Guidelines
General
The student must meet the admissions criteria and overall guidelines established for the existing Master’s program in Veterinary Medical Sciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Appointment of supervisory committee
MS candidates should form supervisory committee of three members of the graduate faculty by the end of the first semester of enrollment. The chairperson must have a primary appointment in the Department of Physiological Sciences and be engaged in some aspect of biomedical toxicology or environmental toxicology research.
Curriculum
A total of 30 semester hours and a minimum grade point average of 3.0 is required for graduation.
Core required courses (15 hours):
- A minimum of three semester credit hours of graduate level Statistics (STA6200, STA6601, STA6602) or equivalent.
- A minimum of three semester credit hours of graduate level Biochemistry (BCH5413) or equivalent
- One semester each of General Toxicology (VME6602) and Advanced Toxicology (VME 6602 and VME 6603) for six semester hours total
- A minimum of one semester of Literature Survey in Toxicology (VME 6604, one credit)
- Physiological Sciences Seminar (VME6932) during each term enrolled
Coursework beyond core
The supervisory committee has the responsibility for recommending individual courses of study for each student as tailored to their research project. A course in graduate physiology is strongly recommended, but not required. A host of elective courses in toxicology, biomedical sciences, and environmental sciences are offered through other departments of the University and through the Interdisciplinary Toxicology Program. Some representative examples of electives include:
- BCH6206 Advanced Metabolism
- BCH6415 Advanced Molecular and Cell Biology
- GMS6053 Cancer Biology
- ENY6651C Insect Toxicology
- EES5207 Environmental Chemistry
- EES6405 Environmental Toxicology
- FAS5255C Diseases of Warmwater Fish
- FOS6235 Food Toxicology
- PHA6425 Drug Biotransformation
- PHA6449 Pharmacogenomics
- GMS6500 Introduction to Pharmacology
- GMS6563 Molecular Pharmacology
- SOS6448 Biogeochemistry of Wetlands
- STA5507 Applied Nonparametric Methods
- STA5701 Applied Multivariate Methods
- STA66201 Analysis of Research Data
- VME6613/4 Forensic Toxicology I/II
- VME6934 Risk Assessment
- VME5244 Physiology of Mammals
- ZOO5458 Fish Physiology
Masters Thesis
A Masters thesis proposal must be presented and approved by the supervisory committee. The recommended format for the thesis is one chapter equivalent to a peer-reviewed research paper submitted for publication.
Departmental seminar
The student is required to present a seminar to the department (VME 6932) on the results of the thesis research during the last semester of enrollment prior to the thesis defense.
