Curriculum

Students in the Clinical Research MS degree program complete the following requirements:

Coursework

Thesis Requirement

Curriculum Format/delivery
At this time, almost all of the courses are offered as in-class courses so it is not feasible to complete the major as a long-distance program.  Please also note the majority of courses are offered from 8 am – 5 pm. However, students have been admitted who hold full-time jobs in situations where the job is relevant to the doctorate degree and where the student’s supervisors/employers support the student completing the coursework and other program requirements

Curriculum
The Clinical Research MS degree program requires the satisfactory completion of 38 semester credits, which includes 3 elective credits and 10 thesis credits. Coursework in biostatistics, epidemiology, clinical trials, data collection, grant writing and ethics are required. Elective courses are chosen in consultation with an adviser.

The thesis is a written, orally defended project demonstrating the student's ability to do quantitative analyses, using data collected by the student or obtained from another source. Students prepare a thesis which demonstrates their familiarity with the design and conduct of clinical research.  It is recognized that the time period of training may not permit the development and completion of a research project from start to finish.  However, minimally, the thesis project must include a detailed protocol for a study and either the collection and summary of preliminary/pilot data or the analysis of data set in support of the research project. The protocol must include a literature review, a clear statement of objectives, a discussion of sample size considerations, a data collection plan (including forms design), and an analysis plan.

Students must give a half-hour public presentation of their thesis work and also orally defend their thesis before their examination committee.