The Ph.D. curriculum is designed with the future needs of the student in mind. Recent graduates of the program have gone on to government, academic, and industrial positions. In addition to medical and advanced physiology course work, the curriculum includes coursework in advanced biochemistry, molecular biology, biostatistics, cell biology, integrative diseases, animal handling, and scientific ethics. During the second semester of the first year, students choose laboratories to rotate through to allow them to select an advisor for their doctoral thesis research project. Once in the lab, students are encouraged to work with scientists throughout the department and campus to advance their research projects.
Students also participate in a very active seminar program and in a host of journal clubs.
In addition, after the first year, students assist in teaching small group sessions in different courses within the Health Sciences Center. Typical time to graduation is between 4 and 5 years. Ali Banan, Ph.D., 1995. Relationships between polyamines, cytoskeleton and gastric ulcer healing in rats. Edgar Fincher, Ph.D., 1996.