Degree Requirements

Students admitted with a bachelor’s degree must complete the equivalent of 64 credits; 19 credits of a core curriculum taken from the Department of Health Sciences courses, 16 credits of specialization courses defined in consultation with the academic advisor and at least 29 credits of research.

Those admitted with a master’s degree must complete 32 credits; 17 credits from the core and specialization curriculum defined in consultation with the academic advisor and 15 credits of research. (These requirements are consistent with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Boston University). 

In both cases a minimum grade point average of 3.0 must be maintained. No more than 8 credits of any C+ grade will be acceptable for inclusion in the requirement.

Students who have not had two or more years of a foreign language at the college level must demonstrate ability to read scientific literature in a language other than English by an examination administered by the department.

Before the end of one year of study, the student must submit a plan of study for completion of all degree requirements, including identification and approval of a departmental faculty member who will serve as his or her research advisor.

A doctoral student must take both a written and an oral comprehensive examination at the end of all formal coursework after which he/she is admitted to candidate status.  The dissertation proposal will be presented to his/her committee after the comprehensive examinations are successfully completed.  A candidate must complete the dissertation and defend it orally before the department, college, and university faculty.  A candidate must be a full time student for a minimum of two consecutive semesters and complete the degree within 5 (post master’s) or 7 (post-bachelor’s) years.