Physiology (PhD)

Doctor of Philosophy in Physiology
Unit: School of Medicine (GM)
Department Website: Physiology
Academic Plan Code(s): PHZBPHD

Program Information

Program Overview and Objectives

The Department of Physiology is located in the Health Sciences Center of the University of Louisville, which provides an active and intellectually stimulating environment and a wide variety of course options. The graduate program permits studies in related disciplines, such as anatomy, neurobiology, pharmacology, toxicology, biochemistry, microbiology, immunology, and molecular biology.

The doctoral program of the Department of Physiology is offered through the School of Medicine at the University of Louisville. As such, one major goal of the Department is to provide students with advanced training, which leads to the PhD degree in Physiology. The research interests of the Department are broad enough to provide each student with a wide selection of possible research and graduate education opportunities. Our doctoral graduate program is designed primarily to prepare students for an independent research career in basic and applied physiology.

Faculty Advising

First-Year Temporary Advisor and Research Experience
The Director of Graduate Studies will meet with the new student to discuss the student's academic and research interests. The Director of Graduate Studies will serve as a Temporary Advisor until a Permanent Advisor is selected.

Selection of Principal Advisor
During the first semester, beginning graduate students will visit research laboratories in which they have an interest. First-year graduate students must select a Principal Advisor within the first five months of their graduate study. The selection process involves approval by the student, the Principal Advisor, the Director of Graduate Studies, and the Department Chair. The Principal Advisor must be a Graduate Research Training Faculty of the School of Medicine.

Advisory Committee 
The Advisory Committee in this Department is an integral part of the graduate student's training. This Committee is to be extremely proactive in planning the student's curriculum and providing an appropriate breadth in the student's research experience. To that end, not only does the mentor provide guidance in developing the dissertation research plan, but the Advisory Committee has the additional responsibility to assure the independent research design will provide appropriate results for the proposed hypotheses.

After selection of the Principal Advisor, the graduate student's Advisory Committee will be determined. This Committee must have at least five members, and will contain: the Principal Advisor, as Chair; at least three Departmental faculty members; and at least one Graduate Faculty member from outside the Department. All must be appointed as Members of the School of Medicine Graduate Faculty.

In cases where the Principal Advisor holds a primary appointment in a department other than the Department of Physiology, one of the full-time Physiology Faculty will serve as Co-Advisor. The Co-Advisor will also serve on the student's Advisory Committee and serve as the Second Reader of the Dissertation Reading Committee.

Approval of the Committee membership by the Director of Graduate Studies and the Chair will be contingent upon the potential role of each Committee member in the training or in the career plans of the student. The Dissertation Defense Committee, selected by the Principal Advisor, must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies, the Department Chair, and by the Associate Dean for Graduate and Post-Doctoral Studies (or his/her designee).

Admission Requirements

The University of Louisville Graduate School gives a general description of admission procedures. Application information can be found on the Graduate School website.

The following application items must be submitted to the Graduate School, at the University of Louisville.

1. Graduate application.
2. One official transcript of the applicant's previous work for each college or university that has been previously attended.
3. Two letters of recommendation from people who are well acquainted with the applicant's previous academic work.
4. TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo Examination scores for foreign students from non-English speaking countries.
5. A non-refundable application fee to the University of Louisville.
6. Applicants must state in a letter to the Department but submitted to the Graduate School (referred to as the Personal Statement in the application materials), why they desire a PhD degree in this Department of Physiology.

Applicants for combined degrees (MD/PhD or PhD/DMD) must apply and be accepted by the appropriate professional school (e.g., School of Medicine or Dentistry) before final action will be taken on the Departmental doctoral application.

Admission to the PhD program in the Department of Physiology requires:

• A genuine interest in graduate work and the desire for a significant independent research career in the health sciences
• A cumulative undergraduate grade point average that is usually 3.00 or higher on a scale of 4.00
• International students for whom English is not their primary language must show English language proficiency by demonstration of proficiency on the TOEFL examination (defined as overall score of 4.0, with minimum sub-scores of 4.0 in each skill area, previously defined as 213 or higher), IELTS scores of at least 6.5 overall band score from the academic module exam, Duolingo score of 105 or by successfully completing the exit examination for the advanced level of the Intensive English as a Second Language Program or by demonstration of a degree award from an acceptable English language institution.

Program Requirements 

Minimum Course Requirements

The University of Louisville PhD degree does not require a specific number of hours of academic credit. However, the Department requires that a minimum of two consecutive semesters — nine (9) credit hours in the Fall or Spring semesters and/or six (6) credit hours in the Summer — to be taken to fulfill the full time one-year doctoral residency requirement at the University of Louisville. With the approval of the Dean of the School of Medicine (or his/her designee), a maximum of twelve (12) credit hours of this requirement may be credited for post-baccalaureate work from other professional or graduate degree programs.

By the end of the program, the student also must demonstrate the ability to conduct independent research. 

The required program of academic studies must include (if not completed with a grade of B or better prior to admission to the Department) the following courses:

A student must have at least a 3.00 accumulated GPA (on a 4.0 scale) in order to take the PhD Qualifying Examination and to qualify for the PhD degree. In general, a student with a GPA of less than 3.00 after two consecutive semesters (excluding summer sessions) will require a two-thirds majority vote of the Departmental faculty to continue in the PhD Program. The student must not have received a total of more than six (6) credit hours of a grade of C in their academic work.

For Departmental purposes, passing grades in pass/fail graded courses will not be included in the GPA calculation; however, a failing grade in a pass/fail graded course will be included in the GPA calculation at zero quality points per credit hour. Students will not be allowed to graduate with failing grades on their transcript.

Minimum Requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Physiology

The PhD degree is designed for the student who wishes a professional life that involves original, independent research and who desires knowledge that will permit competent advanced teaching in a physiology area. The PhD degree requires that the student reach a high level of creativity and expertise. All PhD students are expected to make steady and satisfactory progress toward the completion of the degree.

To document the satisfactory progress of the PhD students, each Advisory Committee must hold at least two mandatory, semi-annual meetings and report on the student's progress (presentations, publications, grades and research progress). The mentor will submit a written report to the Director of Graduate Studies who will collate and distribute these reports to the faculty. Twice a year, the Director of Graduate Students will lead a Departmental faculty discussion of these reports to determine the student's progress.

The PhD Qualifying Examination

Before the PhD Qualifying Examination may be taken, the student must have completed the Minimum Course Requirements listed above and have a cumulative GPA of at least a 3.0 for all coursework. It would normally be expected that the student would take the PhD Qualifying Examination by the end of five semesters of graduate studies. If the student has not taken the PhD Qualifying Examination by the end of the second year, a letter of justification for the delay must be submitted by the Principal Advisor to the Department Chair.

A PhD Qualifying Examination must be passed by the applicant in order to be admitted to doctoral candidacy. The Qualifying Examination Committee will be comprised of members of the student's Advisory Committee. The membership must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies and the Department Chair. A passing recommendation shall not involve more than one negative vote of this Committee. If the student does not pass the Qualifying Examination, one additional retake will be allowed if approved by a majority vote of the Departmental faculty.

The purpose of the PhD Qualifying Examination is to test the student's independent use and depth of core physiology through its application to the student proposed research. This examination shall consist of a written research proposal outlining the dissertation research and an oral examination of the student's depth of current understanding of the basic physiological concepts underlying the proposed research. The student will receive the Master of Science Degree in Physiology upon satisfactory completion of the Qualifying Exam.

Maintenance of Graduate Status

A candidate for the PhD degree who has completed all residency requirements, all of the approved required program of academic studies, and passed the Qualifying Examination may register for DOCT 600 Doctoral Candidacy to maintain doctoral candidacy until the degree is awarded. Continuous registration in this status is required. Semiannual progress meetings will continue to be expected. To complete the PhD degree, the student must continue to make satisfactory progress during the candidacy period. In order to be eligible to receive the PhD degree, the student must have been admitted to candidacy and registered for doctoral candidacy for the two consecutive semesters prior to the awarding of the degree.

Dissertation

The dissertation shall represent a scholarly achievement which embodies results of independent research and which demonstrates a thorough understanding of research concepts in the field of inquiry. The completed dissertation must be in the appropriate format as required by the Graduate School and must be approved by a Dissertation Reading Committee (the Candidate's Advisory Committee). Then, at least two weeks before the scheduled dissertation defense and at least thirty days before the expected date of graduation, the dissertation shall be submitted to the Dissertation Defense Committee. The Dissertation Defense Committee, selected by the Principal Advisor, must have been approved previously by the Director of Graduate Studies, the Department Chair, and by the Associate Dean for Graduate and Post-Doctoral Studies (or his/her designee) (see section IIC). The accepted dissertation must be submitted electronically, one signed signature page signed by the Dissertation Defense Committee, must be deposited with the Graduate School by the published deadline and one copy must be given to the Department Chair before graduation. The copy for the Department Chair may be electronic.

Dissertation Defense

The dissertation defense is an oral defense of the dissertation and a demonstration of mastery of the candidate's research field. The defense is administered by the Dissertation Defense Committee. The defense of the dissertation is a public examination and the Graduate School will notify all faculty members that they are invited to the Dissertation Defense, but only members of the Dissertation Defense Committee will vote on the student's performance. For the student to pass the Dissertation Defense, the vote of the Dissertation Defense Committee may not include more than one negative vote. The Dissertation Defense must take place at least fourteen days before the end of the semester in which the degree is anticipated.

The Department will not approve the granting of the PhD degree until the student has submitted at least one first-authored manuscript on the dissertation research and one co-authored manuscript for publication in a refereed journal. The manuscript and the choice of a journal must be approved by the Principal Advisor before manuscript submission.

In any case, where the Departmental requirements are less restrictive than those described in the School of Medicine Minimal Guidelines for Graduate Education, the School of Medicine guidelines will apply.

Exceptions

1. The above are statements of minimum Departmental requirements. However, it is recognized that there could be cases in which exceptions should be allowed. The student and advisor should consult with the Department Chair if the basis for an exception exists.
2. In the above guidelines, the Director of Graduate Studies has considerable responsibility for program quality. To avoid any possibility of a potential conflict of interest, the Department Chair (or designee) will fulfill the role of Director of Graduate Studies for any PhD or MS student who has the Director of Graduate Studies as their Principal Advisor.

Typical Doctoral Programs

Traditional Doctoral Program

Dissertation Defense: If more research/dissertation time is needed, the student will continue to register as DOCT 600 until completed.

Doctoral Program for Residents/Fellows

This sequence is based on the premise that the clinician will be given the equivalent of two full calendar years ("Research Leave") free to complete research without clinical duties. The Director of Graduate Studies will see that the Graduate School is notified of the transfer of the preclinical courses applicable to the Departmental doctoral requirements. The clinician will take:

1. Advanced Human Cardiovascular Physiology,
2. Integrated Systemic Physiology,
3. Statistics,
4. Seminar, and

5. Complete initial research (PHZB 619 ) to define a doctoral research problem.

Dissertation Defense: If more research/dissertation time is needed, the clinician will continue to register as DOCT 600, until completed, and dissertation defended.

Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Physiology

Unit(s): School of Medicine
Program Webpage 
Academic Plan Code(s): MED_MD and PHZBPHD

On this Page

Program Overview
Admission
Dual Degree Requirements
Program of Study
Contact Information

Program Overview

The MD‑PhD in Physiology prepares physician‑scientists to investigate the biological mechanisms that underlie human health and disease. The program integrates pre‑clinical medical study, advanced research training in the Department of Physiology, dissertation work, and clinical rotations. Students gain experience in laboratory investigation and patient care, supported by close faculty mentoring and access to extensive research and clinical resources. This dual‑degree option benefits students interested in careers that combine medical practice with research into fundamental physiological processes that guide the development of new diagnostics and therapies. Students receive full tuition remission, a stipend, and health insurance during the graduate research phase. For more information on program benefits and examples of student research and publications from the dual‑degree program, visit the MD‑PhD Program website.

Admission

Applicants must meet School of Medicine admission requirements and apply through the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS), including submission of MCAT scores. Applicants indicate interest in the MD-PhD program within the AMCAS application. Selected applicants interview with both the School of Medicine Admissions Committee and the MD-PhD Program Committee. Research experience and interest in a physician‑scientist career are important considerations.

Current UofL medical students may apply after completing the second year of medical school by contacting the MD-PhD Program Director.

Dual Degree Requirements

¹

Many courses in the MD curriculum, together with successful completion of the USMLE Step 1 examination, demonstrate attainment of the learning outcomes associated with several required PhD in Physiology courses. Because this prior training provides competency equivalent to completing these courses, dual MD‑PhD students are not required to enroll in the following PhD courses:

BIOC 645, BIOC 667, PHZB 625, PHZB 640, PHZB 641, PHZB 642, and PHZB 643.

Program of Study

The table below outlines the typical sequence of coursework, research, and clinical training required for the MD-PhD dual degree, including important program milestones. Students should consult with the MD‑PhD Program Co‑Directors to develop an individual plan of study. 

¹

Dual degree students are encouraged to participate in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program before the first year of medical school and in the Summer Research Scholar Program between the first and second years. These experiences are not required but are strongly recommended to help prepare students for biomedical research. More information is available on the School of Medicine Research Programs website.

²

Find detailed information about the medical school curriculum in the School of Medicine Bulletin.

³

Students must remain enrolled in Doctoral Candidacy (DOCT 600) until they successfully defend their dissertation. This stage typically takes two (2) to three (3) years, depending on the scope of the student’s research study.

Contact

MD-PhD Program Co‑Directors:

• Dr. Maxwell Boakye, MD, MBA, FACS, FAANS — (502) 407‑3276
• Dr. Kenneth Palmer, PhD — (502) 852-1339
• Email: mdphd@louisville.edu

Department of Physiology Director of Graduate Studies

• Dr. Cynthia Metz, PhD — (502) 852-7562
• Email: cynthia.metz@louisville.edu