School of Medicine

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

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

Curriculum

Curriculum
Courses
Faculty

Degrees Offered

Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy

Special Departmental Requirements

None (See general University Graduate School requirements.)

Admission Requirements

Students should have a background in biology, chemistry, phys­ics, and mathematics. Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), or Dental Admission Test (DAT) scores are required as a part of the application for direct admission Ph.D. and M.S. programs and are used as guidelines for admission together with GPA and letters of recommendation.

Master of Science Degree

The M.S. degree in Cellular and Integrative Physiology is offered in two different options, non-research and research. Both tracks require a total of 30 credit hours for the degree.

Course Requirements for the non-research track M.S.

The non-research option consists of 30 credit hours of didactic course work. Required courses include the following:

• B500 Biochemistry (3 cr.)
• F503 Basic Human Physiology (5 cr.)
• B561 Introduction to Biostatistics (3 cr.)
• Electives (19 cr)***[see list below]

Course requirements for research track M.S.

The research option consists of 26 credit hours of didactic course work and 4 credit hours of research. Required courses include the following:

• B500 Biochemistry (3 cr)
• F503 Basic Human Physiology (5 cr)
• B651 Introduction to Biostatistics (3 cr)
• F701 Research in Physiology (4 cr)*
• Electives (15 cr)***

***Elective Courses

• D501 Human Gross Anatomy
• D502 Basic Histology (4 cr)
• D537 Neuroanatomy: Contemporary and Translational
• D701 Translational Neuroscience
• F504 Human Physiology Simulation Lab
• F603 Integrated Medical Physiology
• F782 Physiology and Pathophysiology of Lipid Rafts
• BIOL-55900 Endocrinology (3 cr)
• BIOL-56100 Immunology (3 cr)
• BIOL-57410 Molecular and Cellular Bone Biology (3 cr)
• G707 Physiology of Smooth Muscle
• G708 Cardiac and Coronary Physiology of Exercise
• G724 Molecular Cancer Genetics,
• G726 Developmental Genetics;
• G727 Animal Models of Human Disease (1 cr)
• G729 Immunology I-Introduction to the Immune System;
• G737/ANAT-D851 Introduction to Histology;
• G748 Principles of Toxicology 1;
• G749 Introduction to Structural Biology
• G751 Advances in Cytoplasmic and Nuclear Signaling,
• G756 Radiation and Cancer Biology (3 cr)
• G761 Molecular and Cellular Physiology of Ion Channels (1 cr.)
• G762 Renal Physiology
• G807 Structural and Chemical Biology;
• G817 Molecular Basis of Cell Structure and Function;
• G837 Mammalian DNA Repair and Disease;
• G848 Bioinformatics, Genomics, Proteomics and Systems Biology;
• G855 Experimental Design and Biostatistics (1 cr)
• J510 Infectious Microbes and Host Interactions (3 cr)
• J807 Current Topics in Immunology;
• J829 Current Topics in Molecular Genetics of Microorganisms; and
• J842 Neoplastic Determinants.

The student may use additional electives in their plan of study with the approval of the graduate advisor

Total credits required for degree = 30 credit hours

Thesis

Optional

Final Examination

Oral defense is required with M.S. thesis option. Research option requires a written report, using a scientific manuscript format.

Grades For MS degree programs

Students must maintain an overall B (3.0) average in course work and earn and no less than a B- in any required or elective course.

Doctor of Philosophy Degree

ALL new doctoral (Ph.D.) students will enter our Physiology graduate doctoral (Ph.D.) program from the Indiana University School of Medicine BioMedical Gateway (IBMG) Program or by direct application and acceptance into the program.

Ph.D. Degree Requirements

Requirements for a doctoral degree include completion of 90 credits of which 30 are from coursework and 60 are from research. The 30 course credit hours required for the Ph.D. degree are composed of 18 credits from courses required for their major and 12 credits that comprise a minor.

Required Major courses (18 cr)

• GRDM-G715 Biomedical Sciences I (2 cr)
• GRDM-G716 Biomedical Sciences II (2 cr)
• GRDM-G717 Biomedical Sciences III (2 cr)
• GRDM-G700 Research Skill courses (1 cr)
• GRDM-G718 Research in Biomedical Science (6 cr total)
• PHSL-F513 Medical Physiology (6 cr)
• G855 Biostatistics (1 cr) or B651 Introduction to Biostatistics (3 cr)
• GRDM-G507 Reagent Validation as a Means for Enhanced Research Reproducibility (1 cr)

Required GRDM Research Skill courses:

Students are required to take the following research skills courses:

• One of the following research ethics courses:
  • GRDM-G504 Introduction to Research Ethics (2 cr)
  • GRDM-G505 Responsible Conduct of Research (1 cr)
  • GRDM-G506 Responsible Conduct of Translational Research (1 cr)

• One of the following research communications courses
  • ENGL-W 533 Science Writing for Public Readers: Communicating Science (1 cr)
  • COMM-C 534 Distilling Your Message: Communicating Science (1 cr)
  • COMM-C 533 Improvisation for Scientists: Communicating Science (1 cr)
  • GRDM-655 Research Communications Seminar (1 cr)

Elective courses are offered in the form of “Focused Mini Courses” which are offered to all graduate students of this program and other graduate departments, who wish to enhance their knowledge of a specific area of physiology. These courses include:

• PHSL-G703 Physiology of the Coronary Circulation (1 cr.)
• PHSL-G707 Physiology of Smooth Muscle (1 cr.)
• PHSL-G708 Cardiac and Coronary Physiology of Exercise (1 cr.)
• PHSL-G762 Renal Physiology (1 cr.)
• PHSL-G761 Molecular and Cellular Physiology of Ion Channels (1 cr.)
• PHSL-F782 Physiology and Pathophysiology of Lipid Rafts (1 cr.)
• PHSL-F603 Integrated Medical Physiology (3 cr)
• PHSL-F504 Human Physiology Simulation Lab (2 cr)
• The student may use additional electives in their plan of study with the approval of the graduate adviser

Minor (12 cr)

All students must select a Minor, which is intended to provide additional breadth and depth to the student’s graduate curriculum. The Minor consists of courses, which are outside the major department and may be in one of the basic medical sciences (anatomy, biochemistry, medical and molecular genetics, microbiology and immunology, pathology, or pharmacology) or from one of a number of interdisciplinary minors including: diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular sciences, bioinformatics, and biomolecular imaging. An alternative minor option is to select the Life Sciences Minor. A minor in life sciences requires a minimum of 12 credit hours outside of the student's major department; 6 of these credits must be in biological sciences. Most minors require 12 credit hours of course work, although there is some variation. In cases where less than 12 credit hours are required, the student will take additional elective courses from the elective course list above.

Grades

• Students must maintain an overall B (3.0) average in course work and earn and no less than a B- in any required or elective course.

Qualifying Examination for Ph.D. Candidacy

• The students Advisory Committee will administer the qualifying exam to assess the student’s preparedness to carry out a rigorous program of biomedical or educational research.

Final Examination

• The student’s Research Committee will set the date for the student’s oral defense of the dissertation. Further details of departmental policies will be made available to the student on request and at the time of enrollment.