Graduate Curriculum
Overview
Study leading to the Ph.D. degree can be carried out through any of the
graduate programs at UCI.
Students in the Medical Scientist Training Program integrate both graduate and medical work, which means that their curriculum programs vary significantly from that of the typical medical or graduate student. In addition, because the students carry out their graduate research in so many different fields and programs, no single schedule is appropriate for all students. It has therefore been our policy to allow the maximum flexibility, but to accompany that flexibility with continuing guidance and monitoring. The most important criteria are that the quality of either degree program cannot be compromised, and that a student's time should be utilized as effectively as possible.
Although most MSTP students complete two years of medical school before starting their Ph.D training, the UCI MSTP also allows students to pursue research first. All MSTP students are encouraged to complete an optional research rotation with any UCI faculty member before beginning their first year in the program. Additional rotations are required during the summers after both the first and second years in medical school.
The third year of the program is generally when graduate school training begins in earnest. During that year, students complete any additional courses (that were not fulfilled by the M.D. coursework) and rotations, select a laboratory and begin thesis research, and pass qualifying exams. The qualifying exams, thesis proposal, and plan of study must be approved by the thesis advisor and a thesis committee appointed by the appropriate graduate program. The next two years (4 and 5) are devoted to thesis research. Clinical clerkships and electives are completed in the final two years (6 and 7). If thesis research extends beyond years 4 and 5, the student continues with thesis research and enter the clerkships when the dissertation is complete.
Flexibility
These pathways can be modified to suit the needs of individual students. For example, a number of students in molecular biology have chosen to spend their first year in graduate school, completing their course and rotation requirements and designing a thesis project. These students have then used the summers and free time during the first two years of medical school (years 2 and 3 in the program) to make progress on their thesis research. Most of these students then complete their thesis research in years 4 and 5, starting the clerkships in year 6. Other variations of the curriculum are possible.
To make maximum use of a student's time in the program, students in the program can also take advantage of the flexibility in the medical school curriculum to optimize their courses of study. Students frequently use some clinical elective time to complete their thesis research, and this time can be used either during the clinical clerkship years or earlier in the program. In addition, students have taken clinical clerkships during their research years. For example, some students have completed one intensive clerkship (such as medicine) at the end of their second year, before starting their graduate work.
Selection of Graduate Programs
There are many interdepartmental graduate programs
and individual departments in the College
of Medicine and the School of
Biological Sciences, as well as in other schools at UCI. In addition,
UCI has a number of interdepartmental institutes whose purpose is to combine
basic and clinical research, and students can carry out their research with
faculty working in these institutes. The participation of all of the
graduate departments at UCI provides the opportunity for a broad academic
experience for study.
The specific graduate school curricula varies somewhat because of the many different graduate programs in which students are pursuing their Ph.D. degrees. In all cases, the students must fulfill graduate course requirements during the first year, after which they must demonstrate proficiency in a qualifying exam. At that point, students begin their dissertation research in a specific laboratory and take advanced courses in their field of interest. Sometime after the second year, students advance to candidacy, after which they spend the remainder of their graduate careers pursuing research and participating in seminar courses. The specific requirements for a satisfactory dissertation are determined by the thesis committee and each department, and the specific course requirements are determined by each graduate program. In addition to the courses required by the graduate program, all MSTP students must take one course in "Responsible Conduct for Research" during their graduate career.
The graduate school courses for an M.D./Ph.D. student will be determined by the thesis advisor and thesis committee in conjunction with the graduate department, with the dual goals of adequately preparing the student for research in the chosen field while eliminating course overlap with the medical school curriculum.
In addition, M.D./Ph.D. students are not required to teach as part of their graduate training.
Information on Specific Graduate Programs:
Graduate
Program in Molecular Biology, Genetics and Biochemistry
The University of California, Irvine offers a multidisciplinary graduate
program in Molecular Biology, Genetics, and Biochemistry (MBGB). The program
provides a unique opportunity for students to choose a research area and
dissertation committee from any of six participating departments:
Anatomy & Neurobiology, Biological Chemistry, Developmental & Cell Biology, Microbiology & Molecular
Genetics, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, and Physiology & Biophysics.
The curriculum for this program includes core courses that are required for
all students, and elective courses that enable students to specialize early
in their careers. The faculty in the MBGB program are pursuing research in a
wide variety of fields, including mechanisms of gene regulation,
relationships between protein structure and function, and molecular aspects
of the development of eukaryotic organisms, using diverse biological systems
ranging from viruses and microorganisms, through fungi and invertebrates, to
plants and higher vertebrates. The research utilizes state-of-the-art
techniques, including all aspects of recombinant DNA technology, gene
transfer methodologies, protein and nucleic acid analyses, chromosome
analysis, microscopy, electrophysiology and biochemical methodologies for
isolation of proteins and nucleic acids. In addition, there is a wide array
of specialized instrumentation, such as equipment for microsurgery,
microinjection, electrophysiology, video imaging, NMR and video-aided
microscopy. Finally, the MBGB program provides core facilities that include
instrumentation for electron and confocal microscopy and image analysis,
protein and DNA analysis and synthesis, tissue culture and large
fermentation, and a supercomputer and graphics workstations for molecular
modeling.
Within the MBGB program, there are ten areas of concentration or "tracks" that offer outstanding research opportunities and specialized courses and
seminars:
Biomedical
Informatics
Cancer
Biology
Cell
Biology
Developmental
Biology & Genetics
Experimental
Pathology
Immunology & Pathogenesis
Mechanisms
of Gene Expression
Neurobiology
Structural
Biology & Molecular Biophysics
Virology
Graduate Training in the
Neurosciences
"Neuroscience" at UCI is currently incorporated in
five major
programs, each with a different emphasis:
Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program,
Neurobiology
Track in MBGB, Neurobiology & Behavior (formerly known as Psychobiology), Cognitive
Sciences, and Pharmacology.
The Interdepartmental
Neuroscience Program (INP) is a one-year gateway program including
neuroscience faculty in Anatomy & Neurobiology, Neurobiology & Behavior,
Pharmacology and other graduate programs.
INP students benefit from an integrated exposure to the Neurosciences
initially, followed by an informed entry into one of the
participating departmental programs. In effect, this allows a
students' training to have a degree of breadth early on that would be
difficult to achieve in any departmental program, followed by a degree of
specialization later on that would be difficult to achieve in a multi-year
large pan-departmental program
Faculty in the Neurobiology Track in MBGB and the Neurobiology &
Behavior Department have research interests and areas of expertise in
diverse areas of the neurosciences, including the molecular biology of
neurotransmitters and their receptors, neurochemical and anatomical
development of the cerebral cortex, and central anatomical changes
associated with neuropsychiatric disease and aging. Technical capabilities
and facilities include instrumentation for electron microscopy, confocal
microscopy, densitometric image analysis, sensory electrophysiology,
organotypic and dissociated cell culture, patch-clamp electrophysiology, and
molecular neurobiology. Faculty in the Neurobiology & Behavior
department also have pioneered functional brain imaging techniques and
electrophysiological studies of sensory processing and behavior.
The Cognitive Sciences department incorporates aspects related to human
psychology and cognition. Research interests include: mathematical
psychology, perception (visual and auditory), cognitive development, problem
solving, artificial intelligence, learning, memory, psycholinguistics and
semiotics.
The Department of Pharmacology interests include, but are not limited
to, neuro-transmitters, growth factors, signal transduction pathways, ion
channels, regulation of blood vessels, neural plasticity, anxiety, cerebral
ischemia, epilepsy, drug tolerance and dependence, drugs of abuse, learning,
memory, reward, aging, and Parkinson's disease. To facilitate investigations
of the diverse research topics, the faculty employ a variety of strategies
including molecular biological, biochemical, anatomical, behavioral and
pharmacological techniques.
Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program
Neurobiology
Track in MBGB
Neurobiology & Behavior
Cognitive
Sciences
Pharmacology
Other Graduate Programs in the
Life Sciences
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Environmental Toxicology
Radiological Sciences
Other Graduate Programs at UCI
Biomedical Engineering
Chemistry
Engineering
Information
and Computer Sciences
Physics
Social Ecology
Interdepartmental Institutes at UCI
Beckman
Laser Institute & Medical Clinic
UCI Cancer Center
Health Sciences Research Imaging Center
Rapidly advancing developments in imaging
technology over the last two decades have made possible new approaches for
medical diagnosis and for the in vivo exploration of complex biochemical,
hormonal, neurohormonal, physiologic, pathophysiologic, and metabolic
processes in the intact human. The Health Sciences Research Imaging Center (RIC)
was established in 1992 on the Health Sciences Campus and focuses on the
development of advanced imaging techniques concomitant with the application
of these imaging techniques to biological investigation, particularly for
non-interventional, atraumatic, in vivo investigations in both animal and
human subjects. The RIC functions in three modes: (1) to carry out research
and development in biomedical imaging and image-based measurement
technologies, (2) to develop collaborative research between the RIC staff
and various UCI investigators, and (3) to provide service and expertise for
UCI investigators needing to use the RIC facilities for their own research.
The Research Imaging Center will house a 5.25 Tesla whole body nuclear
magnetic resonance (NMR) imager/spectrometer which is being developed at RIC
in collaboration with industry. The system is planned to be the highest
magnetic field whole body NMR system in the world. High-field NMR imaging
and spectroscopy, tracking both naturally occurring and labeled trace
elements, permits non-interventional in vivo detection and three-dimensional
display of biochemical processes and anatomy in both healthy and diseased
organs in all parts of the body.
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