College of Veterinary Medicine

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Doctorate Degree Graduate Program in Comparative Veterinary Medicine

Scope and Objectives of the Program

The College of Veterinary Medicine offers graduate study leading toward the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Comparative Veterinary Medicine. You will receive a comprehensive background in biomedical sciences and intensive research training in the specific area toward a career in research/teaching in biomedical or veterinary sciences. Areas of specialization include anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, pathology, toxicology, microbiology, immunology, and clinical sciences. You may select one or more minor fields beyond your major.

Admission Requirements

The program is primarily designed for students who have a DVM degree. If you hold only a BS degree, you are required to obtain a MS degree first before being considered for the admission. The minimum grade point average (GPA) is 3.0 for courses taken for a DVM degree or for a MS degree. Other requirements are consistent with the entrance requirements of the OSU Graduate School. The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores may be used as an additional reference, although they are generally not required. If you are in the Ph.D program, you are expected to complete their degree programs prior to admission to other professional schools.

General Requirements

Four years are generally required for the completion of the doctorate degree. The College offers a single major: comparative veterinary medicine. You should, however, indicate your area(s) of interest at the time of application. If you are accepted, you should select your major professor (or co-major professors) within 12 months of commencing study. A minimum of 108 credit hours is required, including 36 hours minimum for thesis research. You must complete 36 credits of regular non-blanket coursework. No more than 15 hours total of blanket-numbered courses can be included in the program. Grade and other requirements listed in the Graduate Catalog will apply to the doctorate students in addition to those listed below.

Specific Requirements

Comparative veterinary medicine is a multidisciplinary field. Your specific requirements are largely determined in consultation with your major professor and doctoral committee members with consideration of the area of concentration and the your background. All students are required to take the following:

• BB 550, 551, 552 General Biochemistry, 10 credits total; or BB 590, 591, 592 Biochemistry, 9 credits total; or any combination of other graduate courses (500 or above), 9 credits minimum offered by the Biochemistry and Biophysics Department.
• ST 511, 512, 513 Methods of Data Analysis, 12 credits total; or any combination of other graduate courses (500 or above), 9 credits minimum offered by the Statistics Department.
• VM 607 Seminar, 3 credits total.
• VM 603 Thesis, 36 credits minimum.

 

If you have not earned a DVM or an equivalent degree recently from an American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA)-accredited institution, you are required to take the following:

• Total of 15 credit hours of Veterinary Physiology, Anatomy and/or Pathology, normally selected from VM 517, 518, 519, 611, 621 and/or 661. Under special circumstances, some of the requirements may be replaced by other courses in the veterinary curriculum.

 

Minimum Requirements for a Student with a DVM Degree from an AVMA-Accredited Institution

15 hours transfer credit in Pathology and Physiology
10 hours of Biochemistry courses¹
12 hours of Statistics courses¹
3 hours of Seminar
36 hours of Thesis Research
32 hours for other courses
108 total hours

¹Those students who have completed graduate level courses in Biochemistry and/or Statistics will be given appropriate credits upon the approval of their graduate committee and the Graduate Studies Committee.

Minimum Requirements for a Student with a MS Degree from OSU or Other Institutions

33 hours maximum credit transfer² 10 hours of Biochemistry courses
12 hours of Statistics courses
15 hours of Pathology and Physiology courses
3 hours of Seminar
36 hours of Thesis Research
0-32 hours for other courses
109+ total hours

²Excluding credit hours for MS/MA thesis and blanket-numbered courses.

Transfer Credit

If you have recently acquired a DMV degree in one of the AVMA-accredited institutions, you may transfer credits for veterinary physiology and pathology, not to exceed 15 credit hours total. If you have an MS degree, you can transfer a maximum of 33 quarter credit hours of graduate level courses, excluding those of thesis and blanket-numbered courses, providing that (1) the transfer is approved by the committee; and (2) grades of A or B have been earned. If you wish to transfer any other credits, you should submit a written request to the Graduate Studies Committee.

Graduate Study Programs and the Doctoral Committee

By the end of your fifth term of enrollment, you must, in consultation with your major professor and members of your graduate committee (consisting of a minimum of five members of the graduate faculty, including two from the College of Veterinary Medicine and a representative of the Graduate School), decide upon three areas of major emphasis. You will submit this to the Associate Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, who in consultation with the College's Graduate Studies Committee, approves or suggests changes. After the approval of your committee by the Dean of the Graduate School, the committee meets to develop your study program. The Associate Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine approves your program with the recommendation by the College's Graduate Studies Committee.

Residence

You must enroll for three out of four consecutive quarters at OSU, and you must complete a minimum of 36 hours of graduate work specified in the Graduate Catalog.

For PhD course descriptions, please follow this link to the OSU Catalog.

Language Requirements

No foreign language is required.

Teaching Experience

You are expected to obtain some formal teaching experience. All students in the doctoral program are required to teach at least one (but not more than 10) hour(s) of formal lecture per year in one of the professional or graduate courses offered by the College of Veterinary Medicine. You will guide students by indicating topics and objectives of a particular lecture, and students develop written outlines and audiovisual materials with the your approval. The teaching experience is incorporated into the your program. The teaching experience should not interfere with coursework research, unless the designated amount of teaching has been clearly specified in the employment or admission agreement. A letter of evaluation is solicited from the instructor-in-charge of the course by the Associate Dean.

Preliminary Examination

You must pass comprehensive preliminary examinations, consisting of both written and oral examinations, at or near the completion of your coursework, but no later than 24 months from the start of the study. You must first pass a written test, which is followed by an oral examination. Elapsed time between the two tests should be approximately 14 days, if at all possible.

For the written test, the Associate Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine designates the referee. All committee members submit questions to the referee except the Graduate School representative. The questions should be such that the you can complete them within a four-hour period per committee member. The exam is “closed book” unless otherwise noted by an examiner. The referee conducts the exam and is responsible for distributing your answers to, and collecting the graded exams from, each committee member. The exam is graded on a PASS/NO PASS basis with comments. The referee notifies your committee of the scores on all questions and the committee then determines if you have passed the examination. If you fail the exam, you may retake the written exam no sooner than three months later. Only one retake is permitted.

The purpose of the oral examination is to test your analytical and creative ability, communication skills and comprehensive knowledge in the specialized fields designated by you, as well as in basic sciences related to the fields. In the oral preliminary examination, the exam may cover the your proposed research topic, although no more than one-half the time should be devoted to specific aspects of the proposal. Oral examinations are conducted according to the Graduate School's guidelines.

Thesis

You must carry out independent research and submit a thesis to demonstrate the originality and excellence of your research. The thesis must be a significant contribution to knowledge, based on the candidate's own investigation.

Final Examination

You must pass a final doctoral examination as specified by the OSU Graduate School. This includes a public seminar and an oral defense of their thesis. At least one complete academic term must elapse between the time of preliminary oral examination and the final oral examination.

Graduate Studies Committee

The Graduate Studies Committee of the College of Veterinary Medicine plays a central role in maintaining a standard of excellence and in improving the quality of graduate education programs in the College. In the admission process, the committee reviews your application to recommend rejection or admission into the graduate program. Even if you fulfill the minimum requirements for admission to the doctoral program, the committee may not recommend admission when it does not find sufficient evidence foryou’re your potential for excellence in a specific field.

When your doctoral program is formulated, the Associate Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine consults with the Graduate Studies Committee to assure that the program is consistent with the guidelines of the College of Veterinary Medicine.

The Graduate Studies Committee reviews your academic progress spring quarter. Faculty members familiar with you, including your academic advisor, will be asked to provide their recommendations/information for this evaluation. If your progress is judged satisfactory, you will be so notified in a letter from the committee. If progress is less than fully satisfactory, the committee will recommend appropriate action to the Associate Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine before the end of the quarter. Failure to address areas of concern in a satisfactory manner may result in dismissal from the graduate program. Removal of a student from the graduate program will be done by the Graduate Dean, upon recommendation from the Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Outline of PhD Graduate Study

Admission:

1. Apply to the Graduate School.
2. The Associate Dean of Instruction (ADI) of the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) receives a copy of your application directly from the applicant and another copy of the application with the worksheet from the Graduate School. The ADI circulates a copy of the application among faculty for the possible acceptance. If any faculty is interested in accepting you, he or she requests the Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) to examine the application for your acceptance.
3. The CVM sends the acceptance/rejection notice to the Graduate School. If you are accepted, the ADI sends a letter and a copy of the college graduate studies guideline to you.

Student's Committee and Major Areas:

1. Confer with your major professor and selects initial classes. You should fulfill the requirements early in your course of study.
2. By the fifth term, the you should write a letter to the ADI, indicating at least three major areas of study and at least four names of possible committee members. Two of them must be from the CVM. The possible committee members must reflect proposed major areas.
3. The ADI consults with the GSC and either approves your suggestions or suggests changes in a written form.
4. After the approval of the committee, submit the names of committee members including a graduate school representative to the Graduate School.

Study Program:

1. Decide, with your major professor, on the tentative program. Mmake sure that all the requirements of the CVM are met as well as those of the Graduate School.
2. Arrange a formal program meeting through the Graduate School. Your program is established at this meeting.
3. The program, signed by your committee, is submitted to the ADI. The ADI, in consultation with the GSC, either approves the program or suggests changes.
4. Submit your program to the Graduate School for approval.

Preliminary Examination:

1. Decide, in consultation with your major professor, the date of the written and oral exam, and notify the ADI. Normally, elapsed time is two weeks between written and oral exams. The oral exam must be arranged through the Graduate School. The ADI (or representative) serves as a referee of the written examination, arranges the examining room, and solicits questions from the committee members.
2. The ADI or their representative conducts the exam, distributes the answers, and collects graded answers. Your committee decides the outcome on a PASS/NO PASS basis, and the chair informs the student of the outcome in a written letter. A copy of the letter is sent to the ADI.
3. Your oral examination will be conducted according to the guidelines of the Graduate School.

Teaching:

You and your major professor arrange for at least one formal lecture per year to be delivered by you. This should be in a graduate or professional level course.