Admissions
Admissions Criteria:
The BMP welcomes candidates who are U.S. Citizens, non-citizen nationals, or lawfully admitted permanent residents of the U.S., or individuals who already hold, or can obtain a J-1, H1-B, or F1 transfer visa.
The program is designed for applicants with long-term goals of entering careers in the health sciences, or applying to DO and MD, PA, DMD/DDS, PhD, other health science degree programs or seeking a master’s degree in the Biological Sciences.
Candidates must have distinguished personal qualifications of past academic ability and references. Application requirements include a bachelor’s degree with at least a cumulative 3.0 GPA; a 3.3 or higher GPA is preferred. Completion of pre-requisite courses for application to future professional degree programs are required. MCAT, DAT, PCAT, or GRE scores are not required for admission, but should be reported by any applicant who has taken one of these tests. Candidates with community service, clinician shadowing, patient volunteering, clinical or basic research experiences, and strong academic performance will be viewed very favorably.
Applicants who are citizens of countries where English is not the official language (and the Province of Quebec in Canada) and are seeking their first degree in the United States are required to submit evidence of English Language proficiency by submitting the official results of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). A minimum TOEFL score of 600 (paper) or 100 (iBT), a nIELTS score of at least 7.00, or a Doulingo score of 120 is required for admission to the Program. We actively seek qualified applicants from underrepresented minorities and students with disabilities.
Application Process:
- The online application process starts October 1st and closes on June 1st the following year. Admissions is conducted on a rolling basis. Responses to offers are required within 30 days of an offer being extended, or the final responses deadline of June 15th, whichever is first. Students matriculate for the beginning of the fall semesters. A focus on ensuring student success is employed in the admissions process.
- Admissions are based upon the student’s academic record, letters of recommendation, previous experience, written statement of interest, an updated resume/CV, and an online or in-person interview.
The online application is available at: https://admissions.gradbiomed.pitt.edu/
Financial Assistance
Financial guidance is available through the University of Pittsburgh Office of Admissions and Financial Aid: http://oafa.pitt.edu/learn-about-aid/. The BMP offers scholarships to select students. Awards are determined based on a holistic evaluation and amounts are based on financial need. All students are responsible for ensuring their tuition is paid.
Degree Requirements
All requirements detailed in the Regulations Governing Graduate Study at the University of Pittsburgh will be met. The MS in Biomedical Sciences requires the completion of a minimum of 32 credits with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Maximum credits allowed per term will be 15, and a typical course load will be 15 credits for the fall and spring terms and 2 credits for the summer term.
Foundational Components:
The Curriculum: The BMP employs science-based instruction designed to improve student preparation for professional degree programs in medicine, dentistry, research, and other related health science professions. By emphasizing understanding and how to think in addition to what to know, the BMP promotes the development of study habits that enable our students to excel and thrive in the first two years of these demanding professional degree programs. These goals will be achieved through an integrated series of required core courses and elective courses and experiential training opportunities together with dedicated one-on-one advising and mentorship that will enable students to successfully apply to and perform well in their chosen professional school.
Experiential Training. The BMP affords opportunities for experiential training specifically tailored to the strengths and weaknesses of each individual student. The areas selected correspond to the typical aspects considered in the review of standard professional school applications: community service, patient volunteering, clinical shadowing, and research training.
Mentoring and Coaching. The BMP provides a multi-tiered mentoring and coaching model to all students. Each student will meet with their assigned faculty advisor during the initial phase of the program in order to identify strengths and weaknesses of the previous training received by the student. The student and faculty advisor will identify the best selection of academic courses and experiences to maximize long term student learning and success. Career and professional development coursework and access to an internal International Coaching Federation career coach will support individual growth including many of the AAMC Core Competencies. Access to an external International Coaching Federation life coach is also provided to address broader challenges such as limiting beliefs. In addition, near-peer mentoring is facilitated by the BMP Alumni Mentor Network. Students also engage in large group lectures, larger group discussions, small group discussions, and peer-to-peer writing-and-reflection coursework, with a focus on developing competencies in written and verbal professional communication skills. These activities are specifically targeted to develop the quality of students’ professional program application materials.
Expanding on these three components, the BMP enables the student to differentiate with elective courses, experiential opportunities and mentoring to focus on specialized interests. These Areas of Concentration (AOCs) are in Medicine, Dentistry, or Biomedical Research. The AOCs are designed to individualize the program for students seeking future professional programs leading to the MD, DMD, or PhD degree, respectively.
Successful completion of the BMP results in conferral by the University of Pittsburgh of the Master of Science (MS) degree in the major of Biomedical Sciences. The BMP is a 12 month program. Applicants who are working may complete the program part-time over the course of two academic years
Curriculum
The BMP curriculum includes three major components: core, electives, and experiential activities. A common “core” has been designed to provide the foundational sciences for students who have a minimal level of basic science training as well as advanced education in health science thinking skills to serve students well into the first two years of professional degree programs. These courses are complemented by electives and experiential activities that are chosen based on each student’s interests in his/her AOC.
Core Courses: Biochemistry and Physiology; Method and Logic in Biomedicine; Cell Signaling and Pharmacology; Comprehensive Analysis of Disease 1 and 2; Foundations of Successful Career Planning and Development 1 and 2, Professionalism and Non-cognitive Development 1 and 2.
Elective Courses: Human Anatomy; Histology and Cell Function in Health and Disease; Cell Biology Pathways in Treatment of Disease; Organ Systems Physiology; Neurophysiology; Clinical Pharmacology; Diversity Awareness Exploration in the Biomedical Sciences.
Additional Elective Courses: Additional graduate level courses are available with written approval from the student’s academic advisor and permission from the instructor and/or department offering the course.
Experiential Courses: The BMP will provide ample opportunities in community service, hospital volunteering, and clinical shadowing. Available opportunities are matched each term to optimize the experiential benefit for all students during their tenure in the program. Research training experiences are also available in a wide range of biomedical and clinical research laboratories. Students are expected to take the initiative, guided by their faculty advisor, to find suitable matches and schedule experiential education and training sessions during the Fall, Spring, and/or Summer terms.
Training in Ethics: Ethical conduct and scientific integrity is an essential aspect of the health sciences. The BMP program instructs students on the significance and practice of ethical conduct in an annual workshop.
Academic Standards
All graduate students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 in order to stay in good academic standing and be eligible for graduation.
