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MD - PhD Training Program College of Medicine
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Prospective Students Overview

Curriculum

Overview

The MD-PhD program at the University of Florida has been training clinician-scientists continuously for over 30 years through intramural funding. The MD-PhD program trains clinician-scientists for a career in academic medicine with the full expectation that our MD-PhD students will become future leaders at academic medical centers worldwide. The combined MD-PhD program utilizes didactic components, team science, and quantitative & experimental design to provide the best learning experience possible.

MD-PhD

Required MD Pre-clinical Curriculum

The UF College of Medicine (COM) curriculum for years MS1 and MS2 is based on a patient-oriented, systems-based approach with small group learning, simulation, communication, and clinical skill building – fairly typical of U.S. Medical Schools and fulfilling the requirements for LCGME accreditation (2015). Please see the documents below for more information on the components of the program.

Curriculum

Quantitative & Experimental Design Curriculum

Recognizing that each of the 10 PhD Programs may have specific course requirements in this area, a basic understanding of experimental design and core quantitative skills is required for virtually any career in biomedical science.
One solution built into the UF MD-PhD Training Program is a Clinical and Translational Science Co-Major. Scholars should complete at least one epidemiology or clinical research/experimental design course relevant to dissertation research (usually 3 credits) and one biostatistics/bioinformatics course relevant to their dissertation research (usually 3 credits).

QUIPS

QUantitative medicine and Innovation in Physiologic Sciences

There is consensus that physician-scientists require a firm understanding of basic disease mechanisms and quantitative methodology substantially different in depth and scope than that required by a physician providing healthcare. The QUIPS Course is a Discovery Pathway track, held on Thursday afternoons for most weeks during the MS1 and MS2 preclinical curriculum. QUIPS has the following learning objectives: 1) Use research to their medical school curriculum to understand the basics in quantitative methods; 2) Acquire skills to read and interpret the research literature; 3) Obtain a mastery of quantitative ideas and methods to allow collaboration with quantitative scientist; and 4) Have an understanding of key advancement or essential methods in the different fields of physiologic sciences.

CTSA Program

Team Science

An innovative feature of the UF MD-PhD Training Program is the opportunity to participate in a TL1 Team Science Program sponsored by the CTSA Program.
PhD students, including MD-PhD Scholars, are encouraged to apply for TL1 positions on two or more person teams in which partners pursuing their PhD in different Colleges help each other design additional “team specific aims.” The purpose is to expand the scope of their individual dissertation research projects via authentic interdisciplinary collaboration.
The TL1 has CTSA funds supplemented by several departments and colleges to support 8-10 TL1 pre-doctoral fellowships per year with funding for two years.

Elective Activities

During MS1-2 and GS1-4, Scholars will be strongly encouraged to participate in at least three elective programs.

MD-PhD Program

MD-PhD Leadership Development Program

This program consists of four modules, including a Leadership Primer the summer before MS1