In addition, a list of current students who have taken each course is being prepared. Many students also begin to take specialty seminar courses in their second year. These courses, often given by the faculty in Biomedical Engineering, examine current research problems at an advanced level. Extensive reading of the primary literature is usually required. Students are often assigned homework problems.
Many courses require that students organize class sessions.
Necessarily, there is a certain amount of strategic planning in choosing courses that will lead to a coherent body of knowledge, testable in a Graduate Board Oral Examination. In making these choices, a student should plan to have sufficient depth in each subject that will be tested in the exam. This planning will entail, among other things, a careful study of prerequisite structures. There are also some traps for the unwary. From 1995 on, the progress of students up to the time when they take their Graduate Board Oral Examination will be monitored by the Junior Progress Committee.