Academic Pathways

Cincinnati's PSTP differs from many other programs nationwide in its flexibility; students have the option of designing pathways through the program that integrate basic research and the study of medicine in ways that serve their individual interests and goals. The PSTP recognizes that students seeking dual degrees have goals and problems distinct from those of students working toward either the Ph.D. or the M.D. degree only and therefore benefit from mentoring tailored to encourage professional development of physician-scientists. We have outlined two example pathways, but other alternatives are available to our students.

Key elements of the program are basic science foundation courses, advanced graduate courses, Clinical Foundations of Medical Practice (CFMP), clerkships in the major areas of clinical medicine, Ph.D. dissertation research, and a six-month postdoctoral research project. Basic science foundation courses underpin both the Ph.D. and M.D. degrees. These include Gross Anatomy, Microanatomy, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Neuroscience, Pathology, and Pharmacology. Clinical Foundations of Medical Practice is designed to serve as a bridge between course work or dissertation research and the clinical clerkships. The bedrock of clinical education is a one-year clinical clerkship during which a student obtains six to eight weeks of intensive training in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, and pediatrics. A detailed description of the clinical curriculum can be found at the College of Medicine's Medical Education Homepage.

In addition, PSTP students gain significant hands-on experience through an eight-week internship. To complete the clinical training, each student selects subspecialty electives in consultation with the M.D. advisor and completes six months of postdoctoral research.

The Ph.D. degree is granted through one of the outstanding basic science departments or interdisciplinary programs in the College of Medicine. Students do their dissertation research with a distinguished subset of the College's faculty members, who lead strong research programs in the areas of cancer, cardiopulmonary diseases, genetic diseases and gene therapy, human development, infectious diseases, and neurological disorders. This faculty, whose members hold Ph.D., M.D., or M.D./Ph.D. degrees, is brought together to implement a multidisciplinary approach to understanding events that underlie normal and abnormal human development, physiology, and function. The tools of contemporary molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry, biophysics, and epidemiology are used to solve problems of medical significance.