Pharmacology | Wayne State University School of Medicine

Ph.D. in Pharmacology graduate program

GOALS OF OUR GRADUATE TRAINING PROGRAM The goals of our doctoral training program in pharmacology are to expose our students to the latest scientific thinking and technical developments in the biomedical sciences and to develop their critical thinking and problem solving skills. Upon completion of their graduate training, our students should be able to identify - and to design experiments to test - ideas at the limits of current knowledge in one of the major areas of pharmacology including cancer biology and neuroscience. Students should also learn to analyze, interpret and communicate effectively the results of their thoughts and their experiments to other scientists. These skills position our graduates to successfully compete in the marketplace. (For more information please visit the "Careers in Pharmacology" section) To help students achieve these goals, the Department of Pharmacology has designed a program of study that involves required and elective graduate courses, laboratory rotations introducing various approaches to the solution of pharmacological problems, journal clubs and seminars.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

It is expected that doctoral students will meet all of the University degree requirements as listed in the Wayne State University Graduate Division Bulletin. The course requirements for the doctoral degree total 90 semester credit hours. These can be divided as follows: (1) 30 semester credit hours of Ph.D. Candidate Status, and (2) 60 semester credit hours of course work. The course work should include at least 30 credit hours in the student's major area and one minor area of 6 or more credit hours. A listing of required courses and a typical selection of available elective courses can be found below. Additional elective courses can be found in the University catalog under both the School of Medicine and the College of Liberal Arts. Please see also a list of our recent Pharmacology courses.

	Required courses	Credits	Semester Offered
IBS 7010	Molecular Biology	5	F
IBS 7020	Cell Biology	5	F
IBS 7030	Systems Biology	4	W
PHC 7010	Pharmacology Lecture	4	W
PHC 7650	Adv. Topics Pharmacology (Minicourses)	6*	F,W
PHC 7700	Recent Development (Journal Club)	7	F,W
PHC 7710	Indiv. Studies (Rotations)	5	F,W,S
PHC 7890	Seminar	6	F,W
PHC 9991,2,3,4	Dissertation Research (Candidate Status)	30	F,W,(S)
	- 4 semesters x 7.5 for a total of 30 credits

*Variable, 6 required

	Electives (List is not all inclusive)	Credits	Semester Offered
MTX 7010	Toxicology	3	F
PHC 7210	Cancer Biology	3
PHC 7220	Cell/Molecular Biol. of Cancer	3
PHC 7230	Breast Cancer	2
PHC 7240	Cancer Chemotherapy	2
PHC 7996	Research (credit hours variable, 20 max total	20
BCH 7310	Adv. Biochem. Mol. Biol.	3	W
BCH 7320	Adv. Biochem Proteins	3	W
BCH 7660	Bioenergetics	2	W
CB 7090	Signal Transduction and Growth Regulation	3	W
MBG 7010	Mol. Biology	3
PSL 7640	Cell & Mol. Physiology	3	W
PSL 7660	Neurophysiology	3	Alt. Yrs
PSL 7820	Membrane Biophysics	3
CHM 8690	Chemical Carcinogenesis
PYC 7020	Neurobiology I	3	F
PYC 7020	Neurobiology II	3	W
PYC 7510	Neurochem. Monoamine-Containing Neurons	3	Alt. Yrs
PYC 7520	Mol. Biol. Approaches in Neurobiology	3	Alt. Yrs

Notes:
1. All Pharmacology graduate students are required to attend all departmental seminars and Journal Club presentations.
2. There is no foreign language requirement for the doctoral degree.
3. Students must complete 90 semester hours for graduation including:

30 in Pharmacology lectures, seminars and Indiv. Studies
6 in the minor (usually Cancer Biology or Physiology or Biochemistry; can be IBS)
30 in Ph.D. Candidate Status (Dissertation Research)

ROTATIONS

Laboratory rotations are projects carried out by beginning graduate students under the supervision of a full-time Pharmacology faculty member in that faculty member's laboratory. The rotations exist to serve at least three purposes:
(1) The student gains training and experience in laboratory research
(2) The student gains an appreciation of the varieties of techniques and philosophies which can be applied to pharmacological research
(3) The student is provided with a basis for choosing a specific faculty member to direct her/his research.
Each graduate student will complete three rotations within the first year of the graduate program.
At the end of each rotation period, the students who have performed rotations will be required to give a short presentation (15 minutes) to the Department in our library that describes their project.

DEPARTMENTAL SEMINAR AND JOURNAL CLUB

The departmental seminars are presentations and discussions of research work given by faculty members and invited speakers from other institutions. These seminars are normally scheduled on Friday afternoons during the Fall and Winter semesters. Journal Club consists of student presentations of current research papers. Students are required to register for 1 credit of PHC 7700 each semester, starting with the Winter semester of their first year and continuing through the fourth year of the program. Each semester a grade will be assigned based on attendance and performance in presentation and critique. Attendance is required of all students, including those who may not be registered for the course.

ACHIEVEMENT OF DOCTORAL CANDIDACY

The student achieves Doctoral candidacy status after completing the following requirements:
A) Satisfactory completion of two years of graduate training in the department.
B)  Satisfactory completion of both the written and oral qualifying examination.
C)  Filing and approval of the Plan of Work with the Graduate School.
D)  Filing of the application form for Doctoral Candidacy.
E)   Filing and approval of the Dissertation Outline with the Graduate School.

Attainment of doctoral candidacy will normally occur at the end of the summer in the second year of the program. From this point forward, the efforts of the student will focus on successful execution and analysis of experiments leading to a doctoral dissertation. For a more detailed description of the graduate program and the requirements for candidacy and awarding of the Ph.D. degree, please click here.

CONCENTRATION IN MOLECULAR NEUROPHARMACOLOGY

The Pharmacology program has an approved Concentration in Molecular Neuropharmacology. The admission and academic requirements will be identical to those for the pharmacology doctoral program. The Concentration in Molecular Neuropharmacology is directed at doctoral students desiring to receive training in research in the molecular aspects of neuropharmacology. Neuropharmacology, the study of the actions of drugs on brain functions, is an area of intense and wide-spread interest, and the application of biochemical and genetic tools to the study of brain function offers a wide variety of new approaches to understanding brain function and to devising novel treatment modes for brain dysfunction and tumors. The Concentration in Molecular Neuropharmacology has been developed to provide highly-motivated students the specialized training needed to start them on productive careers in molecular neuropharmacology.

Selection for the concentration will be made by the graduate committee. Students choosing the Concentration in Molecular Neuropharmacology are required to follow the curriculum established for all graduate students in Pharmacology (see below for example curriculum) with the following additional requirements:

IBS7030 Functional Genomics. An elective course within the IBS Systems Biology section normally be taken in the Winter semester of the first year of study.

Note that the 4 credit PHC7010 Introduction to Graduate Pharmacology course includes a 2 credit IBS systems course in Pharmacology of the Nervous System.

Minicourses (PHC7650) - Within the requirement for 6 credits of Minicourses, 4 credits must be within the broad area of neuropharmacology or neuro-oncology as defined by the Graduate Committee.

For a list of potential advisors in neuropharmacology, click here

MODEL Ph.D. PROGRAM CURRICULUM

YEAR-1:

Fall:
Radiation Safety Course (Taken in September of First Year)
IBS 7010: Molecular Biology (5)
IBS 7020: Cell Biology (5)
Total 10 credits; Course credits = 10; PHC course credits = 10

Winter:
IBS Systems Biol. (minimum 4 required)
PHC 7010: “Principles of Pharmacology” (4)
PHC 7700: Journal Club (1)
PHC 7710: Laboratory Rotation (1)
Total 10 credits (20); Course credits = 10 (20); PHC course credits = 10 (20)

Summer:
PHC 7710: Laboratory Rotation (2)
Total 2 credits (22); Course credits = 2 (22); PHC course credits = 2 (22)

Choose major adviser at end of Summer

YEAR-2:

Fall:
PHC 7700: Journal Club (1)
PHC 7890: Seminar (1)
PHC 7650: Minicourses (0-3)*
PHC 7996: Research (1-5)**
Elective: (3)
Total 10 credits (32); Course credits = 10 (32); PHC course credits = 7 (29);
PHC 7996 tot = 1-5

WRITTEN QUALIFYING EXAM (January)

*A minimum total of 6 credits of PHC 7650 (1-credit minicourses) are required over the course of study.
**Maximum total allowed for PHC 7996 = 20 credits.

Winter:
PHC 7650: Minicourses (0-3)PHC 7700: Journal Club (1)
PHC 7890: Seminar (1)
Elective: (2-4)
PHC 7996: Research (2-8)
Total 10 credits (42); Course credits = 10 (42); PHC course credits = 4-10 (33-39)
PHC 7996 total = 3-13

Choose Doctoral Examination Committee
ORAL QUALIFYING EXAM (April-July)
File Plan of Work

Summer:
PHC 7710: Laboratory Rotation (2)

Total 2 credits (44); Course credits = 2 (44); PHC course credits = 2 (35-41)

YEAR-3:

Fall:
PHC 7650: Minicourses (1)
PHC 7700: Journal Club (1)
PHC 7890: Seminar (1)
*Doctoral Candidacy PHC 9991: (7.5)
Total 10.5 credits (54.5); Course credits =3 (47); PHC course credits = 3 (38-44)

Winter:
PHC 7650: Minicourses (1)
PHC 7700: Journal Club (1)
PHC 7890: Seminar (1)
*Doctoral Candidacy PHC 9992: (7.5)
Total 10.5 credits (65); Course credits = 3 (50); PHC course credits = 3 (41-47)

Summer:
PHC 7996: Research (3)
Total 3 credits (68); Course credits = 3 (53); PHC course credits = 3 (44-50);
PHC 7996 total = 6-16

YEAR-4:

Fall:
PHC 7700: Journal Club (1)
PHC 7890: Seminar (1)
PHC 7996: Research (1)
*Doctoral Candidacy PHC 9993 (7.5)
Total 10.5 credits (78.5); Course credits = 3 (56); PHC course credits = 3 (47-53)
PHC 7996 total = 7-17

Winter:
PHC 7700: Journal Club (1)
PHC 7890: Seminar (1)
PHC 7996: Research (1)
*Doctoral Candidacy PHC 9994 (7.5)
Total 10.5 credits (89); Course credits = 3 (59); PHC course credits = 3 (50-56);
PHC 7996 total = 8-18

Summer:
PHC 7996: Research (1)
Total 1 credit (90); Course credits = 1 (60); PHC course credits = 1 (51-57)

YEAR-5+ (all semesters):
Maintenance Status

*Student must attain doctoral candidacy to take these credits.