Hershey, Pa.– Penn State College of Medicine is offering a new integrated biomedical sciences graduate degree program with a unique focus on basic and translational research in the areas of human health, disease and therapeutics.
The Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program is accepting applications from students for fall 2011. This graduate program offers students an education leading to the doctoral degree. In addition to specialized tracks in biochemistry and molecular genetics, translational therapeutics, and virology and immunology, students have the opportunity to design a customized curriculum spanning a variety of disciplines including biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, virology, immunology, physiology, pharmacology and structural biology.
“With this new program, we’re offering a curriculum that leverages our unique relationship with Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center to provide each student the skills necessary to acquire the breadth of knowledge required for biomedical sciences,” said Michael Verderame, associate dean for graduate studies. “We are educating and training students to be the next generation of leaders in endeavors that benefit from a rigorous scientific research background, including academic, industrial and government research, education, law, journalism, and public policy.”
The first-year fall curriculum provides the student an understanding of basic cellular processes through a common curriculum, which includes three parallel and integrated three-credit courses: Life Requires Energy: Biochemistry and Metabolism, Life Requires Structure: Cell Biology and Anatomy, and Life Requires Flow of Information: Genetics and Molecular Biology. The fall semester also includes Scientific Analysis and Presentation I to reinforce the Life Requires components and aid the student in the transition from textbooks to primary literature as a source of information.
The first year spring curriculum offers an opportunity to explore one or more curricular paths within the program. The spring curriculum also includes Scientific Analysis and Presentation II, which further develops knowledge acquisition from primary literature and begins to develop presentation skills necessary for subsequent journal clubs and literature-based courses.
During the first year, students will complete three research rotations, which expose them to the wide range of research interests of the Penn State graduate faculty from both basic and clinical science departments at the College of Medicine. The research rotation experiences culminate in the selection of the thesis adviser.
“The program will provide students a broad-based understanding of multiple disciplines with specific expertise in a chosen area of research as well as encourage interdisciplinary research that is the hallmark of biomedical research in the 21st century,” Verderame said.
The new degree program complements eight other graduate doctoral programs in the College of Medicine, including anatomy, bioengineering, immunology and infectious diseases, integrative bioscience, molecular medicine, molecular toxicology, neuroscience and physiology.
For more information about the new Biomedical Sciences Program, call Ralph Keil at 717-531-8595 or visit www.pennstatehershey.org/gsa.