MD/PhD Requirements
The MD/PhD program supports well-integrated basic and clinical science pre-doctoral training program. The training program links many PhD programs in six graduate schools within the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University. It is important to keep in mind that MD/PhD students are working toward TWO degrees, not just “two for the price of one”. However, it is recognized that some relaxation of the requirements is appropriate for these students. We typically accept medical school coursework to fulfill the life science (6 credits), elective (6 credits), and grant writing workshop (1 credit) requirements.. MD/PhD students cannot use their MD courses to opt out of the advanced engineering/math/statistics course requirements for the PhD.
The course requirements for the MD/PhD in Bioengineering closely follow the PhD requirements in Bioengineering with a few exceptions:
- Track Courses (from a list of approved courses for specific tracks) - 9 credits*
- Life Sciences (fulfilled by passing all components of MED 5218 or equivalent) - 6 credits
- Graduate Electives (fulfilled by passing all components of MED 5116 or equivalent) - 6 credits*
- Graduate Engineering Mathematics (from a list of approved Math courses) - 3 credits
- Statistics for Bioengineers (from a list of approved Statistics courses) - 3 credits
- Ethics - 3 credits. The department does not enforce the 3-credit ethics requirements for MD/PhD students if they have acquired this knowledge through their medical school education. Note that these three credits are not waived. Students must acquire these three credits through another course (didactic or graduate project).
- Seminar - 6 credits total, 4 credits must be BIOENG 2023 - BIOENGINEERING SEMINAR SERIES . One of the four seminars can be substituted with a Preparation for STEM academic career course, when combined with appropriate certification. The other 2 credits may be from BIOENG 2023 or any other seminars deemed appropriate by the Graduate Program Director. Please see list of Approved Seminar Courses for suggestions.
- BIOENG 2900 - GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS AND PROPOSAL-WRITING WORKSHOP (grant writing) - 1 credit. The department does not enforce this 1-credit requirement for MD/PhD students if they have acquired this knowledge through their medical school education. Note that this 1 credit is not waived. Students may acquire the credit through research credits.
- Doctoral Dissertation Research, BIOENG 3997 and BIOENG 3999 -18 credits minimum, of which 12 credits of 3999 to be taken after the proposal; generally, students take 35 or more research credits
* The standard policy is 9 credits of track courses and 6 credits of electives. There is an exception for the Bioimaging and Signals track, for which the requirement is 12 credit of track courses and 3 credits of electives. MD/PhD students in this track must take all four track courses.
Total number of credit hours: 72 credits minimum, which includes 12 credits to fulfill the life science and electives requirements but does not include credits from foundational courses if applicable.
Of the 35 credits allocated for research, students must register for a minimum of 18 research credits, of which at least 12 credits must be from BIOENG 3999 , an option that is available only after advancing to candidacy; the remaining 6 credits are generally used for BIOENG 3997 . The remaining 17 (or more) credits may be applied toward research classes (3997, 3999) or, with approval from research advisor and graduate program director, other didactic courses relevant for the student’s professional objectives.
MD/PhD students are also required to complete two teaching practicums before presenting their PhD proposal (comprehensive examination). No more than one practicum can be undertaken in a semester. There is no course registration for this educational experience, and fulfillment is monitored by the department.
Please see Department of Bioengineering’s PhD Requirements page for more details.
