Program Contact
Contact Jena Pitman-Leung
Assistant Director
Medical Scientist Training Program
Degree Types: MD/PhD
The Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) prepares students for exciting and rewarding careers that combine biomedical investigation and the practice of medicine.
This flexible program permits the efficient and natural combination of medical and scientific training for highly motivated students of superior research potential.
MSTP students typically complete two years of the medical curriculum followed by three or more years of research training. During this time, students complete a dissertation to fulfill the requirements for the PhD degree. Students then return to the medical curriculum to complete one and one-half years of hospital-based clinical clerkships.
Additional resources:
Degree Requirements
The following requirements are in addition to, or further elaborate upon, those requirements outlined in The Graduate School Policy Guide.
MD/PhD
MD Coursework Requirements
Students must meet coursework and clerkship requirements of Feinberg. MSTP students may receive 12 weeks of credit towards the MD elective requirements from their PhD dissertation research.
PhD Coursework Requirements
The PhD degree requirements of the graduate program in which the student is enrolled (Driskill Graduate Program in Life Sciences, Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences Program, Northwestern University Interdepartmental Neuroscience PhD Program, Biomedical Engineering Program, Department of Chemistry, Department of Material Science and Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and other academic departments as applicable), generally involving three or more years of research training and dissertation preparation, must be met. MSTP students are required to take at least three to nine graduate-level courses for a grade during their enrollment in The Graduate School depending on the program the student has joined.
Other MD/PhD Degree Requirements
- Examinations: graduate qualifying examinations for admission to candidacy
- Research/Projects: thesis research
- PhD Dissertation: original, independent research presented in a defensible thesis of high quality
- Final Evaluations: defense of dissertation
- Publish: a minimum of one first-authored peer-reviewed research article
- Other: regular participation in MSTP Colleges Curriculum and MSTP Grand Rounds in all years; teaching assignment required by PhD programs