Faculty

Faculty Handbook
Chapter II: Academic Programs

PH.D. PROGRAM

The Graduate School of Biological Sciences is an integral part of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, administering a course of study toward the PhD degree in Biomedical Sciences.

The mission of the Graduate School is to provide a rigorous educational experience in biomedical sciences to excellent, research-oriented students. The broad perspective of the educational approach provides students with the analytical skills that are fundamental to investigation, and also imbues them with a capacity and zest for mastering new knowledge in a period of ever more rapid change. Innovative program and course design and the full multidisciplinary use of institutional resources foster student development into imaginative, independent investigators, including research-oriented physician-scientists, who will contribute significantly and in diverse ways to the progress of science.

The Graduate School has adopted a model for its predoctoral training programs that reflects the multidisciplinary nature of contemporary biomedical sciences. Graduate students learn in an environment in which basic research, research applied to fundamental problems in human biology, and the more clinical research and clinical applications enrich one another and promote innovation at the forefront of knowledge. A Graduate Faculty with a deep commitment to the educational processes offers a wide range of research opportunities for predoctoral students.

All students begin the PhD program in a flexible entry pathway. They enjoy highly individualized training opportunities tailored to their interests through six Multidisciplinary Training Areas (MTAs). Each MTA is overseen by two co-directors and a Steering Committee, and MTA faculty are drawn from diverse academic units at Mount Sinai.

During the first year to year-and-one-half, students complete the Core Curriculum Requirement as well as additional course requirements for each MTA. Students formally declare a training area after the first academic year, usually after they have chosen a preceptor. They are guided by an initial cross-departmental advisory committee and are encouraged to explore potential faculty mentors' research programs; all students, with the exception of advanced transfer students, must complete at least two rotations. Further information about the requirements may be found in the Graduate School Handbook or the Graduate School Web site.