Mission of Our Curriculum 

We do not want to simply cover content, but rather to help the beginning biomedical scientist to become thoughtful about, and creative with, the content being taught. We want to make it possible for our students to apply what they learn to issues and problems they will face in the lab. The entire Biomedical Sciences curriculum, i.e., the course syllabi, lectures/discussions, testing, and evaluations, reflect this mission. Learning for understanding requires that the curriculum address the following academic goals:

• Help the student to acquire important information and reasoning skills
• Help the student to make the curriculum content meaningful
• Help the student to effectively transfer their classroom learning into real situations they might encounter in the lab, during group lab meetings, during seminars, at meetings, etc.

The curriculum is efficient, rigorous, balanced, and is designed to provide both breadth and depth of high quality training to prepare graduates for successful careers in biomedical research. In addition to the core courses provided in the first and second years, and in agreement with their chosen advisor, students also complete coursework associated with a specific area-of-research emphasis that enhances their depth of understanding in a specific research area.

Program Highlights

• Broad-based, interdisciplinary curriculum
• Integrative, disease-based approach in basic sciences and translational research
• Early lab experience working alongside Ohio State research scientists
• Eleven areas of research emphasis
• Top-ranked medical school in a nationally recognized academic medical center
• iPad-facilitated curriculum
• Annual student retreat with travel award competition
• Analytics training
• Emphasis on science writing and communication
• Grant proposal-based admission to candidacy examination
• Annual individual development plan (IDP)