Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Sciences (Medical Genetics)

Program Description

The general description for the PhD program is as presented for all PhD programs in Medical Sciences (see The Degree of MSc ).

Students are required to complete a minimum of 6 units in graded graduate-level coursework, and a thesis.

Required courses

MDGEN 601 - Selected Topics in Medical Genetics OR
MDGEN 605 - Directed Reading in Medical Genetics
MDGEN 602 - Special Topics in Medical Genetics taken three times.
For students in the MatCH specialized umbrella scholarship program, course substitutions will be allowed with permission of graduate coordinator
Students in the Maternal and Child Health (MatCH) scholarship program are also admitted to the Graduate Embedded Certificate in Maternal and Child Health Research. See Medical Sciences for the program requirements and the MatCH website for more information on the program.

Thesis

Registration in 900-level THES

Seminar

Students must present a research in progress seminar to the Department in the second year and fourth year of their graduate program.

PhD Proposal

All PhD students must submit a PhD Proposal to the Medical Sciences Graduate Program (MSGP) committee. The proposal must be approved prior to the candidacy exam.

Students who changed program category to the PhD from an MSc program must submit a PhD proposal by 24 months into their graduate program.

Students who entered the PhD program having already completed the MSc degree must submit a PhD Proposal within the first 18 months of their program.

Candidacy Exam

The candidacy exam includes a research proposal on a topic related to but not on their specific research topic as chosen by the supervisory committee from two student-proposed topic areas. The research proposal will consist of ten single spaced pages and one summary page.

Students who changed program category to the PhD from an MSc program are required to complete their candidacy exam within the first 36 months of their program.

Students who entered the PhD program having already completed the MSc degree are required to complete their candidacy exam within the first 24 months of their program.

Residence Requirement

The PhD program follows the minimum residence requirement of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, which is two academic years (where an academic year is defined as the eight-month period from September through April) of full-time on-campus registration.

Length of Program

The maximum time to complete the PhD program as set by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research is six years.