The Ph.D. portion of the D.O./Ph.D. program is designed to be accomplished in approximately three years.
However, all degree requirements must be completed within nine years of entering the Ph.D. portion of the program.
Credit for Course Work
The D.O./Ph.D. student is required to successfully complete all of the basic biomedical sciences courses in order to fulfill the requirements of the D.O. degree. The biomedical science courses provide 30 semester hours of credit toward the Ph.D. degree.
Students are also required to take approximately 30 additional semester hours of graduate courses, including:
Additional credits in course work and research for the graduate program are determined by the discipline with concurrence of the advisory committee, tailoring an individual program to fit the student’s educational needs.
Students are required to maintain a GPA of 3.0 or better in their biomedical coursework. An academic review will occur at the end of each year of coursework. The D.O./Ph.D. student is required to enter the Ph.D. portion of the program after completing the first 2 years of the medical curriculum.
Transfer Hours
Because the D.O./Ph.D. student receives 30 hours of credit for the basic sciences courses, additional transfer credit must be approved by the advisory committee.
Research Proposal
The student is required to write a research proposal, which must be approved by the student’s advisory committee, prior to the qualifying examination.
Qualifying Examination
The student is required to pass a comprehensive qualifying examination administered by the advisory committee. The examination will be written and oral. The timing and format of the examination will be established by the student’s advisory committee.
Time of Study and Residence Requirements
The Ph.D. portion of the D.O./Ph.D. program, which includes graduate courses, comprehensive qualifying examination, research and a dissertation, will take approximately 3 years. Thus, the time for completion of the D.O./Ph.D. dual degree program is approximately 7 years. The program must be completed no later than 9 years after entering the program. The student is required to enter the Ph.D. portion of the program after completing the first 2 years of the medical curriculum.
Draft of Dissertation
The student must prepare a draft of the dissertation and submit it to the advisory committee before entering the clinical portion of the D.O. program.
