MD/PhD Advanced Degree

SUNY Downstate has a tradition of excellence and initiative in training leaders in academic medicine. SUNY Downstate is one of the leading medical schools in the United States in terms of the number of its graduates going on to full-time careers in academic medicine.

The College of Medicine and the School of Graduate Studies jointly sponsor a program leading to the combined M.D./Ph.D. degree M.D./Ph.D. Program (downstate.edu). This program combines a medical education with an intensive research experience and is designed for students who are interested in pursuing a career in academic medicine (i.e., they want to become trained future investigators ready for a career in research, practice and teaching in an academic environment (SUNY Downstate - The School of Graduate Studies: MD / PhD Program). We are very proud off our MD/PhD students who are well-trained and become the very much needed physician-scientists needed for academic medicine. The program combines complete training in the pre-clinical and clinical aspects of medicine, culminating in the MD degree, with intensive research experience in the basic medical sciences leading to the PhD degree.

The MD/PhD program is open to interested applicants to the medical school and can be opportunity at any time for current MD students. Students who are admitted as medical students and become interested in pursuing a research career after one, two or three years in the medical school can apply to the MD/PhD program. Their application process will be expedited. Usually 2-4 applicants are admitted per year depending on the number of MD/PhD students who have completed their training that year. Students are supported with a stipend and a tuition scholarship throughout the duration of the program combines complete training in the pre-clinical and clinical aspects of medicine, culminating in the MD degree, with intensive research experience in the basic medical sciences leading to the PhD degree. Graduates of the program can relate the knowledge insight and techniques they have gained from their research training to problems in clinical medicine and are prepared to function as independent researchers.

In the usual course of study, students in the Foundation of Medicine years of the program follow the standard curriculum of the College of Medicine. All students are expected to work in research laboratories during the first two summers of their medical school tenure. They then spend approximately three to four years in the School of Graduate Studies taking advanced courses and pursuing research leading to a PhD thesis. Upon completion of these requirements, students return to the College of Medicine to complete their clinical training. The program is flexible and other options may be developed by the student in consultation with his or her advisor and the MD/PhD committee. Students may complete their PhD work in any of the three graduate programs (i.e., Neural & Behavioral Science, Molecular and Cell Biology, Biomedical Engineering). A fourth track is available for MD/PhD students interested in the development and application of medical nanotechnology. In this track the MD training takes place at SUNY Downstate and the PhD training takes place at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at the University of Albany. Many entering students hold prior research experience in a specific area and opt to continue pursuing that interest in an appropriate laboratory. Other students may rotate through several laboratories before making a final decision about their thesis sponsor. Members of the MD/PhD committee as well as individual faculty members are available to discuss these options and offer constructive advice to help students select a sponsor. Often a team of faculty members are provided as thesis research advisors for our MD/PhD students.