Mar 29, 2024  
2018-2019 Graduate Catalog 
    
2018-2019 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Comparative and Experimental Medicine Major, PhD


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Admission

Admission requirements of the Graduate Council of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, apply. In addition, all applicants must furnish three letters of recommendation from individuals who are familiar with their scholastic or professional records.

Applicants generally will be expected to have a professional degree in one of the medical sciences (e.g., MD, DDS, DVM or equivalent) from an accredited institution or a master’s degree in one of the biomedical sciences and a Graduate Record Examination (GRE) score of at least 300 for the quantitative and verbal sections.

An individual having only a baccalaureate degree but with a strong background in the physical and biological sciences may be admitted upon presenting evidence of exemplary performance on the GRE.

Exceptional veterinary students at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, may be admitted to the accelerated dual DVM-PhD program or may continue to be enrolled officially as veterinary students only and register for CEM courses. For the latter, such students may take advantage of registering for graduate courses to be counted as elective courses in the veterinary program.

For more information about our college, faculty, and research - please see our webpage at https://vetmed.tennessee.edu/research/Pages/Graduate_Program.aspx.

Requirements

Students with professional degrees (e.g., MD, DDS, DVM) or master’s degrees in a program-related field must complete at least 24 credit hours of graduate course work and 24 credit hours of CEM 600 - Doctoral Research and Dissertation . Students without a professional or master’s degree must complete a minimum of 48 credit hours of graduate course work and 24 credit hours of CEM 600 - Doctoral Research and Dissertation .

Comparative and Experimental Medicine courses CEM 504 , CEM 541 , and CEM 616  (1 credit hour) are required, as are 6 credit hours of 500- or 600-level journal clubs, 3 credit hours of 500- or 600-level statistics, and a minimum of 8 credit hours of graduate course work in a relevant discipline. Areas of emphasis may include hematology, oncology, pathology, pharmacology, toxicology, immunology, genetics, infectious disease, epidemiology, metabolism, public health, or other areas of medicine. Exceptions to accommodate students with specific interests must be approved by the director of the program. The doctoral committee is chosen during the first year. At least one member must be from the College of Veterinary Medicine and at least one member from an academic unit other than that of the student’s major field.

A comprehensive examination must be passed before the end of the third year of the program. In addition, students must prepare and defend a prospectus outlining their proposed research projects before the end of their third year in the program. Exceptions to these requirements are provided for medical residents pursuing doctoral degrees who must successfully complete the comprehensive examination and research prospectus before the end of their fourth year in the program.
 

PhD with Concurrent MS Degree

The Comparative and Experimental Medicine program offers the PhD with a concurrent MS degree option for doctoral students who plan to complete the master’s degree while maintaining enrollment in the doctoral program. The decision to pursue the concurrent MS/PhD degree must be made at least 2 weeks prior to the last day of classes of the semester previous to the one in which the degree would be conferred. Preferably, the student will decide the path (see below) upon entrance into the PhD program.

Students who have already completed a master’s degree in a similar program elsewhere will continue to be admitted directly into the PhD-only program.

Path 1: MS with thesis; PhD with dissertation
Students will progress through the MS program and complete a thesis and oral defense before attempting the PhD comprehensive examination and completing the dissertation (and oral defense). Six credit hours of thesis and 24 credit hours of dissertation are required.

Path 2: MS with problems in lieu of thesis option; PhD with dissertation
Students will progress through the MS program with 6 credit hours in CEM 501 , CEM 510 , or CEM 515  completed under the supervision of the student’s major professor and committee. The individual project will involve a literature survey, development of a pre-doctoral fellowship grant targeted toward a specific funding agency, or other comparable project deemed acceptable by the student’s committee. The student will undergo an oral defense of the project before attempting the PhD comprehensive examination and completing the dissertation (and oral defense).

 

Accelerated PhD/DVM Program - Veterinary Medicine / Comparative and Experimental Medicine Major

The College of Veterinary Medicine and the Comparative and Experimental Medicine (CEM) graduate program offer a coordinated accelerated dual program leading to the conferral of both the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and the Doctor of Philosophy degrees. The accelerated dual program allows veterinary students to apply up to 8 credit hours of DVM course work toward a PhD degree in CEM, leading to completion of both degrees in less time than would be required to earn both degrees independently. The accelerated program is designed to prepare highly motivated students for a career in veterinary research.

Students entering the dual degree program must meet minimum admission requirements for both the DVM and the PhD programs. Applicants for the DVM-PhD program must make separate application to, and be competitively and independently accepted by, the College of Veterinary Medicine for the DVM and the CEM program for the PhD. Students who have been accepted by the College of Veterinary Medicine may apply for approval to pursue the dual program any time prior to or after matriculation. Such approval will be granted, provided that dual program studies are started prior to entry into the fourth semester of DVM course work.

Students enrolled in the dual DVM-PhD program will be officially classified as primarily veterinary (DVM-seeking) students until the DVM coursework is completed, with the following exception: dual program students will typically enroll as primarily PhD students during the two summer semesters following completion of their first and second years in the veterinary curriculum. After the DVM is conferred, the dual student’s primary major will be CEM.

A dual program candidate must satisfy the graduation requirements of each program. The CEM program will award up to 32 credit hours toward the PhD for acceptable performance (a grade of at least a “B” in A–F-graded courses) in approved courses offered by the College of Veterinary Medicine. Courses eligible for dual credit will be at the recommendation of the student’s CEM major professor in consultation with the student’s doctoral committee. Students in the dual program who also hold a master’s degree may use up to 24 credit hours from their master’s program as part of the 32 credit hours awarded toward the PhD, as approved by the student’s committee. A total of 48 graduate credit hours independent of dissertation (CEM 600 ) are required for the PhD degree (16 CEM credit hours plus 32 credit hours accepted from the DVM program). The doctoral comprehensive examination must be successfully completed within 2 years of completing all DVM course work.

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