PROGRAM OF STUDY
Students typically spend the first two years pursuing preclinical
course work in the School of Medicine culminating in taking Step
I of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). After
completion of preclinical course work, students begin full-time
participation in an SBU Ph.D. Program. Three to four years of continuous
study are usually required to complete all Ph.D. requirements. MSTP
Fellows then return to complete the clinical curriculum of the School
of Medicine. Minimally, 14 months of study are required. For example,
to graduate in May of 2010, a student would need to re-enter medical
school by about January of 2009. Clinical schedules are prepared
in consultation with the Office for Academic Advising in the School
of Medicine.
MSTP flexibility is of paramount importance. Hence, variations in this program of study are quite frequent and are made based upon the explicit recommendations of the MSTP Steering Committee in consultation with the School of Medicine and the Graduate School.
GRADUATE PROGRAM ORGANIZATION
Graduate education at Stony Brook is organized programmatically rather than
departmentally. At one extreme, there are Programs for which Departments
do not exist (e.g. Genetics). Other Programs have a single departmental home
base (e.g. Biophysics, Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Neuroscience);
nevertheless, these Programs involve preceptors from several SBU departments,
Brookhaven
and Cold Spring Harbor. Finally, there are school-wide
graduate programs (e.g. Molecular and Cellular Biology) that have multiple
departmental home bases. This reflects in part the interdisciplinary nature
of basic biomedical research and facilitates participation of both Brookhaven
and Cold Spring Harbor scientists without the need for adjunct or joint appointments.
This organization fosters extensive cooperation and collaboration since most
graduate students (MSTP Fellows) become personally familiar with several
Stony Brook departments as well as with research opportunities at Brookhaven
and/or Cold Spring Harbor.
Separate from the Graduate Programs per se, but nevertheless serving to enrich graduate education at Stony Brook, are Institutes organized around particular areas of interest (e.g. Cell and Developmental Biology; Molecular Cardiology). Like Graduate Programs, Institutes are interdepartmental in nature and foster significant communication, cooperation and collaboration among labs and departments.
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BNL & CSHL
Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory represent
totally unique research resources that are fully available to SBU MSTP Fellows.
Brookhaven Lab offers distinguished faculties in many areas of basic science
(e.g. cell biology, molecular biology and biochemistry, structural biology,
high energy physics, medical physics etc.). In addition, it houses a number
of internationally renowned facilities open to qualified outside users. These
include the scanning transmission electron microscope, the national synchrotron
light source (for X-ray crystallography of proteins) and a high flux nuclear
reactor. Each of these facilities is far too costly for a single university
to own and/or operate. While these facilities are open to any qualified user,
the proximity of Brookhaven National Laboratory to Stony Brook as well as
the full participation of many Brookhaven faculty in various SBU Graduate
Programs ensures SBU MSTP Fellows easy access to Brookhaven facilities.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is one of the world's most distinguished institutions
involved in studying cancer at the cellular, molecular and biochemical levels.
It is becoming preeminent in the pursuit of molecular neurobiology. Cold
Spring Harbor faculty are intimately involved in several Stony Brook Graduate
Programs, relying principally on SBU for graduate student participation in
scientific programs. SBU MSTP Fellows are thus ideally positioned to take
full advantage of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. In addition to day-to-day
research activities, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is perhaps the premier
site for international scientific meetings. As a result, SBU MSTP Fellows,
particularly those performing thesis research at Cold Spring Harbor, regularly
have the opportunity to see, hear and meet the world's foremost scientists
as they present the results of their experiments.
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APPLICATION TO GRADUATE SCHOOL
For uninterrupted study, formal application to graduate school must be made no later than the middle of the second year of medical school. To date, and for at least the past 15 years, no MSTP Fellow has experienced difficulty or failed to gain admission to a graduate program. For MSTP Fellows who have already chosen a thesis project and a faculty advisor with whom to pursue their research, application will be made to one or more Ph.D. Programs to which the prospective advisor belongs. Ultimately, the choice of Program may be dictated by such secondary factors as course requirements or seminar program; the research environment in the advisor's laboratory and topic of thesis research are, of course, the primary factors. For MSTP Fellows who have not yet decided upon an advisor, application should be made to the Program(s) of greatest academic interest. Students should carefully investigate the various areas of research of the participant faculty. This information is most easily obtained from the individual Graduate Program brochures. Graduate Program brochures should be obtained as early as possible during the application process (before medical school matriculation). Most are available on-line.
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RESEARCH ROTATIONS
MSTP Fellows who remain undecided at this point are free to continue performing
formal research rotations after matriculation in graduate school. Indeed,
research rotations during the first year of graduate study are a requirement
of many SBU Graduate Programs. Most Programs waive the formal rotation requirement
for MSTP students. This is because: 1) All MSTP Fellows have already participated
in at least one and perhaps several SBU research rotations prior to entering
graduate school. 2) Fellows have already been members of the SBU community
for nearly two years and during this time, have been introduced to research
opportunities at Stony Brook. Nevertheless, MSTP Fellows who would like to
perform additional
research rotations, a re free to do so.
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TRANSITIONS
There are three key transitions in the MSTP at Stony Brook. The first is
matriculation; the second is the initiation of full-time graduate study;
and the third is the culmination of graduate study and the return to clinical
medicine. To ease these transitions it is the opinion of the MSTP Steering
Committee that frequent advising of MSTP Fellows is the most effective action
Committee members can take. Accordingly, many of our advising practices (see
below) are so directed.
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FACILITIES
Office space dedicated for use by MSTP Fellows is currently being designed and will be furnished with personal computers and various other sorts of computer hardware. It is envisioned that this facility will be extremely useful for scientific/medical information searches as well as thesis and/or manuscript preparation.
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ADVISING
The Director of the MSTP, members of the MSTP Steering Committee
and current SBU MSTP Fellows are always available to discuss research
opportunities or any other subject of importance to the student.
These topics include medical school (or graduate school) courses,
choice of graduate program, application to graduate progam(s), transitions
(from medical school to graduate school or vice versa), progress
toward the Ph.D., choice of postgraduate training etc. In addition,
there are several formal advising mechanisms. Each year, the Director
meets with all first year students late in their first semester
to discuss research interests and to coordinate summer rotations.
At about the same time, the Director meets with all second year
students to discuss Graduate Program application(s).
During graduate study, MSTP students often meet daily with their
thesis advisors, frequently (up to several times annually) with
their thesis committees and at least once per year with the MSTP
Director. About six months before the anticipated completion of
graduate study, MSTP Fellows are encouraged to arrange a formal
interview with the Clinical Medicine Subcommittee of the MSTP Steering
Committee. At this meeting, the MSTP student's plans are discussed
and a specific program is formulated for return to clinical medicine.
Typically, this entails working directly with a member of the clinical
faculty to refresh basic clinical skills (history taking and physical
exam), participation in out-patient clinic for one-half day twice
monthly and participation once or twice in "on-call" activity in
the SBU Emergency Room. After return to clinical medicine, MSTP
Fellows are offered the same advising opportunities regarding selection
of clinical electives and postgraduate medical training that are
available to all SBU medical students. For further information about
clinical training, MSTP applicants are encouraged to consult the
medical school catalog.
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