MD/PhD Program Expectations for Students during the Graduate/Research Portion of Training
Background:
The goal of the MD/PhD program is to prepare individuals to have successful careers as physicians-scientists.
This requires that students in the program receive comprehensive training in both the practice of medicine and
the conduct of scientific inquiry. The purpose of this handout is to summarize briefly the program’s
expectations for students while they are in graduate portion of their training.
The UK MD/PhD Program has the traditional “sandwich” structure, in which most students matriculate into the
MD/PhD Program and complete the first 2 years of medical school before entering the graduate portion of their
training.
The transition from medical school to graduate school involves taking a leave of absence from the College of
Medicine and entering the Graduate School. The student progress and promotion committee (SPPC) in the
COM approves the leave of absence. The SPCC places no time limit on the length of absence to complete the
PhD.
Most students finish the last 2 years of medical school after graduate school. The third year of medical school
(M3) is composed of required clinical rotations. Elective time is typically available late in the fourth year of
medical school (M4). Therefore, most MD/PhD students should aim to complete their dissertation work prior to
returning to M3. Students can register to return to third year of medical school and withdraw up to 10 days
before the first rotation (approximately June 20th) without financial or academic penalty. There is flexibility in
terms of when the student returns to the third year of medical school. They can petition to defer their first
rotation(s) and begin to early in the fall rather than in July. Beginning much later in the year (beyond Oct or
Nov) is probably not ideal, because the students will be substantially behind the other M3 students on
rotations. After graduation with dual MD/PhD degrees, virtually all of the students enter a clinical residency
program. Clinical residency last 3 – 5 years and may or may not contain a research component. More
typically, those interested in academic careers will return to the bench in subspecialty fellowship training after
residency, which can be up to 5 years after earning their PhD. Therefore, MD/PhD students must have a solid
graduate training experience, so that they are prepared to return to science and progress on to academic
appointments.
On a national level, the average time to dual degree completion in MD/PhD programs is just under 8 years.
This means that nationally most students complete the PhD portion of their training in four to five years.
Completing the training in three years is considered exceptional rather than the norm. Likewise, needing six or
more years for graduate training does occur, but is rare.
Requirements:
The requirements to be considered as a doctoral candidate and to obtain a doctoral degree are determined by
the policies in the student’s graduate department.
The Graduate School will accept the first two years of course work in the Medical School as transfer of 18
hours (one year) of the pre-Qualifying Examination residence credit. Combined program students are required
to complete an additional 18 hours of residency requirements within 5 years, with the possibility of extension in
rare circumstances.
As discussed above, there is no time limit imposed by the SPPC or MD/PhD program for graduate training.
Obtaining a doctoral degree necessitates individualized training, and therefore, each student’s experience in
graduate school will be different.
MD/PhD Program Expectations:
Students are expected to perform at least 2 research rotations before selecting a dissertation advisor. These
can be performed in the summers before medical school and between first and second year of medical school
or in the afternoons during the school year. For summer research rotations, partially salary support (~0%)
may be available from the College of Medicine.
While the requirements for the doctoral degree reside within the graduate departments, the MD/PhD Program
provides the following as general expectations for students in the program.
MD/PhD students should comfortably meet or exceed the minimum requirements set by their departments for
obtaining a doctoral degree. Liberalizing their requirements does not advance the long-term goal of ensuring
that they are competitive for faculty and other positions and funding later in their careers.
MD/PhD students should be encouraged to submit applications for intra- and extramural funding, and the
program office will provide certain resources to assist them, as needed.
MD/PhD students should be presenting their findings at regional and national meetings.
MD/PhD students should be publishing original work in reputable journals. At a minimum, the students should
be expected to submit one first author publication before completing their graduate training and returning to
medical school. Two – three publications from graduate training are probably needed for the students to be
competitive for positions and funding in the future.
Additional Information
Graduate school committees and advisors should be aware that MD/PhD students can defer Introduction to
Clinical Medicine 3 to provide additional time for research and laboratory exposure in the second year of
medical school. Fundamentals of Clinical Medicine (FCM) course is offered to MD/PhD and other students
who are taking a leave of absence from the College of Medicine. FCM covers the same content as ICM3, but
rather than covering the material in 9 months, the content is spread across a longer period of time. FCM is
taught in one-hour sessions that meet at 7:30am, to reduce any interference with other graduate courses or
laboratory work.
Stipend and Tuition Support
Medical school tuition and a stipend during the medical school years are covered by the College of Medicine.
The stipend and tuition during graduate school are the responsibility of the graduate department and mentor.
Revised 4/27/2011