar per week offered in the College of Medicine. These research rotations and seminars assist students in identifying a major discipline area for their graduate school training.

The program is flexible in many ways and is designed to meet the individual educational needs of the student. For example, M.D./Ph.D. students have two options for completing their training.

Option 1

The first two years are spent in a classic medical school curriculum that covers the basic medical sciences. Students then undertake three to four years of graduate study and research. During this period, students complete advanced coursework requirements and electives in their specialized discipline area. In addition, students complete a meritorious research project, publish their work, and write and defend a dissertation. After completion of the Ph.D. requirements, students return to medical curriculum to complete the third and fourth years of medical school training.

Option 2

In this option, students complete three years of medical school prior to entering the laboratory and finish their final year of medical school after graduate training.

For both sequences of study the students are required to participate in the weekly M.D./Ph.D. Journal Club.