Overview

The College of Medicine and Public Health has an excellent program for combining clinical training leading to the MD degree with training in research culminating in the PhD degree. The IBGP works very closely with the medical school at all stages, from recruiting through to graduation with both degrees. This has resulted in a curriculum that minimizes redundancy and optimizes time utilization by the students without compromising the quality of education in either area. The following are only some of the advantages of this close cooperation:

• The Independent Study Program (ISP) provides flexibility of study time so students can arrange a study schedule that is best for them. The MSP and IBGP have jointly exploited this unique learning resource to develop an Integrated Medical Scientists Program (IMSP) that coordinates the ISP learning modules in Med I with the IBGP core curriculum. This is described in more detail below.
• MD-PhD students are not required to take the entire Biology of Human Disease III (IBGP-703).
• Graduate courses in both the core curriculum, and advanced graduate courses and seminars provide rigorous, in-depth scientific training.
• For students in the traditional program, IBGP courses taken during Med-I are scheduled so that there are no conflicts with scheduling of courses in the Integrated Pathway.
• A course in Physician Development includes history taking, doctor-patient relationship, infection control, instrument correlates, and clinical preceptorships.
• During the time focused on dissertation research, all IMSP students participate in a Clinical Preceptorship.
• Towards the end of the doctoral research the student will take the course Introduction to Clinical Medicine to facilitate the transition to Med III.
• Students have the option of counting dissertation research for up to four clinical electives. This, in combination with two months of vacation time in Med IV, allows students to enter Med III as late as January 1st of the Med III year, and still graduate in time to begin residency training 18 months later.
• During all years of training, MSP students attend the MSP seminars and participate in both the annual MSP Retreat and the Medical Center's Graduate and Postgraduate Research Day.

The wide breadth of expertise of our graduate faculty provides a large range of research disciplines and projects for our students to explore in laboratory rotations early in their training. This allows students to make informed decisions concerning their areas of dissertation research, dissertation Advisors, and Advisory Committee members.

Admission

Students admitted to the M.D.-Ph.D. program will be eligible to enter the Integrated Biomedical Science Graduate Program (IBGP). However, approval for admission requires that all information for the student held by the M.D.-Ph.D. program be available to the IBGP Director, that these materials are reviewed by the Graduate Studies Committee, and a majority vote for admission by this Committee be obtained. As soon after admission as possible, the Director (in consultation with the Graduate Studies Committee) will assign a First Year Advisor who will also serve as the MSP Basic Scientist Mentor. The student and Advisor will meet as soon as possible. The main issue to discuss at this meeting will be laboratory rotations. Minutes of this meeting will be prepared by the student, sent to the Advisor for his/her approval, and submitted to the IBGP Director to be reviewed and placed in the student's file. A copy of this will also be sent to the M.D.-Ph.D. Director.

INTEGRATED MEDICAL SCIENTIST PROGRAM
(IMSP)

The ISP and IBGP have developed a unique MD-PhD program that coordinates the learning resources of both programs. It is offered to a limited number of highly motivated talented students. Essential aspects of this program and the outline for the course Humanities for Medical Scientists are presented below. There are several aspects of this program that enrich the learning experiences to prepare students for academic careers as medical scientists.

• During Med I the ISP modules are synchronized with material covered in the IBGP core courses making it possible to complete Med I and most of the IBGP core in 14 months (one year less than traditional programs).
• Humanities for Medical Scientists, a course developed specifically to address issues critical for MD-PhD students, is taken during year one.
• During the second year, students take anatomy, the remaining IBGP core courses, and ISP modules for Med II.
• A course in Physician Development includes history taking, doctor-patient relationship, infection control, instrument correlates, and clinical preceptorships.
• Students take step 1 of the USMLE at the end of year 2.
• At the end of year 3, students take courses on grant writing and complete the Graduate School candidacy examination.
• Years three to five consist mainly of dissertation research, but during this time students will also take a medical school course in Physical Examination, and engage in clinical experiences with a clinical preceptor for one half-day per month.
• During all years IMSP students will attend the MSP seminars and participate in both the annual MSP Retreat and the Medical Center's Graduate and Postgraduate Research Day.

*In addition to the IBGP core curriculum, students must take a minimum of 6 credit hours of advanced non-seminar graduate course work and 9 credit hours of seminars. See descriptions of individual Areas of Research Emphasis for specific course requirements to receive Graduate Specialization Transcript Designations.

+Students must present their dissertation research at least once prior to their dissertation defense.

^Students have the option of counting dissertation research for up to four clinical electives.

*Professionalism
*End of Life
*Diversity
*Psychology of Illness
*Violence
*Sexuality
*Addiction
*Ethics

History and Politics of Medical Research and Human Experimentation - Bissell
Basic Principles of Biomedical Ethics and the Rights of Experimental Subjects - Bissell
The Principle of Non-Maleficence: Balancing Harms and Benefits - Bissell
Privacy and Confidentiality in Clinical Research - Bissell
The Principle of Patient Autonomy and Informed Consent - Salisbury
The Principle of Distributive Justice and Access to Clinical Trials - Salisbury
Legal Aspects of Clinical Research - Guttman
Clinical Trials-overview - Grever
Ethics and Genetic Studies - Westman
Reproductive Technologies and Associated Research - Kniss
Embryonic and Fetal Research - Kniss
Research on Human Tissues and Body Fluids - Jewell
Psychiatric and Psychological research - Bornstein
Clinical Trial Methodology - Pearl/Young
     -Subject and Control Selection
     -Early stopping rules and other design issues
Economic Aspects of Clinical Research - Bissell
Alternatives to Randomized Trials - Besner
Institutional Review Board Meeting - Carson
General Clinical Research Center - Malarkey
Clinical Trials with Special Subject Groups: pregnant; pediatric/adolescent; geriatric; dependent; prisoner; mentally impaired; foreign; terminally ill
Panel discussion
Clinical Preceptorship

*Indicates session is taken with other medical students as part of Med I Patient

Centered Medicine

Contacts:
Patient-Centered Research:
Michael Bissell, MD, PhD bissell-1@medctr.osu.edu
Douglas Post, PhD post-1@medctr.ohio-state.edu
Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM): Diana Bahner bahner.2@osu.edu
Physician Development (PD) and ACLS: Amanda Jaconette jaconette.2@osu.edu
Patient Centered Medicine (PCM): Firu Sharp sharp.137@osu.edu
Integrated Pathway (IP): Jennifer Capparuccini capparuccini.1@osu.edu
Program Manager Preclinical Years: Eileen Mehl mehl.27@osu.edu
Program Assistant (PCM & IP): Tammy Carl carl-3@medctr.osu.edu
Independent Study Program (ISP): Melissa Mahilo mahilo.3@osu.edu
Senior Partners Program: Michelle Myers myers.654@osu.edu
Medical School Class Registration: MaryAnne Phillips phillips.489@osu.edu
Financial Aid: Elizabeth Schuh medfinaid@osu.edu

TRADITIONAL MD-PHD PROGRAM
with PhD in the IBGP

Curriculum and Timetable Prior to Candidacy Examinations

It is strongly encouraged that MD-PhD students who are not in the Integrated Medical Scientists Program (IMSP) also enter the IBGP at the beginning of summer quarter, prior to beginning Med I. This will allow the student to be involved full-time in a laboratory rotation for half of the quarter. MD/PhD students not in the IMSP program should also consider the Independent Study Program (ISP) for Med I and Med II because of the flexibility of time that it provides. However, some students have preferred the Integrated Pathway.

During Med I for either of these pathways, the only IBGP requirements are the following:

Autumn-Biomedical Research Ethics;

Winter- Bioinformatics;

During all 3 quarters the student will attend the graduate seminars (IBGP-797.01).

The biostatistics requirement will be met during June after completion of Med I. For the summer quarter between Med I and Med II, students will take the Research Techniques course. Students will also attend the faculty mini-presentations (IBGP-706). The remainder of the student's time during summer quarter will be spent in laboratory rotation(s).

During autumn, winter and spring quarters of Med II the only IBGP requirement is the Graduate Seminar (IBGP-797.01), but students may take laboratory rotations and/or courses as approved by their graduate advisory committees.

PhD-I begins with the next quarter after completing Med II, during which the student will be involved in a full-time laboratory rotation. By the end of this quarter, the student should choose a dissertation advisor. During both autumn and winter quarters of PhD-I, the MD/PhD students take the remaining core courses and laboratory rotations taken by IBGP students in their first year. During spring quarter of PhD-I, these students take the courses IBGP-704 (Research Problem Solving), IBGP-703.01, IBGP-703.04, and a laboratory rotation (IBGP-793).

During PhD-II , MD /PhD students will take the second year IBGP curriculum, and during summer quarter of PhD-II they will complete the candidacy examinations. The examination committee consists of the pre-candidacy advisory committee and any other members that this committee feels is appropriate.

Curriculum and Timetable Subsequent to Candidacy Examinations

After successfully completing the candidacy examinations, a dissertation advisory committee is formed by the student and his/her advisor. This committee will assist the student in deciding which Area of Research Interest the student will focus on. During this phase of study, the MD/PhD student will be involved full time in dissertation research enrolling in IBGP-999. However, she/he will complete the IBGP core curriculum, and any additional courses that are required for a transcript designation, or courses that the advisor, advisory committee, and student feel are needed to round out the student's education. During this time, the student will also engage in clinical experiences with a clinical preceptor.

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING

Students interested in the BME/MSP program must apply to and be accepted by the Medical School, the Medical Scientist Program, and the Biomedical Engineering (BME) Graduate Program (http://chopin.bme.ohio-state.edu/bme_home/home.html). This is a seven-year fellowship program, competitively awarded, with the four medical school years funded by the MSP program, and the three graduate school years funded by the BME program. The course requirements for the Biomedical Engineering PhD component of the MSP remain the same as the stand-alone doctoral degree in BME, with the life science requirement being met by the Med I and Med II curriculum of the medical school.

Currently, the Biomedical Engineering program has 50 students, 12 core faculty members, and 65 part time faculty members.

Doctoral Program and Requirements

The MSP student and advisor work out a program of study and submit it to the Biomedical Engineering Graduate Studies Committee (BMEGSC) for approval. The program must have one major area in a biomedical engineering field (e.g., bioimaging, biomechanics, biomaterials, bio-nanotechnology, tissue engineering etc.), and one or two minor areas in supporting fields of life sciences or engineering (e.g., cardiovascular physiology, vision science, etc.). The major area should consist of courses comprising at least 25 credit hours. Students may choose to have two minors with each minor area consisting of at least 12 credit hours of related courses, or one minor consisting of at least 18 credit hours of related courses. The student and research advisor (who supervises the major exam) are responsible for identifying a supervisor in each of the minor areas, as well as a second supervisor for the major area for a total of four supervisors who form the advisory committee. Students whose program has only one minor should work with their advisor to determine a fourth faculty member to be added to either the major or minor area.

At least 40 hours of coursework must be in engineering disciplines (including CIS, math, and statistics). The distribution of such courses must be appropriate for each individual student's program, as determined by the student and advisor, and approved by the graduate studies committee. MSP students will receive 30 graduate credit hours upon completion of Med I, and 15 graduate credit hours after completion of Med II, for a total of 45 credit hours that will count toward the life science requirement of the doctoral program. This brings the coursework requirement to a minimum of 85 credit hours of graduate courses plus 50 credit hours of thesis research, for a total of 135 credit hours.

The selection of courses is individually tailored to the student's background, interests, and thesis research. However, some courses are required of all students, including:

The program of study to be submitted to the BMEGSC should include:

1. A concise course list with credit hours in each major and minor area, as well as any additional courses, and a schedule for completing the courses. Important information regarding the format and distribution of courses are available on templates in the Biomedical Engineering Computing Center (BMECC).
2. The examiner(s) for each area (advisory committee) with the exception of a minor in statistics.

Signed approval by research advisor and all examiners (advisory committee), and the core contact.

Approval of changes to a previously approved program should be requested of the BMEGSC in a letter stating the changes and their justification. The student’s PhD advisor must first approve the letter.

Sequence and Timing of the MD/BME Program

Students accepted into the BME/MSP Program will begin graduate school during the first year of their fellowship. During the early part of this year, the advisor will be chosen through rotations implemented with BME 793 Individual Studies, and the dissertation topic will be defined. Students will register for 15 credit hours per quarter, which is a requirement for holding a fellowship, with a mixture of course and research credit. The technical coursework will be completed during this first year, along with approximately 20 credit hours of research (BME 999), and BME 881 seminar. It is advisable to begin in the summer to allow five full quarters of courses prior to beginning Med I, in order to begin the process of choosing an advisor via research rotations. A second year of graduate school may be also completed prior to Med I, depending on the needs of the individual student.

Students will continue their research, and register for BME 999, integrated with the Med I and Med II curricula, during the second and third year of their fellowship, respectively. Upon completion of Med II, students will take Step 1 of the Boards, and subsequently, their candidacy exam. After entering candidacy, students will complete their research during the next two years, and return to Med III in year six of their fellowship, after receiving their PhD.

During this time the MSP will assign a clinical preceptor with whom the student will gain clinical experience for four hours per month. Med III and Med IV will be completed during years 6 and 7.

Although the MSP fellowship is structured as a seven-year program, additional time is sometimes required by the students in order to complete their research. This is done prior to Med III, in order to have the PhD completed before Med III. During all years MD-BME students will attend the MSP seminars, and participate in both the MSP Annual Retreat and the Medical Center ’s Graduate and Postgraduate Research Day.