Masters in Medical Science
Specializing in genetics, microbiology, and biochemistry
Degree
requirements | Curriculum | Admissions
Description of Program
The foundation of the MS program is a basic understanding of molecular and cell
biology and the performance of a high-quality research project under
the direction of a skilled mentor, with supervision by a committee composed of members of the
University's Graduate Research Faculty. Specialization may be in any of the fields of research
being pursued in the College of Medicine and includes molecular genetics, gene therapy,
bacterial or viral pathogenesis, protein structure, toxicology, mammalian genetics, wound
healing, or congenital eye diseases. The research is presented in the form of a thesis which
is defended in a public forum.
Students begin their laboratory experience with a 6-week intensive course in laboratory techniques, then immediately , with the help of the Director of Master's
Programs, identify and begin work with a mentor of their choice. By the end of the first year
the student should be able to define a thesis project and know the techniques necessary to
complete it. In some cases research may be completed by the end of the first summer.
Each student must present one seminar during their tenure. The content of the lecture
courses is intended to address a critical need for a strong foundation
in molecular and cell
biology, and to provide an advanced level curriculum in the specialty
disciplines represented in
the College. Both the seminars and the lecture courses provide preparation
for Master's
research which should be well underway by the end of the second semester.
Ideally, students
will continue their research during the summer.
The spring semester of the
second year for those working to complete the MS degree
requirements in two years would be devoted primarily to finishing the
research and writing the
thesis. An appropriate Master's thesis project should involve learning
a technique, using the
technique independently in a research project, and analyzing and reporting
the results.
Examples of appropriate projects would include sequencing and analyzing
a gene, making and
using a monoclonal antibody, creating and testing ribozymes, purifying
and partially
characterizing a protein, or expressing a recombinant protein. There
are many others that
would be appropriate. The College of Medicine's web site, http://www.med.ufl.edu,
under
Master's degree programs, has descriptions of the work of some of the
faculty interested in
training Master's students. It has been decided that, in some cases,
negative results would be
satisfactory as long as they were adequately explained. Upon completion
of the laboratory
research, the student writes and defends a thesis based on the research.
The student should
plan to have the thesis finished and defended at least one week before
the anticipated
graduation date
Degree Requirements
Completion of the Master's degree requires a total of 36 credit hours;
24 credit hours
of this must be formal coursework. Of the 24 hours of graded course
work, 12 hours of it
must consist of either BCH 6415, and other graded GMS courses. With
special permission,
some students may take an Interdisciplinary Course of study designed
primarily for Ph.D.
students. There is a limit of ten hours of Research in Medical Sciences
(GMS 6905). The
student must register for a minimum of 3 hours of Master's Research
(GMS 6971) and may
register for up to 6 hours of Master's research. Three hours of this
must be taken during the
semester the student plans to graduate. If students have taken six
hours of GMS 6971 before
the semester they graduate, they must still register for three the
semester they graduate
(however, these will not count towards the degree).