Program of Graduate Studies (Doctoral Degree)
This document describes the rules and regulations of the PhD Program of the Department of Microbiology and Medical Zoology, and is intended to complement the document entitled: “Requirements at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Campus in Partial Fulfillment towards Master of Sciences and Doctor of Philosophy Degrees”.
REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSIONStudents may enter the graduate program in Microbiology and Medical Zoology after receiving bachelor’s, a master’s degree, or its equivalent degree in Science from an accredited institution. According to the rules and regulation the University of Puerto Rico, the applicant must complete the application process of the Graduate School of Biomedical Science. In addition, the applicant:
1. is expected to have completed the following courses:
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Biology (8 semester credit hours) Organic Chemistry ( 8 semester credit hours) Analytical Chemistry (3-4 semester credit hours) Physics (8 semester credit hours)
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Mathematics (at least one course in calculus, 3 semester credit hours);
2. is required to have a general a Grade Point Average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) as well as in science courses;
3. is required to take the general and advanced Graduated Record Examination (GRE) in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, or Biochemistry. The GRE should have been taken no earlier than two years before the application date;
4. has to be interviewed by the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee or by at least two members of the Departmental faculty.
5. The applicant must be fluent in both Spanish and English.
Applicants will be admitted to the program for the Fall Semester. The applicationdeadline for Fall admission is February 15. Admission is subject to the approval by the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee, and the Graduate Committee of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine of the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus. Applicants with a Masters degree in Microbiology can be considered for admission on the second semester of the academic year (January) with the approval of the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee. The application process will be the same as that for the students admitted during the fall , and should be corn leted by October 15.
Only applicants with fully completed application forms and application requirements for the set deadline dates will be considered for admission.
Applicants who are enrolled in the Master’s Degree Program of the Department of Microbiology and Medical Zoology can request transfer to the PhD Program no later than February 15 of the second year of studies, subject to recommendation and approval by the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee and approval by the Graduate Committee of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus.
Transfer of graduate courses will depend on the nature of the course content and the student’s major area of study. Only graduate courses taken at a duly accredited institution, a maximum of four years prior to admission and approved with a minimum grade ofB, will be considered for transfer. The maximum number of semester credit hours that may be transferred by an applicant isfifteen (15), and the request for transfer must be made at the time of application to the Graduate School of the Medical Sciences Campus. This request will be considered by the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee and processed according to the rules and regulations of the Registrar’s Office of the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus.
Applicants already enrolled in the Masters Degree Program of the Department of Microbiology and Medical Zoology who request admission to the PhD Program, can request that all graduate courses taken, be applied to the course requirements of the PhD Program. Applicants who have completed a Master’s Degree in Microbiology and Medical Zoology at the University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine can transfer up totwenty four (24) credit hours, taken during the course of studies for the Master’s Degree in the said institution, withinfive (5) yearsof application to the Doctoral Program. Persons with continuous exposure to the field of Microbiology and Medical Zoology after obtaining their master’s degree can request in writing a waiver of this5-year time limiton Microbiology and Medical Zoology courses to the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee and the Departmental Chairman so that courses taken more than five years ago can be considered for transfer. This waiver will be approved by the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee and Departmental Chairman and informed to the Graduate School Committee for approval before final submission of the transferred credits to the Registrar’s Office. The final transfer of credits and the substitution of courses will be done following the procedures described by the Registrar’s Office Manual (“Manual de Normas y Procedimientos de la Oficina del Registrador”).
PROGRAM OF STUDY
A full-time study load is required at all times during doctoral studies and for a maximum of at leastthree (3) yearsin order to comply with the minimum residency requirements. A full- time study load consists of at leastnine (9) semester credit hoursof courses as indicated in “Requirements at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Campus in Partial Fulfillment Towards Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy Degrees” (Section IV, D., 3 a.) or a combination of course and research work which amounts toforty (40) clock-hours per week. Four (4) years of full-timestudy load is the expected minimum time for completion of all requirements for a PhD Degree. The maximum time limit for the completion of all requirements for the PhD Degree is listed in the Registrar’s Office Manual (“Manual de Normas y Procedimientos de la Oficina de Registrador”) asfive yearsfor students that have a Master Degree upon entering the PhD Program andseven yearsfor students having a Bachelor’s Degree.
A total of 45 semester credits of course work plus fifteen (15) semester credits of thesis research (MICR 8599) is the minimum required for the completion of the PhD Program. Only courses approved with a grade ofA, BorPwill be taken into account for the total number of credits of course work. The medical microbiology course requirement has to be approved with aB (80.0)or higher grade. If the student obtains aCgrade in the course, he/she can request that a reposition exam be given, which he/she has to pass with a minimum grade ofB. This reposition exam will be given before the last date of late registration. Failure to pass with aBgrade the medical microbiology course or the reposition examination will automatically cause suspension of the student from the Departmental Graduate Program. Evidence of the approval of the reposition exam must be submitted by the graduate microbiology course coordinator to the graduate program coordinator before the next registration period. A student that has aCin any of the required Departmental courses must repeat the course. A student that has aCin any other Departmental course can take another course to substitute for the one that he or she has withC. If a student has aCin the Biochemistry courses, he/she must take the same course or any other Biochemistry courses to substitute for the one he/she has aC. A student whose GPA falls below 3.0 will immediately be put on probation.
The students’ individual course curriculum will be planned taking into consideration the students’ research interests and the Departmental course requirements. The Departmental course requirements are the following:
REQUIRED COURSES
1 Medical Microbiology (MICR 8499) – 6 semester credits
2. Principles of Immunology (MICR 8540) – 3 semester credits
3. Biochemistry or its equivalent – 5-8 semester credits
4. Introduction to Parasitology (ZOME 8502) – 3 semester credits
5. Basic Statistics or its equivalent – 3 semester credits
6. Graduate Seminar (MICR 8580)* – 1 credit per year (minimum of 3 credits)
7. Practice Teaching (MICR 8590)* – 1 credit
ELECTIVE COURSES
The student must take a minimum of 11 to 12 semester credit hours in Departmental elective courses. The Departmental elective courses are the following:
1. Diagnostic Microbiology MICR 8501
2. Virology and Tissue Culture MICR 8510
3. Medical Mycology MICR 8530 and MICR 8531
4. Microbial Physiology MICR 8550
5. Microbial Genetics MICR 8560
6. Medical Entomology ZOME 8503
7. Nematodes ZOME 8504
8. Platyhelminthes ZOME 8505
9. Protozoa ZOME 8506
*
This course must be taken while the student is in the Doctoral Program and for a minimum of three years.
**Students that can offer evidence of having teaching experience in Microbiology or Medical Zoology or related fields can be exempted from this requirement following the approval by the Departmental Graduate Coi-nmittee and the chairperson of the Department.
Other departmental advanced courses may be taken to substitute for onlyoneof the above elective courses, upon approval by the Departmental Graduate Studies Committee and the Departmental Chairperson. This course substitution will be done according to the procedure detailed in the Registrar’s Office Manual (“Manual de Normas y Procedimientos de la Oficina de Registrador”).
Graduate courses offered by other departments of the School of Medicine and by the Intercampus PhD Biology Program and other graduate courses offered by graduate science programs of the University of Puerto Rico can also be considered towards fulfilling the 45 semester credit course requirement, pending approval by the thesis advisor and the Graduate Studies Committee of the Department of Microbiology and Medical Zoology. Graduate courses taken in mainland or foreign universities during the course of the graduate studies can be transferred following the procedures detailed by the registrar office upon approval by the Departmental Graduate Committee.
A student with a B.Sc. of with a Masters degree in an unrelated field admitted to this program is expected to follow a full-time schedule described as follows:
A. First Year
1.First semester
(a) Introduction to Medical Microbiology (6 credit hours) MICR 8499
(b) Biochemistry (5-7 credits)
2.Second semester
(a) Basic Immunology (3 credit hours) MICR 8540
(b) Introduction to Parasitology (3 credit hours) ZOME 8502
(c) Two departmental elective courses (5-6 credit hours). See list of Departmental elective courses above.
B. Second Year
Biostatistics (CBIO 8500)
Practice Teaching (MICR 8580)
Graduate Seminar (MICR 8590)
Two departmental elective courses (5-6 credit hours). See list of Departmental elective courses above.
Advanced Topics (MICR 8504-8506; 8514-8518; 8532- 8534; 8542-8544; 8552-8554) (1-3 credit hours)
C. Summer (Optional)
Advanced Topics (I -3 credit hours)
D. Third Year
1. First Semester
(a) Take comprehensive exam.
(b) Approval of thesis proposal.
2. Second Semester
(a) Graduate Seminar.
(b) Begin Research.
3. Third Summer: Research
E. Fourth Year*
1. First Semester
(a) Graduate Seminar.
(b) Research.
2. Second Semester
(a) Defense of Thesis.
3. Fourth Summer
(a) Graduation.
* The student may take more than four years to complete his (her) degree.
COMPREHENSIVE OR QUALIFYING EXAMINATIONS
Students will take their qualifying examinations before the end of the third year of studies. Students will be eligible to take the qualifying examinations after they have fulfilled the following requirements:
1. Obtained satisfactory grades in their courses, maintaining a minimum of 3.0 average on a scale of 4.0 during their graduate studies.
2. Accumulated a minimum of 45 semester credit hours in graduate courses andsatisfactorily completed all required courses.
3. Selected a faculty thesis advisor and committee.
The qualifying examination will be offered once a year (between the 1 rst of September and the 31 rst of October). The examination will consist of a written and an oral component. The qualifying examination will be prepared by the student’s thesis committee and will consist of 8 written questions in the area of specialization selected by the student with the recommendation of the thesis advisor. Of these 8 questions, the student will have to answer 6. Each day, the student will be given four questions, of which he/she should answer three questions. These questions will be structured so that they can be answered in two 8 hours periods (2 days). They will be divided equally to cover, basic knowledge in the chosen field, experimental design and interpretation of data.
The areas of specialization from which the student will select one of the following:
| Microbial Physiology Mycology | Microbial Genetics |
| Medical ZoologyBacteriology | Immunology |
| VirologyMolecular Biology |
The student will register in a three credit advanced topics area of specialization he/she has chosen (MICR 8506, 8516, 8534, 8544, 8554, 8564 or ZOME 8515) as well as in Graduate’Seminar (MICR 8580) during the semester he/she is preparing for the exam, taking the qualifying exam and preparing the dissertation proposal. The thesis committee will evaluate both components (oral and written) of the examination and rate them on a 0 to 100% scale. An average score of the examination will be computed and a grade of failed will be reported for the entire examination. A passing grade will be recommended if the average grade falls within the 70% to 100% range; and failure will be recommended if the average grade falls below 69%.
The student will be notified within the next 7 days after the written examination when he/she will take the oral portion of the examination, which will take place no later than 7 days after this notification. The results will be promptly reported to the student as approved, or failed. In the case of approval, the student may be admitted to candidacy if all other requirements for candidacy have been met. In the case of failure, the student will be allowed to repeat the exam once more within one calendar year from the first unsuccessful attempt. Failure to pass the qualifying examination the second time will automatically drop the student from the Program (Requirements at University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, in partial fulfillment towards Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy Degrees). Official notification of the decision will be made in writing by the thesis advisor and Thesis Committee to the Departmental Chain- nan, who will notify the Graduate School Committee and the Associate Dean of Biomedical Sciences. RESEARCH AND THESIS
The student will select a research advisor from among the departmental members by the end of his/her first year of studies and the advisor will inform the Graduate School Committee through the Departmental Chairperson of this selection. The Thesis Advisor chosen by the student must comply with all the qualifications described in the “Requirements at the University of Puerto Rico, Medlical Sciences Campus, in partial fulfillment towards the Master Science and Doctor of Philosophy Degrees”. The Departmental Chairperson has the responsibility of notifying the Graduate School, in writing, that the student’s Thesis Advisor has been selected.
The student will select a thesis committee in consultation with the Thesis Advisor. The Thesis Committee will consist of the Research Advisor as president, at least three faculty members from within the department including the advisor, and a minimum of one faculty member from outside the department. The thesis advisor will be responsible for monitoring the student’s research. The composition of the thesis conunittee will be informed to the Graduate School by the Departmental Chairperson. The thesis committee shall be selected prior to the 30th of September of the second year of studies.
The thesis project should be defmed as soon as the student begins to work in his (her) chosen research laboratory. Nevertheless, according to the “Requirements at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus in Partial Fulfillment towards the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy Degrees”, the student cannot officially register in thesis research until all other requirements for candidacy have been met. However, it is expected that the student will begin working on his/her thesis research no later than the second year of studies.
A thesis proposal of no less than 5 pages in addition to the bibliography should be prepared by the student and submitted for approval to the thesis committee immediately bef6re being admitted to candidacy. A student shall enroll for full time study in research for the Ph.D. only after his/her research proposal has been approved by the thesis committee as stated in the “Requirements at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Campus in partial fulfillment towards Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy Degrees”. We encourage students to submit their proposals to scholarship programs in the United States so they may increase the probability of obtaining an award.
The thesis committee will monitor the progress of the student according to the “Requirements at the University of Puerto Rico, Medical Campus, in partial fulfillment towards Master Science and Doctor of Philosophy Degrees”. The student will be required to give an oral progress report to the committee and the faculty and students of the Department at the end of each year.
The research work of a PhD candidate must lead to the preparation of at least one publication in an internationally recognized scientific journal in their area of expertise. This manuscript must be submitted for publication prior to the graduation date. Written evidence of submission of the paper will be required before approval of the final thesis defense. CANDIDACY
Admission to candidacy will be requested after the student has fulfilled all of the following requirements:
a. Satisfactory completion of all the required courses and the requirements of the Department
b. Completion of a minimum of 45 semester credit hours with a minimum 3..O general average on a 4.0 scale.
c. Maintenance of a minimum of 3.0 average in the required courses of the Department d. Accumulation of a minimum of 3 years of residency in the Department
e. Satisfactory completion of the qualifying examination
f. Approval of the thesis proposal THESIS DEFENSE AND FINAL APPROVAL
The thesis defense and requirements for final approval will be carried out as described in Requirements at the University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus in Partial Fulfillment towards the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy Degrees.
STUDENT’S RESPONSABILITY
It is the student responsibility to understand and comply with the rules and regulations of the Doctoral Program in Microbiology and Medical Zoology as