UConn Health’s M.D./Ph.D. program provides students with an intellectually stimulating and highly integrated educational experience leading to completion of both the M.D. and Ph.D. degrees.

Students spend the first two years completing the preclinical requirements of the medical school curriculum together with selected graduate school coursework and two laboratory rotations. We encourage incoming M.D./Ph.D. students to do their first laboratory rotation the summer before matriculation.

During the graduate phase, students pursue intensive thesis research in one of seven areas of concentration (AOC) in biomedical science and complete additional coursework required by their AOC. The Biomedical Science AOCs are:

• Cell Analysis & Modeling
• Cell Biology
• Genetics & Developmental Biology
• Immunology
• Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
• Neuroscience
• Skeletal Biology and Regeneration

The Jackson Laboratory (JAX Labs) offers collaborative research training opportunities for our students in mammalian genetics and genomic medicine on our UConn Health campus. Our students have the option to complete lab rotations and perform their Ph.D. thesis research with a JAX faculty member at the Jackson Laboratory on our Farmington, CT campus at UConn Health, if the JAX faculty member has an appointment as a faculty member of the UConn Graduate School. Learn more on the Jackson Laboratory website.

As part of the longitudinal clinical experience, students are required to continue clinical activities in community service clinics or in specialty clinics for a half day per month during the graduate phase in order to maintain their clinical skills. Following successful completion of requirements for the Ph.D. degree, students return to medical school to complete two years of clinical training.

UConn Health is a close-knit community of students, faculty, and staff. Collegiality and mentorship are key aspects of the program. We are committed to enrolling a diverse student body.

Mission

UConn’s combined M.D./Ph.D. program was formally instituted in 1978. Thus far, there have been 79 graduates of the combined program. The mission of the program is to prepare individuals of outstanding potential for productive careers as physician-scientists.

The program emphasizes the development of skills necessary to become a highly competent and caring physician and to perform, evaluate, and communicate the results of independent research in the biomedical sciences.

The program is dedicated to high quality medical and graduate education tailored to the needs of the individual student.

M.D./Ph.D. Curriculum Student Profiles M.D./Ph.D. Fact Sheet