School of Medicine

1. complete the required coursework
2. fulfill the teaching requirements
3. pass the preliminary examination
4. write a dissertation
5. defend the dissertation

I.   REQUIRED COURSEWORK

The Graduate Program in Clinical Anatomy has been designed as a flexible program that, while requiring mastery of basic course work in anatomy, encourages students to identify a research interest and start work on a project as soon as possible. However, the need for adequate formal training in the basic disciplines is essential so during their first three semesters in the program, most students take a defined group of graduate level courses.

The Graduate School requires a minimum of 60 credit hours  for the Ph.D.:

COURSE WORK IN CELL BIOLOGY AND ANATOMY

New students entering the program will be advised regarding their course work by the Director of the Graduate Program in Clinical Anatomy. After a Research Advisor has been selected, any further courses will be selected based on consultation between the Director of the Graduate Program and the Research Advisor.

• A minimum of forty-eight (48) credit hours must be from Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy courses.

• Thirty-seven (37) of the 48 CB&A credit hours must be from the required Core courses (see table below).

TABLE 1. Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy Courses

Required courses are designated by an asterisk (*).

NOTES ON COURSES:

1. A minimum of twelve (12) credits hours of Gross and Developmental Anatomy are required. This requirement is usually fulfilled by taking the Medical Gross and Developmental course (ANAT 100) although graduate students can split this course (ANAT 189-191,196). Combined Gross and Developmental Anatomy credits must cover ALL the regions of the body and Developmental Anatomy in a manner equivalent to the ANAT 100 course

2. Students are required to register for at least one Anatomy Teaching Practicum (ANAT 281- 284, 288) each year they are in the Program. A maximum of twelve (12) credit hours of Anatomy Teaching Practicum can be used to fulfill the Graduate school requirements.

3.  A maximum of four (4) hours of Seminar (ANAT 290) can be used toward fulfilling the sixty (60) required hours, however, attendance at Departmental seminars is required each semester a student is in residence. Attendance at Grand Rounds in Clinical Departments may be substituted for Seminar.

4. A maximum of 15 credit hours of Dissertation Research (ANAT 400) can be used towards fulfilling the requirements for the Ph.D.

5. Anatomy Journal Club will be scheduled for weeks when there is not a Departmental seminar, as with Seminar, attendance at Journal Club is required whenever it is offered. A maximum of 4 credit hours can be used to fulfill the Graduate requirement.

6. One of these three courses should be used when registering for research experience in a lab. Prior to choosing a Research Advisor students should use Laboratory Rotation (ANAT 270). After choosing a Research Advisor but prior to passing the Preliminary Exam, research will count as Thesis Research (ANAT 300) and after passing the Preliminary Exam students should register for Dissertation Research (ANAT 400).

7. ANAT 256 & ANAT 257 may be sustituted for ANAT 192.

At the end of each semester reports of each student's progress in major courses will be written by the course directors and sent to the Director of the Graduate Program in Clinical Anatomy.

COURSE WORK OUTSIDE OF THE DEPARTMENT  (minimum 12 hours)

In order to insure an adequate background in related disciplines, the Graduate School requires that students take twelve (12) credit hours of courses outside of the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy. The student will choose courses in consultation with his/her Research Advisor and committee and the Director of the Graduate Program in Clinical Anatomy. The Director of the Graduate Program in Clinical Anatomy must approve graduate level courses taken outside the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy. These courses may be taken in other departments at LSUHSC, or at other schools (e.g., Tulane University, University of New Orleans, or Xavier University).  Only one of these courses may be taken for a satisfactory/unsatisfactory (S/U) grade with this choice being designated at the time of registration. Courses available to fulfill this requirement include:

TABLE 2. Courses in Departments other than Cell Biology & Anatomy

Required courses are designated by an asterisk (*). INTER 131 & 132 can be substituted for PHYSIO 205.

TRANSFER OF CREDIT

Transfer students will have their records reviewed on an individual basis. Students may be excused from repeating required courses in which they have had previous graduate level experience and have obtained a grade of B or better. While the Department may accept transfer credits for courses taken elsewhere, it will not assign or accept grades for courses not actually taken while the student is enrolled at LSUHSC.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

No foreign languages are required by the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

An overall average grade of "B" is required by the Graduate School for all course work, and no grade less than "C" will be accepted towards the degree. If a student is issued a grade of "C", the faculty will review the student's record and decide if remedial work is required. Should a student's cumulative average fall below a "B", the faculty will review the student's record and determine whether to place the student on probation for two semesters or to drop the student from the program. Should a student on probation fail to raise his/her cumulative average to a "B" during the probationary period, the student will be dropped from the program. No student will be permitted to be on probationary status for more than two semesters. Students who exhibit marked deficiencies in any or all aspects of their performance may be dismissed from the program by consensus of the Research Advisor, the Directors of the Graduate Program in Clinical Anatomy and Head of the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy.

II. TEACHING REQUIREMENTS

A)  After their first semester in the Clinical Anatomy Program all students are required to register for at least one Anatomy Teaching Practicum (ANAT 281 - 285) each calendar year.  Students will be required to assist in the laboratory and give at least one lecture. They should also gain experience of setting up exams, producing prosections and other skills necessary to teach an Anatomy course.

B)  Course assignments will be decided by the Director of the Graduate Program in Clinical Anatomy.  After a Research Advisor has been selected, the annual teaching commitment will be determined by the Director of the Graduate Program in Clinical Anatomy in consultation with the Research Advisor.   Consideration will be given to the optimum time for the teaching commitment that will minimize conflict with the student's and the Research Advisor's research programs and the career goals of the student.   The student will be evaluated by the course director and staff.

C) The program's teaching requirement can be satisfied by assisting in any of the required core anatomy courses (Table 1), however, students will usually be expected to teach in Medical Gross Anatomy (ANAT 281) in the fall semester of their second year. It is recommended that students try to vary their teaching assignments so as to increase their exposure to different curricula and different levels of anatomy 

TABLE 3. Teaching Options

III. QUALIFYING AND PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS

The procedures for forming a student's examination commitees and the formats for the qualifying and Preliniary examinations are desribed here.

IV. DISSERTATION

Research in preparation of a doctoral dissertation will normally occupy the majority of the student's time during the final stage of his/her training. Each doctoral student will undertake a research project that will form the basis of a dissertation to be submitted to the Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy and the School of Graduate Studies. The standards and procedures for completing the dissertation are described below. The dissertation should be of a quality acceptable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Students will provide manuscript drafts of the dissertation to the members of the Research Committee for their critique prior to scheduling the defense.

V. DEFENSE OF DISSERTATION

The final oral examination (Defense of Dissertation) will be scheduled and taken only after all other departmental requirements have been satisfied and the dissertation has been approved in its final form. Students must submit a final draft of the dissertation to their committee at least 2 weeks before the defense.

The student will present his/her research in a departmental seminar (usually 45 to 60 minutes), immediately preceding the defense of dissertation. The public is invited to attend and ask questions. The Research Committee will have the last opportunity to question the student on the dissertation work. After questioning has been completed, the Research Committee will adjourn to deliberate on the defense.

Following successful completion of the defense, it will be the student's responsibility to comply with all the regulations of the Graduate School in regard to turning in the final version of the dissertation.