Human genetics: Master of Science, Doctor of Philosophy and Pre-medical Basic Health Sciences Certificate
Assessment
Adviser and committee
Biannual evaluation
Ph.D. candidacy examinations
Departmental comprehensive examination
Oral preliminary examination
Dissertation
Adviser and committee
A student’s adviser assumes the very important responsibility of acting as that student’s mentor. Entering students are assigned a temporary faculty adviser who will advise them during their first year of study. Questions about course scheduling and departmental requirements should be directed to the graduate program director. As indicated previously, course schedules of first-year students must be approved by the graduate program director.
By the end of the second semester of study, M.S. and Ph.D. students must have selected an adviser and the members of his or her graduate committee. The adviser should have research projects underway or a committed interest in the student’s chosen area of research, and will be the chair of the student’s graduate committee. The committee should be chosen by the student with the assistance of his or her adviser and approval of the graduate program director, the department chairman and the dean.
The Ph.D. committee is comprised of at least five members who have appointments to the graduate faculty. Three of the members must hold appointments in the Department of Human Genetics at a level of assistant professor or greater, and two must hold appointments in departments (preferably from two different departments) other than the Department of Human Genetics. In order to be eligible to sit for the departmental preliminary examination given in January of each year, the Ph.D. student must have the composition of their approved graduate committee, their course work plan and the tentative title of their dissertation on file with the dean’s office by July 1 of the year prior to the one during which he or she is planning to take the exam. Students who do not meet this deadline will not be permitted to take the examination. It is the ultimate responsibility of each student to make sure that he or she meets all deadlines.
The M.S. committee is comprised of at least three members who have appointments to the graduate faculty. Two of the members must hold appointments in the Department of Human Genetics at a level of assistant professor or greater, and one must hold a primary appointment in a department other than the Department of Human Genetics. In order to be eligible to defend their thesis, the M.S. students must have the composition of their approved graduate committee, their course work plan and the tentative title of their thesis on file with the dean’s office no later than six months prior to their thesis defense. Students who do not meet this deadline will not be permitted to hold their thesis defense. It is the ultimate responsibility of each student to make sure that he or she meets all deadlines.
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Biannual evaluation
Students will be evaluated by the faculty in January and June of each year. During the three semesters plus one summer of study, this evaluation will be based upon performance in course work, as well as input from the student’s laboratory rotation director, the leaders of the journal clubs in which the student participates and his or her temporary/permanent advisers. After the Ph.D. student has passed both the departmental and oral preliminary examinations, the evaluation will primarily be based on the student’s progress as determined by the student’s committee. This step will occur for M.S. students at the beginning of their second year in the program. Faculty who serve as advisers to students in our graduate program are required to prepare written reports on the progress of each of their students for discussion at the biannual faculty meetings held for the purpose of student evaluation. As a result of faculty feedback obtained during this meeting, the adviser may revise the report prior to providing it to the student involved. Within two weeks after the faculty meeting, the adviser will meet with each of his or her students to discuss the material contained within the individual’s report and will, with the student’s input, devise a plan to meet any deficiencies noted by the adviser or the faculty. A copy of each report and any remediation plan devised will be signed by the adviser and the student. These reports will be returned to the graduate program director’s office and will be logged in and then filed with the student’s records as maintained by the department. The graduate program director will notify the department chair of all cases where these reports have not been returned to that office in a timely manner. The purpose of these evaluations is to provide regular feedback to students regarding their progress and to develop plans to ensure a timely completion of the requirements of the Ph.D./M.S. program. In order to be eligible for financial support from the Department of Human Genetics, a Ph.D. student must have a signed copy of the written evaluation reflecting his or her current progress as discussed at the most recent faculty meeting concerning student progress on file in the department chair’s office.
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Ph.D. candidacy examinations
Students are expected to complete the required course work within three semesters and one summer. During the spring semester of a Ph.D. student’s second year of study, each student must take the departmental comprehensive examination. The departmental comprehensive examination is composed of written and oral phases. The final phase of the Ph. D. candidacy examination sequence is the oral examination administered by the student’s graduate committee, in the presence of a representative of the dean’s office. These examinations meet the requirements of the School of Medicine for admission to Ph.D. candidacy.
Ph.D. students are encouraged to meet with the members of the curriculum committee and the members of their graduate committee to discuss what will be expected of them on the examinations.
M.S. students will be tested on their knowledge of human genetics as part of the defense of their thesis. M.S. students also are encouraged to meet with their adviser to discuss what will be expected of them at their thesis defense.
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Departmental comprehensive examination
The written phase of the examination includes a minimum of five equally weighted sections, each of which may contain one or more questions and which address major areas of human genetics, currently including cytogenetics, biochemical genetics, molecular genetics, clinical genetics, genetic epidemiology, population genetics and general genetics. This phase of the examination is used to assess each student’s knowledge of human genetics as well as his or her ability to solve problems related to this topic. Students will be tested in all areas of human genetics; genetic epidemiology students will be tested in the areas of human genetics in which they have had specialty courses. Each faculty member in the Department of Human Genetics will be asked to provide the departmental curriculum committee with potential questions to be included in the examination. The curriculum committee will assemble the examination from the questions that have been submitted to them. Faculty members whose questions have been chosen will be asked to provide an outline of the answer expected and to serve as primary evaluator for that question.
Each question on the written examination will be given a numerical score between 0 and 100 where a score of 80 to 100 is passing, a score of 90 to 100 is honors, 70 to 79 is marginal (less than satisfactory) and less than 70 is failure. The final grade on each section of the examination will be the average score over all evaluators of that section. Under this system, any student whose average score is 79 or less on a given section would fail this section of the departmental comprehensive examination.
The second phase of the departmental comprehensive examination includes an oral examination administered by the members of the departmental curriculum committee. The examination is open to all Department of Human Genetics’ faculty members. It will occur within one week of the completion of the written portion of the examination, will cover all areas of human genetics and will address strengths and weaknesses identified by the written examination. A subset of the questions included in each student’s oral examination will be the same for all students sitting for the examination in a given year.
Although only members of the curriculum committee will be involved in the actual questioning, all departmental faculty members present at the oral examination will vote on whether or not the student taking the examination has passed that exam. Failure of the examination will occur only if there is more than one dissenting vote to a motion that the student has passed. Students who fail any one section of the overall examination will be required to repeat that section of the examination. Students who fail two or more sections of the overall examination will be required to repeat the entire examination. Students who receive marginal passes on three or more sections of the examination also will be required to repeat the entire examination.
The curriculum committee will be responsible for evaluating the performance of students on the full examination (written and oral sections) and reporting the outcome of this evaluation to the faculty. During a meeting called specifically for this purpose, the committee will present the results to the faculty along with their recommendations about possible methods of remediation should a student fail all or part of the examination. Final decisions regarding whether or not a student has passed or failed the examinations and the subsequent course of action recommended must be approved by a majority vote of the faculty present at the meeting. Immediately following this meeting, the student’s adviser (or a member of their graduate committee in cases where the adviser is out of town) will meet with each of their students who sat the examination to inform the student of examination results and discuss faculty recommendations for remediation plans if any are required. If the student has passed the departmental comprehensive examination, the oral preliminary exam may be scheduled. If the student has failed the examination, the curriculum committee and the student’s adviser will be responsible for preparing and documenting a remediation plan for student, if necessary. A written copy of the remediation plan and a tentative date for re-examination must be signed by both the student and the adviser and kept on file with the student’s permanent record in the department chair’s office.
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Oral preliminary examination
The final phase of the Ph.D. candidacy examination sequence is the oral exam which will be given within three months of passing the written preliminary examination and within 30 days of notification of the dean’s office that this has occurred. The dean’s office must be notified of the oral preliminary examination two weeks prior to the examination date and any materials that the student has prepared, i.e., grant proposals also are due in the dean’s office at that time. Students are responsible for making sure the dean’s office has been notified of their intended date for taking the oral comprehensive examination and filing all necessary forms by published deadlines. In preparation for the oral exam, an assignment will be given by the student’s committee. This assignment is usually in the form of a term paper on a specific topic or of a research proposal and will be given to each committee member and to the dean’s representative assigned to chair the oral exam. The function of this assignment is to test the student’s knowledge of his or her chosen area of research and will serve as the basis of questioning for the oral exam. The oral examination, however, may include, in addition to questions on the assignment and the student’s area of research, questions on general principles of human genetics and related disciplines (including material covered in didactic sessions, lab sessions, journal clubs, seminars, pre-clinic and literature with which the student is expected to be familiar). A decision on whether or not a student has passed the examination is decided by a vote of his or her committee members plus the dean’s representative. A student can have no more than one negative vote to pass the examination.
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Dissertation
Upon successfully completing the departmental comprehensive and the oral comprehensive exam, the student is admitted to Ph.D. candidacy. At this point, the student is expected to develop and conduct a dissertation research project, and to write and defend a thesis describing his or her dissertation work.
All students should refer to the Graduate Bulletin for details of requirements for graduate study set by the university and the School of Medicine. The rules stated in the bulletin must be adhered to; requests for exceptions to these rules must be submitted, in writing, to the dean of the School of Medicine.
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