About the Program
The Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences offers graduate programs leading to the Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees. The department’s mission is to educate members of the veterinary health care team and biomedical community, to create and communicate knowledge, and to provide outstanding clinical service for the citizens of Indiana and surrounding region.
Graduate training in clinical and translational research may be pursued in a number of fields including Anesthesiology and Pain Management, Behavior Medicine, Cardiology, Clinical Epidemiology and Population Medicine, Dermatology, Diagnostic Imaging (Radiology), Emergency and Critical Care, Large Animal Internal Medicine, Large Animal Surgery, Medical Oncology, Neurology, Ophthalmology, Production Medicine (Food Animal, Ruminant and Swine), Radiation Oncology, Small Animal Internal Medicine, Small Animal Surgery, and Theriogenology. The VCS Department, along with the Purdue Veterinary Hospital, has state of the art facilities, equipment and infrastructure for studying the health and diseases of animals, conducting clinical trials and performing translational research.
The VCS residency programs, designed to train veterinarians for specialty clinical practice, are combined with the graduate program. While the requirements for the M.S. non-thesis or thesis degree can usually be completed in a shorter time period (two years), the duration of a combined Residency/M.S. program is usually three years, reflecting the time required to satisfy the objectives of both programs. The duration of a combined Residency/Ph.D. program should be a minimum of five years, reflecting the time required to satisfy the objectives of both programs.
Dual-Title PhD in Gerontology: Students may enroll in the groundbreaking dual-title PhD in gerontology. This degree program links the disciplinary depth of a traditional PhD with the interdisciplinary breadth of gerontology. Students are admitted through and meet all course requirements in their home department, while taking courses in aging in at least three disciplines and focusing their dissertation on an aging related issue or problem.
Program Website: Veterinary Clinical Science
Program Website: Gerontology
Required Courses (17-21 credits)
Core Courses (1-2 credits)
Students must take two semesters/a year of VCS 63000. The course entails one-to-two hour sessions organized and conducted weekly by VCS graduate students, with input/discussion from the attending VCS faculty. Alternating weekly topic sessions may include journal club and morbidity and mortality patient rounds or other topics appropriate to the specialty.
Biostatistics Courses (5-6 credits)
Choose two.
Seminars (2-3 credits)
Seminars provide a forum for residents, interns, and graduate students to create, deliver, observe, and critique seminars for veterinarians, the scientific community, and veterinary students.
At least two semesters of a seminar series are required, one of which must be VCS 62000 (45-min presentation; 1 cr. when seminar is given). In addition, at least two research presentations/seminars such as: VCS 62000, CPB 69700, conference presentation, or other appropriate forum. Note that a research seminar presented in a seminar course can be applied to both seminar requirements.
Research courses (8 credits)
In addition to VCS 603 and 604, students must take at least two courses (6 credits) that are foundational to the area of research, as agreed upon by the graduate student advisory committee.
Grant Writing Course (1 credit)
Choose one. A workshop in grant writing sponsored by the Graduate School can substitute for this requirement.
Area of Study (xx credits)
The plan of study should include a primary area of study and may include a related area or areas that are chosen on the basis of the student’s interests and needs. The plan of study is an individualized curriculum designed by the advisory committee to assist the student in achieving educational objectives.
Research areas include: anesthesiology; animal behavior; beef production medicine; comparative cardiovascular medicine and interventional cardiology; comparative oncology; dairy production medicine; diagnostic imaging; endocronology; equine orthopedic surgery; equine medicine; equine soft tissue and reproductive surgery; equine sports medicine; farm animal surgery; neurology and neurosurgery; ophthalmology; orthopedics; small animal emergency and critical care medicine; small animal medicine; small animal soft tissue and surgery; and swine production medicine.
To read more about each, visit the Research Specialties page.
Dissertation Research (xx credits)
The thesis must be original and include at least one paper written in a format suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal; however, if the student’s advisory committee determines that sufficient work has been performed to meet the requirements for awarding of the PhD degree, but there is insufficient data for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, then this requirement may be waived.
Before preliminary examination, students must take at least one course in the responsible conduct of research, listed below.
Additional Requirements
Students must complete the CITI Responsible Conduct of Research available through the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative program during the first semester of study. Certificate of completion will be required. Additionally, 2 credits of discipline-specific training are required within the first year of program (coursework meets this requirement).
It is strongly recommended that graduate students take a course/workshop in technical writing such as: Graduate School workshops (“How to publish in academic journals”).
A course in teaching is recommended but not required.
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