DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

Degree Requirements

• General Requirements
• Master of Science Degree Requirements
• Doctor Of Philosophy Degree Requirements
• M.D./Ph.D. Dual Degree Program

General Requirements

The degree of Master of Science or Doctor of Philosophy is awarded after the satisfactory completion of certain minimum requirements specified by the Graduate School. Each program has specific requirements for course work and examinations. The general degree requirements of the Graduate School are outlined immediately below. Specific program requirements are described in the individual program sections that follow. Both the general and specific program requirements make reference to various types of courses or credits, which are defined as follows.

Didactic credits are earned in courses in which a formal evaluation mechanism (examination, graded term paper, etc.) allows assignment of a letter grade. Lecture-based courses usually fall into this category, as do certain independent study courses such as directed readings or tutorial courses.

Pass/Fail courses are graded solely on the basis of the student's effort or participation and/or subjective evaluation by the faculty. Journal clubs, seminar courses, and research rotations are usually graded on a pass/fail basis.

Elective credit requirements in all programs may only be met by didactic (letter-graded) courses unless specified otherwise. Programs may further restrict fulfillment of the elective credit requirement to advanced courses or courses in only certain topical areas or disciplines.

Students with prior credit in graduate courses that are equivalent in topic coverage to specific program requirements may petition a waiver of those specific requirements. If the request is granted by the program director and approved by the dean, the waived credits must be replaced by an equal number of didactic credits by transfer or in residence.

An overall Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.00 or better is required before a degree can be awarded. In some programs, there are additional minimal GPA standards, such as requiring a GPA of 3.00 or better in specific core courses. Although C is a passing grade, programs may require a higher minimum acceptable grade in certain courses in order for those credits to be used to fulfill program requirements.

Certain courses may be required to provide the student with background information, perspective and skills necessary to pursue a graduate degree in a particular field, but which are not themselves worthy of graduate credit. Students will be advised individually as to which courses are appropriate. These courses require tuition payment if offered by the Graduate School (unless waived under a general tuition waiver for full-time Ph.D. students) or may be taken at accredited undergraduate institutions at the student's expense. Grades in non-graduate level courses do not factor into the student's graduate GPA. Examples of such courses include physical or organic chemistry, calculus, and general biology.

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Master Of Science Degree Requirements

Plan A: A minimum of 30 credits is required, including at least 29 didactic course credits. Certain programs have slightly greater credit requirements because of specifically required courses. In addition to didactic course work, the student must prepare a Master's Literature Review, or special research report (one credit), which must be approved by an ad hoc three-person committee that includes the advisor and two other members of the Graduate Faculty. A qualified scientist from outside the institution may serve as one member of this three-member review committee, with the approval of the dean.

Plan B: A minimum of 30 credits is required, including at least 24 didactic course credits, up to five research credits and a Master's Thesis (one credit) that is based on the student's original research project. Certain programs have slightly greater credit requirements. Students may opt to earn more didactic credits and fewer than 5 research credits in a Plan B program. Conversely, students who wish to complete a Master's research project after having completed all other program requirements may need to register for additional Master's Research credits beyond the 5-credit maximum. (See the section on full-time status in the chapter on Academic Regulations.) These extra credits will be charged at the full tuition rate, but would not be counted toward the total credit requirement for the degree.

Students in Plan B must pass a Defense of Thesis Examination. The Thesis Committee consists of the student's advisor and at least two other members of the Graduate Faculty. A qualified scientist from outside the institution may serve as one member of the Thesis Committee, with the approval of the dean.

Ph.D. students do not receive a Master's degree "en route" to the Ph.D. Students who leave a Ph.D. program in good academic standing, however, may be eligible for an M.S. degree by meeting Plan "A" or Plan "B" requirements for the degree.

Students who begin a Master's program and subsequently are accepted into a Ph.D. program may also receive the M.S. degree if they have substantially fulfilled the M.S. degree requirements before beginning the Ph.D. program. The student would be required to complete all Master's degree requirements, including the Master's Literature Review or Master's Thesis. Courses applied to the Master's degree would not be eligible for tuition waivers. The student should petition the dean for this at the time of applying for the Ph.D. program. The dean makes the final determination as to whether the student can complete the Master's program.

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Doctor Of Philosophy Degree Requirements

Formal Course Work

A minimum of 45 course credits is required. Each doctoral program has specific didactic course requirements and additional requirements for non-didactic credits such as research rotations, journal clubs, etc., that count towards the 45-credit requirement. Additional elective credits are selected by the student in consultation with the student's graduate program director. Elective credits must be earned in didactic courses, and may be limited within individual programs to only advanced courses or courses in a specific discipline.

Qualifying Examination

Each predoctoral student is required to pass a Qualifying Examination that determines whether the student is suitably prepared to undertake the dissertation research phase of the doctoral program. This examination should be taken when most of the formal course work has been completed, although some programs administer a portion of the Qualifying Examination at an early stage of the student's academic program.

The Qualifying Examination is usually taken before or near the conclusion of the second year of graduate study, and it must be taken no later than one year before the expected date of graduation. Lack of readiness to complete the Qualifying Examination after two years of graduate study may indicate insufficient academic progress and, therefore, may be grounds for dismissal from the program.

The Qualifying Examination format varies from program to program. It may consist of two parts, which may occur at two different times. Students should consult with their graduate program director for specific information about the examination format in each program.

Dissertation/Research Requirement

The awarding of the Ph.D. degree implies that the candidate has demonstrated the ability to plan, undertake and complete an independent research project in the discipline or field designated by the degree. A central component of the doctoral degree program, therefore, is a suitable original research project that leads to a doctoral dissertation. This work is conducted by the student under the guidance of a graduate faculty sponsor/mentor and an approved dissertation committee composed of graduate faculty and, in some cases, qualified scientists from outside the university. The student is credited with 15 dissertation research credits at the successful conclusion of this work. These credits do not count against the 45-course-credit requirement discussed above.

Dissertation Defense

After submitting the written dissertation to the dissertation committee, the candidate must present a formal public Dissertation Defense.

Notice of the dissertation defense is to be made public either through an announcement in a school calendar or via printed notices displayed on all departmental bulletin boards and the Graduate School bulletin board, at least two weeks prior to the scheduled defense. The defense is open to all members of the graduate faculty. Except in extraordinary circumstances and with prior approval of the dean, the defense is also open to all members of the College community as observers.

The format usually involves an oral presentation of the dissertation research by the candidate followed by questions and challenges from the dissertation committee and graduate faculty. The chair of the dissertation committee moderates the session. At the conclusion of the defense, the dissertation committee and the graduate faculty in the program shall meet in executive session to discuss the dissertation and defense. The committee may (a) approve the dissertation as it stands, (b) approve pending specified revisions, (c) require further experimental results, or (d) in extreme and rare cases, reject the dissertation outright. The reason(s) for rejection must be submitted in writing to the Dean of the Graduate School. The committee may authorize the candidate's sponsor, the committee chair, or the graduate program director to ascertain that any specified revisions to the dissertation are made satisfactorily by the candidate.

The Dissertation Committee

1. The student and the mentor propose the membership of the committee, which must then be approved by the Dean of the Graduate School.

2. The Committee must consist of at least five qualified scientists. At least four members must be members of the graduate faculty. At least one member must be a graduate faculty member from outside the student's home department or program. One member of the committee may be a qualified scientist from outside the university, who may participate throughout the course of the Dissertation Committee's work (see below).

3. Each Dissertation Committee shall be chaired by one of its members. The chair may be the candidate's faculty sponsor, the graduate program director, or another graduate faculty member, following the program's internal rules or practice. The chair must, however, be a member of the graduate faculty.

4. The Dissertation Committee should be formed at an early point in the candidate's dissertation research. The committee should review and approve the student's proposal of goals and methods of the dissertation research and also periodically review the progress of the work, offering guidance and advice, and reviewing and approving changes in the project's goals or methods as appropriate. The final duty of the committee is to review and approve the candidate's written dissertation and oral defense.

5. Although individual programs may add requirements or specifications regarding the composition and duties of the Dissertation Committee, these program requirements may not supersede those of the Graduate School as outlined in the previous four paragraphs.

The Written Dissertation

It is a Graduate School requirement that the final approved doctoral dissertation be published and archived. This is accomplished by submitting a copy of the dissertation to Bell and Howell for microfilming, dissemination, and archiving. An additional hard copy is placed in the NYMC Medical Sciences Library. Publication is an absolute requirement. If a student has a valid reason to delay publication for a period of up to six months - e.g., to file patent disclosures or applications - this requirement must be made in writing to the dean well in advance (at least 6 months) of the defense date. Such requests must be thoroughly justified and submitted in a timely fashion in order to be considered.

When the thesis is approved, the original and two additional copies are to be submitted to the Graduate School Office along with the Dissertation Committee's Approval form signed by all members, and a Bell & Howell Publishing Agreement. The Agreement must be completed and signed, and must include an abstract of no more than 150 words (Master's thesis) or 350 words (Ph.D. dissertation). Abstracts should be printed on one side of the paper only, double spaced. Graphs, charts, tables and illustrations are not to be included in the abstract. The deadline for submission of the final approved dissertation is April 15 or as noted in the annual graduate school academic calendar.

Specific format requirements and guidelines for the dissertation and abstract are outlined in the Graduate School Student Handbook. A copy of this booklet may be obtained from the Graduate School Office. Bell & Howell Publishers' Agreement forms are also available there. Dissertation and abstract guidelines are also available on the Web sites of the Graduate School and the NYMC Medical Sciences Library.

The three required copies of the dissertation are sent for binding and are then distributed to the Medical Sciences Library, the student's faculty sponsor, and the student's program. If the student wants personal copies, he or she may submit them at the same time, along with a check to cover the cost of binding.

Computer Literacy Requirement

Ph.D. students are required to demonstrate a working knowledge of the use and implementation of application software in the areas of word processing, statistics, spreadsheets, and presentation graphics. In addition, an understanding of basic computer terminology must be demonstrated. The fulfillment of the computer requirement will be monitored by each program. It is within the discretion of each program to include additional requirements in this area and students are advised to check with their graduate program director for further information. Each basic science department maintains computer facilities designated for students' computer literacy training and to support their dissertation research. A passing grade in the course, Computers in Health Sciences (BMS-1300), will be accepted as partial fulfillment of the computer literacy requirement. Some programs may require additional achievement by the student, as noted in the individual program sections. BMS-1300 cannot, however, be used to fulfill the elective credit requirement in any doctoral program.

Language Requirements

The Graduate School does not require competence in any language other than English.

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M.D./Ph.D. Dual Degree Program

Director: Mario A. Inchiosa, Jr., Ph.D.

The M.D./Ph.D. program at New York Medical College is intended to provide the opportunity for research-oriented medical students to pursue both these degrees. The program is designed to allow maximal flexibility for students to integrate the two programs.

Medical students who are interested in research and are seriously considering a dual program should begin research as early as possible, preferably during the summer period between the first and second years. A Medical Student Research Elective Program, which is funded by the Medical School, provides stipends for this purpose. Students are not formally admitted to the Ph.D. program until they have successfully completed all of the preclinical subjects and Part I of the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE).

An application to the Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences may be initiated at any time during the first two years of preclinical studies. The student must apply to one of the six basic science Ph.D. programs.

In a typical case, the student begins full-time graduate work in the summer following the second year of medical school. The student must meet graduate course requirements and other requirements as specified by the student's Ph.D. program. M.D./Ph.D. candidates are required to demonstrate computer literacy. The student must pass a Qualifying Examination.

The student's dissertation committee determines the point where the investigative work is considered complete. The Office of the Associate Dean for Student Affairs works with the student to facilitate entry to the clinical rotations and to determine the number of months of elective time during the third and fourth years of the medical school curriculum that may be devoted to or traded for preparation of the oral defense of the dissertation. It is strongly recommended that the candidate complete and defend the Ph.D. dissertation before beginning the clinical clerkships of the medical school curriculum, although some flexibility in scheduling the defense is allowed. The two degrees are awarded jointly by the Medical School and the Graduate School, after the requirements for both degrees are successfully completed.

The major activity of the Ph.D. portion of the program is, of course, the doctoral dissertation research and preparation of the dissertation itself. Students should expect to spend a minimum of two years in the Ph.D. portion of the program, although three to three and one-half years is a more typical period, based on our experience with previous M.D./Ph.D. candidates.

The financial factors involved for the medical student who considers extending the period of training are substantial. M.D./Ph.D. candidates receive the standard predoctoral stipend during the period of full-time graduate work. A full tuition scholarship is given for graduate school courses. In addition, a full tuition scholarship is provided for the 3rd and 4th years of the medical curriculum after the Ph.D. requirements have been completed.

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