Requirements for the PhD Degree

Students are required to complete the minimum requirements of the Graduate School. These include 72 semester hours beyond the baccalaureate degree, including research and readings credits, to be approved by the doctoral advisor. Up to 30 hours of post-baccalaureate credit from an accredited institution may be transferred toward the doctoral degree. Further details are available online from the MU Graduate School.

In addition, the following are requirements of the Integrative Anatomy curriculum within the Pathobiology Area Program:

A. Formal Course Requirements

Three courses are required for IA students, with a B average or higher maintained in each:

  1. Human Gross Anatomy and Embryology
  2. An approved course in statistics
  3. Responsible conduct in research course

Students are required to take four courses chosen in consultation with their advisor, generally selected from the following list, with a B average or higher achieved in all such electives:
* to be developed by IA faculty and offered on a biannual basis

Pathology and Anatomical Sciences

Primate Anatomy and Evolution (PAS)*
Evolutionary Morphology (PAS)*
Musculoskeletal Mechanics (PAS)*
Morphometrics (PAS)*

Anthropology

Human Origins (Anthropology 7500)
Human Biological Variation (Anthropology 7540)
Evolutionary Medicine (Anthropology 7580)
Skeletal Biology (Anthropology 7894)
Seminary in Physical Anthropology (Anthropology 8587) (topic dependent)

Biological Sciences

Evolution (Bio Sci 4600)
Developmental Biology (Bio Sci 4972)
Neural Control and Regeneration in Motor Systems (Bio Sci 4986)
Nerve Cells and Behavior (Bio Sci 4988)
Vertebrate Histology and Microscopic Anatomy (Bio Sci 4990)
Topics in Biological Sciences (Bio Sci 8002) (topic dependent)
Developmental Genetics (Bio Sci 8320)
Developmental Neurobiology (Bio Sci 8450)
Systematics and the Comparative Method (Bio Sci 8620)

Psychological Sciences

Cognitive Neuroscience (Psych Sci 7240)
Functional Neuroscience (Psych Sci 8210)
Cognitive Development (Psych Sci 8420)
Language Development (Psych Sci 9410)
Psychology of Development (Psych Sci 8410)

Other

College Science Teaching (Curr and Inst 8724)
Embryology and Development of Domestic Animals (Vet Biomed Sci 7307)
Vertebrate Behavioral Ecology (Nat Res 8620)
Geographic Information Systems (7840)
Advanced Paleontology (Geology 8190)
Stable Isotope Geochemistry (Geology 8550)
Finite Element Methods (Mech Eng 8280)
Skeletal Muscle Physiology (Med Pharm Phys 9435)
Human Kinesiology (PT 7250)
Radiation Biology (Radiology 7328)
Comparative Anatomy (Vet Med 8423)

B. Qualifying Process

By the end of the first month in the program, students will complete a qualifying process, which is required by the MU graduate school. This process consists of a meeting in which students meet with the IA faculty to consider their incoming background, knowledge and goals, and determine their specific plan of academic study.

C. Laboratory Rotations

During the first year, students are required to complete two semester-length research rotations, one of which must be with a faculty member other than their intended advisor. These rotations will involve student-directed research design, data collection, analysis and interpretation. Research should be of publishable quality, either on its own or as part of a larger project. Students will be required to orally present their research to the IA faculty and other students, and will be encouraged to disseminate such research at national meetings and via publication.

D. Dissertation Proposal and Proposal Examination

During the second year while formal courses are being completed, each student selects a Dissertation Advisor and a Dissertation Committee consisting of two faculty members in the Pathobiology Area Program, usually IA faculty, and one person from MU but outside the Pathobiology Area Program. Another committee member from on or off campus is permitted. In consultation with this committee, the student prepares a dissertation proposal of the quality and organization to submit as an NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant or the equivalent. The dissertation proposal examination first consists of the submission of a written proposal by the end of the fourth semester. Typically in several weeks, this is followed by an oral presentation of the proposal open to all faculty and a subsequent oral defense before the Dissertation Committee. Such an oral examination may consist of questions specific to the proposal as well as questions employed to gauge a student’s general knowledge base and grasp of relevant theoretical issues (as deemed appropriate by the student’s committee). Aside from evaluating a student’s oral and written skills, a benefit of this schedule is that it allows a student to receive substantial constructive criticism on their dissertation project prior to the submission of a final proposal to various granting agencies by the beginning of the third year of graduate study.

E. Advancement to Candidacy

The faculty will recommend a student to the Graduate School for advancement to candidacy upon satisfactory completion of all course requirements as well as the Dissertation Proposal and Proposal Examination. The student then becomes a formal candidate for the PhD degree.

F. PhD Dissertation

The student, under the supervision of the Dissertation Committee, performs the research leading to the preparation of written dissertation. The dissertation must contain the results of original and significant investigation. The dissertation may follow one of two formats. It may follow a traditional dissertation format, with Preface, Introduction and Background, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion chapters. Alternatively, it may consist of three or four publishable papers, unified by Introduction and Conclusion chapters. The choice of format will be determined in consultation with the dissertation committee.

G. Dissertation Defense

Following completion of the dissertation, the student presents his or her findings in a formal public oral defense. The defense is conducted by the Dissertation Committee, but is not chaired by the student's advisor. Following the presentation of results, the student is questioned by members of the committee and by other members of the audience.

H. Teaching Requirement

Every student is required to serve as a teaching assistant for medical human gross anatomy or allied health anatomy (PAS 4222) at least once before graduation, regardless of funding source.

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Department of Pathology & Anatomical Sciences | School of Medicine | University of Missouri-Columbia

copyright © 2006 The Curators of the University of Missouri | an equal opportunity/ADA institution
anatomy image credits: Bernhard Siegfried Albinus: Tabulae sceleti et musculorum corporis humani
courtesy National Library of Medicine Historical Anatomies on the Web

Last modified: 26-Mar-2007