114.16 Combined Program for the Degrees of MD and PhD

The MD/PhD combined program is intended for exceptional students who are seriously committed to a career in medical research. Highly qualified students wishing to pursue a career of teaching and research in either basic medical science or in clinical medicine may enrol in a program of approximately six years’ duration leading to the acquisition of both an MD and a PhD degree from the University of Alberta. To be eligible for the combined program, students must already have been admitted to the MD program. Students are admitted to the combined program on the recommendation of the MD/PhD Committee.

Students entering the MD program from a preprofessional medical or a bachelor’s program, and who are interested in applying to the MD/PhD program, should do so in their first year of medical school. For these students, admission into the program begins after completion of the second year of the MD program. Alternately, students who are transferring from a University of Alberta graduate program to the MD program are eligible to enrol immediately in the combined program. The most common route is for students to complete the first two years of the MD program, apply for and be admitted into the PhD program, and when the PhD is completed, return to the final two years of the MD program. Students pursuing the combined program will be assessed fees for both the MD and the PhD programs.

Students interested in such a program may obtain further information from the Office of Research, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, 2-13 Heritage Medical Research Centre, University of Alberta, (780) 492-9721, janis.davis@ualberta.ca.