The Ph.D. program is designed to be accomplished in four years.

However, all degree requirements, including remedial work,
must be completed within nine years of entering the program.

Credit for Course Work
The Ph.D. students must successfully complete a minimum of 45 semester hours of course work, with no more than nine hours of special topics and four hours of seminar.

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 coursework. An academic review will occur at the end
of each year of coursework.

All students must take the following required biomedical courses.

Required Courses:

The doctoral student selects a minimum of two additional biomedical courses from the list below.

Courses fulfilling interdisciplinary biomedical course requirement:

Credit for Research and Thesis
Because of the importance of research, a minimum of 30 hours of research and dissertation with a maximum of 45 hours.

Minimum Number of Hours
The total number of graduate hours shall not be less than 90 beyond the bachelor’s degree.

Transfer Hours
Upon approval by the student’s advisory committee , the student may transfer up to 30 hours for an acceptable master’s degree. The student must complete at least 30 hours at OSU. No more than 9 hours may be transferred from institutions that do not grant doctoral degrees. Required biomedical courses must be taken at OSU-CHS.

Research Proposal
The Ph.D. 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 Ph.D. or D.O./Ph.D. 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
Four years is the usual time required by a full-time student. The program must be completed within 9 years. One year of the last 2 years must be spent in continuous residence at the Center for Health Sciences.