Keck School of Medicine
Degrees and Requirements
The Keck School of Medicine and its departments offer types of curricula leading to award of: the Doctor of Medicine; joint M.D./Ph.D.; joint M.D./MBA; joint M.D./MPH; M.D./M.S., Global Medicine; a Master of Academic Medicine, MAM; Global Medicine, M.S.; Pharm.D./M.S., Global Medicine; Global Health, B.S.; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Studies, B.S.; graduate degrees in conjunction with the Graduate School in Applied Biostatistics/Epidemiology, M.S.; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, M.S.; Biostatistics, M.S., Ph.D.; Cancer Biology and Genomics, Ph.D.; Cell and Neurobiology, M.S.; Clinical, Biomedical and Translational Investigations, M.S.; Development, Stem Cells, and Regenerative Medicine, Ph.D.; Epidemiology, Ph.D.; Experimental and Molecular Pathology, M.S.; Medical Biology, Ph.D.; Molecular Epidemiology, M.S., Ph.D.; Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, M.S.; Molecular Structure and Signaling, Ph.D.; Nurse Anesthesia, M.S.; Physiology and Biophysics, M.S.; Psychology and Public Health, Ph.D./MPH; Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, M.S.; Integrative Biology of Disease, Ph.D.
The Department of Family Medicine has one academic division: the Division of Physician Assistant Studies, which offers the Master of Physician Assistant Practice.
The Department of Preventive Medicine has two academic divisions: the Health Behavior Research Division, which offers a B.S., Global Health; B.S., Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Studies; B.S., Global Health/Master of Public Health; B.S., Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Studies/Master of Public Health; Master of Public Health; Pharm.D./Master of Public Health; Ph.D., Physical Therapy/Master of Public Health; Ph.D., Preventive Medicine (Health Behavior Research); and the Biostatistics Division, which offers M.S. programs in Biostatistics, Molecular Epidemiology, and Applied and Biostatistics/Epidemiology. The division also offers Ph.D. programs in Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Molecular Epidemiology.
In addition, departments of the school have certificate programs in certain medical specialties.
The Medical Education Committee (MEC) is responsible for overall planning of the medical school curriculum. Separate curriculum committees plan and supervise the instructional programs for each year of medical school. Each of the committees includes student representatives and faculty members from the departments involved in each year’s teaching program.
The curriculum of medical education at USC continues to emphasize preparation of the student to give optimal patient care. Students are progressively involved in patient care beginning with their first semester. The curriculum is patient-oriented, and students are expected to assume increasing responsibility for patient care as they acquire sufficient knowledge and skills. During the clinical experiences of the Junior/Senior Continuum students eventually attain a level equivalent to that of an intern.
At the same time, the school recognizes that the explosion of knowledge and techniques brought about by the current “biotechnology revolution” is rapidly altering the practice of medicine. During the four years of medical school, students cannot be taught all that will be needed for the practice of medicine — either now or in the years ahead. To a far greater degree than in the past, the present curriculum encourages students to acquire skills and habits of self-education and self-instruction that will prepare them for lifelong learning.
The faculty of the school recognize that while most students will eventually practice medicine, some will choose an academic research career. The plan of medical education fosters the development of individuals whose careers may be directed along this path. Faculty are available to counsel and encourage research participation by students during their medical school training.
The curricula of the Keck School of Medicine and its departments acknowledge the crucial place of basic medical science in the advance of modern clinical practice. Both basic and clinical science are taught throughout the four years of the undergraduate medical curriculum. Basic science is taught both as pure basic science and in correlation with clinical science. In addition, a number of the school’s departments cooperate with the USC Graduate School to offer degree courses leading to the award of the Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy. Most of these graduate courses may also be taken as part of the school’s joint M.D./Ph.D. program.