The department contributes to the preclinical education of health care professionals by providing major courses in gross anatomy and cell biology, histology, and neuroscience. The department participates in the College of Medicine's Medical Scientist Training Program and the Graduate College's Molecular Biology Program and Neuroscience Program. Doctor of Philosophy Students in the Ph.D. program work directly for the doctorate without an intermediate master's program.
Students also teach in lecture and laboratory courses under faculty supervision.
The program may be completed in four to five years of intensive, full- time residence. During the first year, students rotate through two or more faculty research laboratories. They choose a research area and become affiliated with a faculty member, who acts as their major adviser. By the end of the second year, students undertake the comprehensive examination, define a research problem with their major adviser, and formulate a research prospectus. The comprehensive examination assesses students' ability to analyze, organize, and apply the information, concepts, and skills acquired in the first two years of the program.