Genetics Discipline Objectives

genetic test ingdna91Our goal is to provide you with the educational and research resources you need to help you succeed, not only during your time here, but in your lifelong career as well. In your first year, you will have gone through the core curriculum course, laboratory rotations and our Genetics-specific advanced courses. The remaining part of the graduate program addresses the portion of the curriculum that has been designed to help you meet the GSBS’s and this discipline’s required student competencies.  The GSBS competencies are extensive and you can review them again HERE (Coming soon from a GSBS near you!).

Learning Outcomes

  • Demonstrate mastery of cutting edge research approaches in genetics/genomics;
  • Describe, critically evaluate, and apply current theoretical perspectives in genetics;
  • Demonstrate proficiency in analytical and statistical procedures appropriate for genetic analyses; and
  • Describe role of genetic and genomic assessment in clinical practice, including applications in disease screening, diagnosis, and pharmacogenetics.

After the core classes, the vast majority of your training will be occurring in your mentor’s laboratory, interactions with fellow students and post-docs, seminars from guest lecturers and other UNTHSC researchers, Works in Progress (WIPs) seminars, in taking advantage of teaching opportunities, and in giving presentations on your research at local, national and even international meetings.

Graduate studies in genetics are broadly interdisciplinary. In both the M.S. and Ph.D. degree track you will conduct original research, and defend, present and publish your findings. Masters students are expected to graduate in 2 to 3 years. The M.S. degree requirements are met upon satisfactory completion of a minimum of 30 semester credit hours (SCH) of coursework and research credits, including the successful completion of a formal public seminar on his/her thesis research, oral final defense of his/her research and approval of a thesis. Ph.D. students will generally graduate in 4 or more years. The Ph.D. degree requirements are met upon satisfactory completion of a minimum of 90 semester credit hours (SCH) of core curricula, specialized upper division courses, and research credits, including the successful completion of the requirements for advancement to candidacy and defense of the dissertation research.

Examples of typical M.S. and Ph.D. Degree Plans can be found HERE. Of course, your individual plan may be different depending on the actual additional courses that you and your committee have selected.