Molecular & Medical Pharmacology

The M.S. degree requires satisfactory completion of the required courses as listed under Course Requirements for the Doctoral Degree.

Required: Molecular and Medical Pharmacology 200 (three quarters), 237, 251 (must be taken every quarter during the first and second year) 291, and 292.

Recommended Electives: Molecular and Medical Pharmacology 211A-211B, M241, M248, M255, 288; Molecular Biology 298; a course in biostatistics.

Teaching Experience

Seminar presentations are required of all students in the graduate program. Students may participate as teaching assistants in undergraduate, medical, or graduate courses.

Field Experience

Not required.

Capstone Plan

None.

Thesis Plan

Every master's degree thesis plan requires the completion of an approved thesis that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research.

The M.S. degree requires satisfactory completion of a thesis.

Time-to-Degree

The time to final completion of the graduate program is expected to be six to nine quarters.

MAXIMUM TTD

Advising

Pre-Advancement to Candidacy (ATC): A graduate adviser is assigned for new entering graduate students or students in their first year of study. Students must obtain approval from this adviser for enrollment in courses each quarter. The adviser also is available to discuss overall academic progress. By the beginning of the second year, students choose a faculty member to serve as adviser for their dissertation research.

Doctoral Committee: Student will form their Doctoral Committee during Spring quarter of their second year. The committee must include one Graduate Training Committee (GTC) member. The Doctoral Committee must have a minimum of four members, including one faculty member who does not have an appointment in the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology.

The GTC member will chair the ATC oral examination administered by the student’s doctoral committee. The faculty mentor is present only to provide answers to questions asked of him/her by the other committee members, for clarification of student comments when asked by the other committee members, and to address other concerns of the committee members.

Post-Advancement to Candidacy (ATC): After ATC and before the final oral examination, students are required to meet at least once annually with their doctoral committee. For this annual progress meeting, students are expected to give a presentation on their dissertation research. Students should be prepared to engage in a discussion with the committee members who will offer guidance on the progress and direction of the research project. The annual committee meeting is chaired by the student’s faculty mentor, who is an active, engaged participant at these meetings. At the end of the annual meeting, each committee member must complete an evaluation form and return it to the faculty mentor. The faculty mentor will discuss the evaluation and provide feedback to the student, and submit the evaluations forms and a committee meeting report to the Student Affairs Officer.

Major Fields or Subdisciplines

Animal models of disease; biochemistry; cardiovascular pharmacology; cell biology; chemical pharmacology; drug discovery; functional genomics; gene and cell-based therapy; immunology; medical pharmacology; molecular imaging; molecular pharmacology; immuno-pharmacology; neuroendocrine pharmacology; neuropharmacology; psychopharmacology; nuclear medicine (positron emission tomography); pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics; signal transduction; structural biology; systems biology; theranostics; toxicology; and virology.

Foreign Language Requirement

None.

Course Requirements

Required: Molecular and Medical Pharmacology 200 (three quarters), 237, 251 (must be taken every quarter during first and second year), 291, 292.

Recommended Electives: Molecular and Medical Pharmacology 211A-211B, M241, M248, M255, 288; Molecular Biology 298; a course in biostatistics.

Students are required to maintain a grade-point average of 3.0 in all course work and achieve grades of B or better in all Molecular and Medical Pharmacology courses. One grade of less than B in a required Molecular and Medical Pharmacology course results in probationary status; the course must be repeated with a grade of B or better. Students are required to earn a B or better in M Pharm 292 qualifying class. Students who do not earn a passing grade in M Pharm 292 will be recommended for academic disqualification.

All required course work should be completed by the end of the sixth quarter.

Laboratory Rotations: The department requires students to participate in three laboratory rotations (Molecular and Medical Pharmacology 200), one per quarter, during the first year to become familiar with a variety biomedical and of pharmacological research areas and techniques. During the first year in the department, students participate in projects of the laboratories of their and the faculty’s choosing. Students also become familiar with the literature relevant to the various research projects and thus establish a basis for the selection of their own research areas. Under special circumstances, with petition to and approval by the Graduate Training Committee, a student may be permitted to participate in a fourth rotation. At the end of the third or fourth rotation, students are required to join a laboratory, where they will conduct their dissertation research.

Examinations are given in all courses except seminars and research. These are in the form of written examinations, oral examinations, term papers, and/or laboratory practicals.

Teaching Experience

Seminar presentations to department faculty and students are required of all students in the graduate program at least once a year. One quarter as a teaching assistant is required. Students in the Medical Scientist Training Program are not subjected to the teaching assistant requirement.

Written and Oral Qualifying Examinations

Academic Senate regulations require all doctoral students to complete and pass university written and oral qualifying examinations prior to doctoral advancement to candidacy. Also, under Senate regulations, the University Oral Qualifying Examination is open only to the student and appointed members of the doctoral committee. In addition to university requirements, some graduate programs have other pre-candidacy examination requirements. What follows in this section is how students are required to fulfill all of these requirements for this doctoral program.

All committee nominations and reconstitutions adhere to the Minimum Standards for Doctoral Committee Constitution.

The written and oral qualifying examinations are a two-step process:

The first step will be the M Pharm 292 course in proposal writing. All first year Pharmacology Home Area students matriculating towards a Ph.D. degree in Molecular Pharmacology are required to enroll in M Pharm 292 in their first year. Students will learn to write and orally defend a proposal. The proposal shall be on a topic unrelated to any of their rotation projects. Specific instructions for preparation of the proposal, evaluation of the written documents, and structure of the oral defense will be discussed during the M Pharm 292 course. Students who do not earn a passing grade in M Pharm 292 will be recommended for academic disqualification.

The second step of the qualifying exam will be on the thesis topic. Students will prepare a written proposal and defend the proposal in an oral examination. The written examination consists of submitting a written research proposal to the student’s doctoral committee at least one week before the proposed date of the University Oral Qualifying Examination. The research proposal must be written according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant application format (a copy of the ATC Guidelines can be obtained from the Student Affairs Officer). The University Oral Qualifying Examination consists of defending the proposal to the doctoral committee. Students must pass this examination by December 1st of their third year or be subject to recommendation for academic disqualification.

Advancement to Candidacy

Students are advanced to candidacy upon successful completion of the written and oral qualifying examinations.

Doctoral Dissertation

Every doctoral degree program requires the completion of an approved dissertation that demonstrates the student's ability to perform original, independent research and constitutes a distinct contribution to knowledge in the principal field of study.

Final Oral Examination (Defense of Dissertation)

Not required for all students in the program. The decision as to whether a defense is required is made by the doctoral committee.

Time-to-Degree

(1) Students must select an thesis adviser by the beginning of the second academic year.

(2) Students must complete all course requirements by December 20th of the third academic year.

(3) Students must take the written and oral qualifying examinations and pass by December 1st of the third academic year.

(4) The time to final completion of the graduate program is expected to be 15 quarters.

MAXIMUM TTD

Termination of Graduate Study and Appeal of Termination

University Policy

A student who fails to meet the above requirements may be recommended for termination of graduate study. A graduate student may be disqualified from continuing in the graduate program for a variety of reasons. The most common is failure to maintain the minimum cumulative grade point average (3.00) required by the Academic Senate to remain in good standing (some programs require a higher grade point average). Other examples include failure of examinations, lack of timely progress toward the degree and poor performance in core courses. Probationary students (those with cumulative grade point averages below 3.00) are subject to immediate dismissal upon the recommendation of their department. University guidelines governing termination of graduate students, including the appeal procedure, are outlined in Standards and Procedures for Graduate Study at UCLA.

Special Departmental or Program Policy

A student's progress is evaluated on performance in course work and on the qualifying examinations. A grade below B in M Pharm 282 or a total of three grades below B in any of the other required courses results in recommendation to the graduate dean for academic disqualification. Failure to identify a faculty mentor by the beginning of the Fall quarter of the second year also results in recommendation for academic disqualification. Performance on the ATC is graded Pass, Fail and Deferral. Deferral means that a student is asked to repeat some part or all of the examination. All deferrals must be completed by December 20th of the third academic year. If a student receives a Fail, the student may appeal the decision in writing to either the Graduate Training Committee or the departmental chair. The written appeal is reviewed by either the Graduate Training Committee or an ad hoc committee within the department.

UCLA is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and by numerous special agencies. Information regarding the University's accreditation may be obtained from the Office of Academic Planning and Budget, 2107 Murphy Hall.

UCLA is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and by numerous special agencies. Information regarding the University's accreditation may be obtained from the Office of Academic Planning and Budget, 2107 Murphy Hall.