School of Medicine

Departmental E-mail: medgen [at] iupui [dot] edu

Departmental URL: http://genetics.medicine.iu.edu

(Please note that when conferring University Graduate School degrees, minors, certificates, and sub-plans, The University Graduate School’s staff use those requirements contained only in The University Graduate School Bulletin.)

Curriculum

Curriculum
Courses
Faculty

Degrees Offered

Master of Science in Medical and Molecular Genetics and Doctor of Philosophy

Special Program Requirements

(See also general University Graduate School requirements.)

Admission Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent, including two years of chemistry, mathematics through calculus, two years of biology, and one course in principles of genetics. Promising students deficient in one or more areas may be accepted if it appears to the admissions committee that deficiencies can be removed during graduate study. Results of the Graduate Record Exami­nation (GRE) General Test must be available before applicants can be considered for admission.

Master of Science Degree

Course Requirements

For students not in the genetic counseling study track, a minimum of 30 credit hours of approved courses, includ­ing no more than 7 credit hours of research, plus either the thesis option or non-thesis option of an additional 6 credit hours (see “Thesis” section below). At least 20 credit hours must be taken in medical genetics or approved equiva­lents, including at least four of the following five areas with grades of B or higher: basic human genetics (Q580), clinical genetics (Q610), cytogenetics (Q620), molecular and biochemical genetics (Q613), and popula­tion genetics (Q630). The student must maintain a minimum of 3.0 GPA and a B or better in all coursework.

Students in the genetic counseling study track, to meet requirements to take the certification examination of the American Board of Genetic Counseling, are required to have courses in all five areas listed above plus additional required course and clinical work to­taling 36 credit hours. Genetic counseling students must obtain a B (3.0) or higher in all core courses.

Thesis

Genetic counseling students must choose either a the­sis, case report with literature review, or development and implementation of an educational project, in addition to the required 36 credit hours.

A student not in the genetic counseling study track may complete one of the following options in addition to the 30 credits hours of approved coursework:

• prepare and defend a Master's thesis OR
• first authorship on a refereed publication with approval of the department OR
• complete an additional 6 hours of non-research coursework (non-thesis option)

Final Examination

The completion and passing of a written exam, oral exam, or combined written and oral exam is at the discretion of the student's advisory committee.

Genetic counseling MS students must pass a comprehensive written ex­amination. Under exceptional circumstances, the student may petition the committee to be permitted to take the final examination one additional time.

Program Termination

Academic or research deficiency will result in termination of the student’s enrollment in the program.

Doctor of Philosophy Degree

Course Requirements

All Ph.D. students are required to take a minimum of 12 hours of coursework in the major, with a grade of B- or better, and the remaining hours will be of the minor, research and seminar credits, as well as the first-year common curriculum for new Ph.D. students, including six hours of research rotations, for a total of 90 credit hours. Information on first-year required courses for the PhD program (Indiana Biomedical Gateway – IBMG) program may be found under the Biomedical Sciences section of this bulletin. Up to 30 credit hours of non-clinical graduate level courses may apply toward the Ph.D. or the M.D./Ph.D. combined degree.

Minor

Must be taken in a field related to the major, e.g., bioinformatics, cancer biology, cardiovascular sciences, diabetes and obesity, life sciences, health informatics, or translational sciences. Number of credits (usually 12) and grades required are determined by the minor director for each minor. Minor credits must be separate from the Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics major course credit requirements.

Qualifying Examination

Comprehensive written and oral examination (research proposal). Examination over the minor field at the discretion of the minor field department.

Research Proposal

Written research proposal, presented and defended orally, required for admission to candidacy.

Final Examination

Oral defense of dissertation.

Program Termination

Research or academic deficiency, including two failures of the qualifying examination, will result in termination of the stu­dent’s enrollment in the program.

Ph.D. Minor in Medical and Molecular Genetics

Students outside the department desiring to obtain a doctoral minor in Medical and Molecular Genetics (MMGE) must complete a minimum of 9 credit hours in MMGE courses other than research (Q800) and seminar (Q660), with a grade of B (3.0) or better. Required courses consist of Q580 Basic Human Genetics (3 cr.) and at least two of the following: Q612 Molecular and Biochemical Genetics (3 cr.), Q620 Human Cytogenetics (3 cr.), and Q630 Population Genetics (3 cr.).