Program Curriculum

Students accepted into the MD/PhD Program follow a carefully coordinated program of study combining the entire Medical School curriculum with selected research laboratory rotations, MD/PhD seminars, and PhD thesis research and course work in one of the five clusters of the Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program. These clusters or areas of concentration are: Cancer Biology and Genetics, Infectious Disease and Immunity, Molecular and Cellular Biosciences, Neuroscience, and Organ Systems and Translational Medicine. Students are advised at regular intervals during the entire program by close interactions with the Associate Dean, with a MD/PhD Program Student Advisory Committee, with the student’s PhD mentor and and with the student’s Research Advisory Committee.

The MD/PhD Program confers the dual degrees after seven to eight years of study under the aegis of the basic science and clinical departments of Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. The chronology of study is divided into three distinct periods:

Basic Biomedical Science (2 years)

Students will complete the Integrated Basic Biomedical Science curriculum during years 1 and 2. In addition, students will perform research rotations in laboratories of their choice and will participate in the MD/PhD seminar series.

Graduate Studies (3 or 4 years)

This period consists of basic laboratory research, specialized graduate coursework, research seminars, thesis preparation and completion of PhD requirements within the newly reorganized Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program. Students will also spend a limited amount of time each month with a clinical mentor in an area of medicine chosen by the student and participate in the MD/PhD seminar series.

Clinical Rotations (2 years)

During this period, students will participate in clinical clerkships in Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Neuroscience, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Surgery.

In addition, there are clinical electives in numerous subspecialties areas, opportunities for clinical electives outside Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, both nationally and internationally, clinical research electives, and research seminars.