Course Requirements A minimum of 60 units of graduate study is required for the Ph.D. degree. Each student's program will include required courses plus a number of elective courses offered within and outside the department; the student must make up any prerequisite deficiencies before taking a required or elective course for which that background is necessary. Required courses include PATH 570abcd (4 units), PATH 550abL (12 units), BIOC 561 (4 units), BIOC 441 (4 units) or prior equivalent, BISC 467L (4 units) or prior equivalent, PATH 552ab (4 units), PATH 794ab (4 units). The remaining 24 units will consist of elective courses, research credits, and up to four additional units of dissertation research. During years I and II, students are advised to rotate through at least two research laboratories. The student must maintain at least a 3.0 GPA for all course work, exclusive of research credits.
Screening Procedure An advisory committee of three faculty members assesses each newly admitted student's educational objectives and research interests, acquaints the student with the research activities of the department, and recommends a program of graduate courses and research. This committee must approve the student's program before the student may register for any course. The advisory committee evaluates the performance of each first-year student, and must approve the student's progress before the student may register for the second year. The committee's evaluation may include a written or oral screening examination.
Guidance Committee Not later than one month after being approved to register for the second year, each student must file for formation of a five-member guidance committee, one member of which must be from a department other than pathology. This committee guides the student in selecting a thesis advisor and advises the student during preparation for the qualifying examination and writing of a research proposal. This committee may also serve as a dissertation committee, for which the student may request changes in membership. The dissertation committee advises the student during dissertation research and evaluates the dissertation.
Qualifying Examination To be admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree, each student is required to pass both the written and oral portions of a qualifying examination, usually taken no later than the fifth semester of graduate standing. The examination is designed to test the student's core knowledge in pathobiology and to determine fitness and competence to undertake independent research on a disease-related interest. The written portion of the examination is prepared by the department's Graduate Committee and is offered once or twice each year. The oral examination is administered by the individual student's guidance committee and is based in part on a written proposal which the student must submit two weeks prior to the oral examination. The written proposal must consist of a proposal for an original research project.
Dissertation and Oral Defense The written dissertation is prepared in a format commonly used by major peer-reviewed scientific journals that publish similar experimental results. When the student has substantially completed the research and writing of the dissertation, the department requires that the student orally defend the dissertation's research conclusions. Although attendance at the oral defense is open to all members of the department and other interested faculty, the examination is conducted and evaluated solely by the candidate's dissertation committee. The student may defend the dissertation at any time in the year mutually agreeable to the dissertation committee.
Produced by the USC Division of Student Affairs, Office of University Publications, May 1, 1995