Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Cardiovascular and Respiratory Sciences Medicine
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In addition to the Faculty of Graduate Studies requirements and Cumming School of Medicine requirements:
The amount of course work to be undertaken is determined by the student’s supervisory committee; however, it also must meet the minimum requirements of the program.
The minimum academic course requirement is normally 9 units. At least one course (3 units) should be from the list of recommended MDCV graduate courses.
Recommended Courses
course Basic Principles of Pharmacology
course Pulmonary Mechanics and Gas Exchange
course Respiratory Muscle Physiology and control of Breathing
course Respiratory Science: Basic
course Respiratory Science: Applied
course Cardiovascular Physiology
course Cardiovascular Pathophysiology
course Inflammation
course Topics In Medical Sciences - Ion Channel Diseases
Other Graduate Courses
course Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
course Systems Neurosciences
course Principles of Immunology
Courses to Address Academic Deficiencies
Recommended courses to address academic deficiencies students may have, but are not normally accepted as part of the students' course requirements:
course* Principles and Mechanisms of Pharmacology
course* Pharmacology of Organ Systems
course Immunological Basis of Disease
course Biostatistics I
*Graduate Students enrolled in these courses are required to do additional work to that of undergraduate students (i.e. term paper)
Students with a completed BSc degree entering the PhD program must successfully complete a minimum of 9 units of graduate coursework.
Students with a completed MSc degree entering the PhD program are also required to complete a minimum of 9 units of academic coursework. However, they may apply for a course load reduction if previous graduate courses are deemed relevant to their doctoral research and background knowledge. This should be reviewed by the student’s supervisory committee, which will provide a recommendation to the Graduate Program Director regarding any reduction.
Students transferring from the MSc program to the PhD program must complete a minimum of 3 additional units beyond their MSc coursework.
Each student is required to participate regularly in journal club and work-in-progress seminar programs organized by the Department, Institute or Research Group to which the student and supervisor belong. The student will present at least one journal club seminar and one work-in-progress presentation per year.
Research Integrity Day
Research Integrity Day is a Research Ethics session offered several times each year. All graduate students in the Cumming School of Medicine are required to attend Research Integrity Day in the first year of their program as part of their course requirements. See the Graduate Science Education https://cumming.ucalgary.ca/gse/current-students/research-integrity-day for details and to register for the Research Integrity Day session.
Sex and Gender Training Module
The inclusion of Sex and Gender in Research programs is becoming more prominent. All graduate students in the Cumming School of Medicine are required to complete one of the CIHR sex and gender online training modules found at https://www.cihr-irsc-igh-isfh.ca/ within the first year of their program.
Advanced Credit
Applicants must make requests for Advanced Credit as part of the admission process. Credit will not be given for academic course work taken as part of another completed degree/diploma or for courses taken to bring an applicant's grade point average to a required level for admission. Any credit to be given for courses completed will be included in the letter of offer for admission to the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
Flexible Grade Option (CG Grade)
Students admitted to the graduate programs in the Cumming School of Medicine will not be allowed to request the Flexible Grade Option (CG Grade) for any course that is applicable to their degree; or apply any course awarded a grade of CG towards their graduation requirements.
Students may not choose the CG grade for a course taken extra to load.
The use of the CG grade will affect students’ eligibility for internal awards.
Credit for Undergraduate Courses
Academic credit may be given for a course taken below the 600 level. Students may receive credit for completing a course numbered 500-599, providing that the course is recommended by the supervisory committee and a written approval is received by the program director.
Time Limit
Completion times follow the Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations (see Time Limits):
Maximum completion time for a doctoral program is six years. The expected completion time is five years.
Supervisory Assignments
The selection of a graduate supervisor must be by mutual agreement between the student and the faculty member concerned at the time of application to the program and approved by the Graduate Program Director. The supervisor will be a member of one of the recognized research institutes within the Cumming School of Medicine (e.g. Libin Cardiovascular Institute, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Snyder Chronic Disease Institute, etc.).
Supervisory committees, required for both master’s and doctoral students, are established based upon the needs of the student and the expertise of the committee members, following discussions between the student and the supervisor and approved by the Graduate Program Director. A supervisory committee, consisting of supervisor and co-supervisor (if applicable), plus two additional members, should be in place no later than 3 months after the student's first registration in the program.
Research Proposal Requirements
All MSc and PhD students must defend a written research proposal to their supervisory committee. For additional information about the PhD research proposal, refer to: https://cumming.ucalgary.ca/sites/default/files/teams/13/GSE%20Candidacy%20Policy_March%201%2C%202025.pdf.
Required Examinations
Doctoral Candidacy
To enter candidacy, doctoral students must: (1) successfully complete all required courses, (2) attend Research Integrity Day (3) successfully complete the CIHR Sex and Gender in Research online training module(s), (4) have their thesis research proposal approved at a thesis proposal evaluation meeting, and (5) successfully complete a Field of Study oral examination. Specific details of the examination format and other candidacy requirements can be found at: https://cumming.ucalgary.ca/sites/default/files/teams/13/GSE%20Candidacy%20Policy_March%201%2C%202025.pdf.
Thesis Examination
All students in thesis-based programs (MSc and PhD) must successfully pass the Final Thesis Oral Examination (see Thesis Examinations).
PhD students are expected to give a public seminar prior to the examination. During this public seminar, members of the examining committee will not be permitted to ask questions, and this presentation is not considered part of the examination.
PhD examinations will consist of an open oral examination. If the student has not given a public seminar immediately prior to the examination, they may be offered the opportunity to give a 15-minute presentation at the beginning of the examination.
Scheduling the Examination
All members of the supervisory committee must have reviewed the student’s research, including a relevant written sample of the materials related to the thesis, before an examination can be scheduled.
Composition of the Examination Committee
For a doctoral thesis examination, the examination committee will consist of the supervisory committee, an internal/external examiner (who may be internal to the student’s home program), PLUS an external examiner who is external to the University of Calgary. The external examiner must be approved by the program director and the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
Students in thesis-based graduate programs will receive a graduate stipend as outlined in the Cumming School of Medicine Funding Policy that can be found at https://cumming.ucalgary.ca/gse/faculty-and-staff/student-payments.
Students are expected to apply to external funding agencies for financial support from scholarships or studentship awards and for University of Calgary Scholarships (see Awards and Financial Assistance section of this Calendar). Possible sources of financial support are listed on the Cumming School of Medicine website https://cumming.ucalgary.ca/gse/current-students/scholarships.