Combined DVM PhD Degree Program Proposal Outline
April 24, 2006
Prepared by Sam Jones
Purpose: A seven to eight year integrated program for training veterinary clinician
scientists. Objective is to recruit very talented, highly motivated students and provide the
training necessary for success as Principal Investigators in veterinary research.
Justification
1. Critical national need for Clinician Scientists
a. NCSU should be a leader in training future veterinary clinician scientists
b. This program will directly address 4 factors identified by the Committee
on National Needs for Research in Veterinary Science associated with the
shortage in veterinary researchers:
i. The long period required to attain a DVM, a PhD, and
postdoctoral training.
ii. The substantial tuition debt accrued during DVM training.
iii. The sparse financial support for graduate students in veterinary
science.
iv. The brief exposure of veterinary students to basic science and
research throughout their academic curriculum and internships.
c. This program also directly addresses three of the recommendations made
by the committee to address the critical need for veterinary researchers:
i. Additional veterinary researchers must be trained to alleviate the
demands and to meet societal needs for veterinary research,
accomplished via debt reduction and recruiting.
ii. To meet the nation’s needs for research expertise in veterinary
science, changes in recruitment and programming for graduate
and veterinary students will be required. Changes would involve
enhancing research cultures in veterinary colleges and
strengthening of summer research programs, combined DVM/PhD
degree paths, and the integration of basic science into clinical
curricula.
iii. The veterinary research community should actively engage NIH,
USDA, the Department of the Interior, the National Science
Foundation, and other federal agencies and urge them to recognize
and address the need for financial support for the disciplines of
veterinary research that lack identifiable sources of federal
funding despite their contributions to public health, comparative
medicine, and animal health and welfare.
2. Critical need for talented graduate students affiliated with the CVM
a. Enrich and expand our pool of students for DVM training and research
b. Dividends-more and better research, producing clinician scientist we will
want to hire, faculty recruitment tool, training grants.
3. Critical need to establish the principle of One Medicine early in training
4. Critical need for a truly integrated program to recruit and train clinician
scientists early in their career at NC State.
5. Other well funded, well structured, well run DVM/PhD program (Penn) has a
very high success rate
a. > 85% enter a research career
b. 58% are academic faculty
c. 14% work for in the pharmaceutical industry
d. 15% still in training (clinical) or are research staff or are in government
e. 8% are in private practice
Structure
Administration
1. Director
a. Administrative assistant
2. Steering/Advisory committee
a. Members
i. Graduate program directors
ii. Clinician Scientist focus area coordinators
iii. CCMM director
iv. Associate Deans
v. Ad hoc members chosen by Director
b. Assist with program direction, evaluation, admissions, etc
Admissions Expect 30-40 applicants per year, Aim to matriculate 2-4 per year
1. Students must be identified that have a high likelihood of success academically
AND high likelihood of finishing the program (high flyers)
a. Develop criteria needed to identify such students
b. Research experience prior to application-type and extent
2. Cooperative effort between DVM, graduate program, and combined program
admissions committees
a. Applicants screened by the combined DVM/PhD program and graduate
programs to identify candidates that meet minimum criteria
b. Combined program then identifies candidates for serious consideration
c. Final pool of candidates will be invited for a school visit to present prior
research, interview with committee members, graduate students
d. Seek consensus with DVM and graduate committees for admission
Timeline: Aim to matriculate first class in fall of 2007
1. Year 1: Graduate School, year 1 GS courses, lab rotations, choose thesis advisor
2. Option A: Years 2-5: DVM program
Option B: Years 2-3 and 6/7-7/8 DVM Program
a. Recommend but do not require Clinician Scientist focus area
b. Continue working in lab during semesters (predict 8 hrs /wk), holidays,
breaks, summer research
2. Option A: Years 6-7/8: Thesis research, finish class requirements.
Option B: Years 4-5/6: Thesis research, finish class requirements
Participating Graduate Programs: Any graduate program related to veterinary medicine.
Prefer the major advisor or co-major advisor with a principal appointment in a CVM
department. This would qualify student for a CVM stipend in the first year of graduate
school. If the graduate program provides a research assistantship for the first year, the
major advisor need not have a primary appointment in the CVM, but at least one
committee member from the CVM is preferred.
CVM/Multi-departmental
1. Comparative Biomedical Sciences
2. Immunology
3. Physiology
4. Genomic Sciences (Functional Genomics and Bioinformatics)
CALS
5. Genetics
6. Biochemistry
7. Toxicology
8. Animal Science and Poultry Science
9. Microbiology
10. Nutrition
Physical and Mathematical Sciences
11. Statistics
12. Biomathematics
13. Chemistry
Engineering
14. Biological and Agricultural Engineering
15. Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
16. Biomedical Engineering
Mentoring
1. Strong director and strong mentors needed to ensure the program remains
integrated, ensure success of student in both DVM and PhD curriculum
Programmatic activities
1. Purpose: promote integration of clinical and basic science/graduate program
curricula and thesis research; promote team oriented approach to
clinical activities and research; promote cross disciplinary and inter- and
intra-institutional activities; give the program an identity
2. Seminar course
a. Topic--disease, syndrome, or a clinical problem
i. One student presents clinical review
ii. Second student presents scientific review
iii. Joint presentation of an original research paper related to the
condition
3. Outside speakers
4. Establish periodic meetings with MD/PhD program students at UNC
a. Presentations/Journal Club-similar format as Seminar course
b. Speakers
5. Yearly retreat
Funding-sources and structure
DVM portion: Tuition and fees paid by the program
1. College investment for the first 5 years
a. The program will be reviewed in year 5
2. Development of other funding sources
a. Scholarships and other development sources
b. Training grants (4-5 years)
c. Industry
Graduate school portion
1. First year CVM stipend and graduate program support plan (GSSP) as long as the
major advisor or co-major advisor has a principal appointment in a CVM
department. Otherwise, the graduate program/department will be responsible for
the first year of funding.
2. All other years funded by Graduate Program/Mentor
Administrative costs: Admissions and recruitment, programmatic activities
1. College investment for at least first 5 years
Summary by Year
Option A (1-4-2/3)
Year Classification
1
Graduate student
2-5
DVM student
6-8
Graduate student
Option B (1-2-2/3-2)
Year Classification
1
Graduate student
2-3
DVM student
4-5/6
Graduate student
Funding
CVM stipend and tuition paid by
GSSP as long as the major advisor
or co-major advisor has a principal
appointment in a CVM department
Tuition and fees paid by DVM/PhD
program
All costs paid by mentor or training
grant
Funding
CVM stipend and tuition paid by
GSSP
Tuition and fees paid by DVM/PhD
program
All costs paid by mentor or training
6/77/8
DVM student
grant
Tuition and fees paid by DVM/PhD
program