CURRENT STUDENTS

Administration

PBS Rules

Physiology Minor

 

Master of Physiology (Option B)

Master of Science and  PhD

PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION

The Student Services Office at the College of Veterinary Medicine serves as the administrative center for the Physiology Graduate Program. The CVM Student Services is responsible for student-related administrative tasks of the Physiology Graduate Program. Each semester PIN numbers for registration can be obtained from the Graduate Student Services Assistant.  All forms, such as Plan of Work, change of grade forms, Requests for Preliminary Oral Exam, etc are processed through this office.  All forms can be accessed online at the Graduate School Forms Page. Please contact the Graduate Student Services Assistant at:

Graduate Student Services
College of Veterinary Medicine
NC State University
Campus Box 8401
4700 Hillsborough Street
Raleigh, NC 27606
Phone: (919) 513-6448
Email: cvm_grad@ncsu.edu

POLICIES AND REQUIREMENTS FOR PHYSIOLOGY GRADUATE DEGREES

A comprehensive listing of Graduate School policies and requirements for graduate degrees can be found at the Graduate School Web Site. Current students should become familiar with the information provided by the Graduate School.  The Graduate Administrative Handbook  also provides details regarding timelines, theses, and processing forms. Faculty and students are encouraged to consult this material in developing their programs of study.

All Physiology graduate students, including non-thesis Master's candidates, will be required to complete one or more orientation workshops at the commencement of the first year of their graduate program.  These workshops will be offered through the Graduate School and the College of Veterinary Medicine orientation programs at the beginning of the fall semester.

DEFINITION OF FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME ENROLLMENT

REQUIREMENTS FOR A MASTER OF PHYSIOLOGY, NON-THESIS (OPTION B) DEGREE

Degree Objective

To provide a non-thesis Master's degree program for students seeking to improve their academic credentials and become more competitive for admission to a professional school (health professions including medicine, dentistry, nursing, etc and veterinary medicine) and for individuals desiring to improve their knowledge of modern physiology, without a requirement to perform research or prepare a formal presentation on their own research project.

Program outline

The non-thesis Master's degree will require a total of 36 credits to be distributed as follows:

  1. PHY503* (3 cr.), PHY504* (3 cr.), and BCH553* (3 cr.) required of all students.
  2. At least 21 of the remaining 27 credits must be selected from the Physiology course list given below. This must include a 1 credit ethics course to be chosen from courses in the Graduate Catalog:
    GS 850 Professionalism and Ethics,
    PHI 816 Introduction to Research Ethics,
    CBS 662 Professional Conduct in Biomedical Research    .
  3. Up to 6 of the 27 credits may be selected from the courses supplemental to those indicated in the Physiology recommended course list provided that the courses chosen are more advanced than those previously completed.

The non-thesis Master's degree will require an approved Physiology faculty sponsor (Advisor) and submission of a Plan of Work, but will not require a formal committee or final oral exam, unless a library or laboratory research project is part of the Plan of Work.
 Enrollment in PHY 601 Physiology Seminar is not required for the non-thesis MOP program.

The transcript will notate the degree, Master of Physiology, non-thesis.

MASTER OF PHYSIOLOGY COURSE LIST (Recommended courses usually included in Physiology Graduate Programs of Study)

MASTER OF PHYSIOLOGY SUPPLEMENT TO PHYSIOLOGY COURSE LIST

REQUIREMENTS FOR A GRADUATE MINOR IN PHYSIOLOGY, MASTER OF SCIENCE, AND DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREES

Degree Objective

The Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy are primarily research degree programs designed for individuals to increase their training in physiology in preparation for a research career in animal physiology.

Advisory Committee

Students in both research tracks will have an advisory committee nominated by the major professor and approved by the Director of the Physiology Program. The committees of MS students majoring in Physiology will consist of three members of the Graduate Faculty and the doctoral student committee will consist of four members. Committees for both MS and PhD degrees will include the chair (major professor) who normally should be from the same department as the student and be a member of the Physiology Faculty. In addition to the chairman, at least one other member of the committee should be a member of the Physiology Faculty and be from a department other than that of the student and major professor. Committees of students (master's and doctoral) taking a minor in Physiology must include one member of the Physiology Faculty to represent the Physiology minor.

The chair of doctoral degree committees must be a full member of the Graduate Faculty. However, an associate members of the Graduate Faculty may serve as co-chair of the advisory committee if a full member of the Graduate Faculty, who is also a member of the Physiology Faculty, agrees to serve as co-chairman.

The candidate's program and Plan of Work must be approved and signed by the Director of the Physiology Program before submission to the Graduate School.

Language Requirement

Proficiency in a foreign language will be at the discretion of the student's graduate advisory committee.

Required Core Courses for Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees, and a Graduate Minor in Physiology

PHY 503 General Physiology I (3 credit)

PHY 504 General Physiology II (3 credit)

BCH 553 Biochemistry of Gene Expression (3 credit)

PHY 601/801 Physiology Seminar (1 credit)

Ethics course (1 credit) to be chosen from:
GS 850 Professionalism and Ethics
PHI 816 Introduction to Research Ethics
CBS 662 Professional Conduct in Biomedical Research

For the PhD program‚ both BCH 553 and one BCH 700-800 level course are required.

However, an alternative 700-800 level course may be substituted on the recommendation of the doctoral student's major professor and with the approval of the Director of the Physiology Program.

In addition to the above required core courses for an MS the following is required:

  1. A minimum of one full academic year or its equivalent in residence as a graduate student at the University.
  2. Full Time Status Requirement: Registration for nine (9) or more credit hours per Fall or Spring semester or a minimum of three (3) hours during the semester in which the student is completing the last course(s) required to complete the degree. If the student has completed all 30 hour requirements, but has not finished the Master's Thesis, full time registration can be obtained by enrolling for three (3) credits of PHY 699 (Master's Thesis Preparation) per semester. NOTE: PHY 699 can only be taken after completing the 30 hour requirement for the degree.  Credits for PHY 699 do not count toward the 30 hour requirement and should not be included in a Plan of Work.
  3. Continuous registration, i.e. Fall and Spring Semesters.
  4. A minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate work in the degree program including a minimum of 20 hours of 500-800 level course work
  5. No more than six (6) hours of Thesis Research (PHY 695) in a minimum 30-hour program
  6. No more than three (3) hours of Master's Supervised Teaching (PHY 685) in a minimum 30-hour program
  7. No more than 10 hours of 400 level courses and they may not come from the major field.
  8. No more than 2 hours of Departmental or Physiology Graduate Seminar (PHY 601)
  9. At least 18 hours of the minimum 30 hours required for the Master's degree must be graduate credits earned while the student is enrolled in a graduate classification at NC State.
  10. A thesis.
  11. A comprehensive oral examination.

In addition to the above required core courses for a PhD the following is required:

  1. At least two residence credit points secured in continuous semesters' residence as a graduate student at the University.
  2. Full-Time Status: Registration for nine (9) or more credit hours per Fall or Spring semester until the student completes all credit hour requirements for the degree, including research credits, and the oral preliminary examination, or three (3) hours per semester of PHY 899 (Doctoral Dissertation Preparation) for students who have completed all requirements for their degree (including research credits and the oral preliminary examination) except for completing and defending the dissertation.
    NOTE:     Do not include PHY 899 in the Plan of Work.
  3. Continuous registration, i.e. Fall and Spring Semesters.
  4. Doctoral degrees at North Carolina State University require a minimum of 72 graduate credit hours beyond the bachelor's degree. If a student completes a master's degree at NC State and continues for a doctoral degree without a break in time, up to 36 credit hours of course work taken while in master's status may be used toward the requirements for the doctoral degree. For a student who has a master's degree from another institution, a maximum of 18 hours of relevant graduate credit from the master's degree may be applied toward this minimum, upon the recommendation of the student's Graduate Advisory Committee.
  5. A preliminary comprehensive examination (written and oral components)
  6. A dissertation
  7. A final comprehensive oral examination

A comprehensive listing of Graduate School policies, requirements and processing forms are provided in the Graduate Administrative Handbook: http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/grad_publicns/handbook/

RECOMMENDED COURSES NORMALLY INCLUDED IN PHYSIOLOGY PROGRAMS OF STUDY FOR MS and PhD DEGREES

In addition to the required courses, committees in the past have formulated programs of study by selecting from the following list. Although courses not included on this list may be more appropriate for certain students and will be considered on the plan of work, the courses listed are recommended as components of programs of study for physiology doctoral and MS graduate students. Advisers for MOP graduate students should ensure that the plan of work includes 21 credit hours from the recommended course list.

RECOMMENDED COURSES NORMALLY INCLUDED IN PHYSIOLOGY GRADUATE PROGRAMS OF STUDY


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GRADUATE MINORS FOR PHYSIOLOGY DOCTORAL AND MS STUDENTS

All Physiology PhD students are required to select a minor.  Minors are chosen from another graduate program of interest.  Minors can also be obtained for a MS degree. Possible minors for physiology graduate students include

NC State Biotechnology Program
Genomics Sciences
Nutrition
Immunology
Genetics

 

NCSU Physiology Graduate Program
c/o Graduate Student Services
College of Veterinary Medicine
NC State University
4700 Hillsborough Street
Raleigh, NC 27606
Phone: (919) 513-6448
Email: cvm_grad@ncsu.edu