Guidelines for PhD and PharmD/PhD Students in Advanced Standing

All PhD and PharmD/PhD students must pass a comprehensive written Preliminary Examination before they gain admission to candidacy for the PhD degree. Once they pass, students submit an Application to Candidacy.

This examination will cover scientific areas in which the student is expected to be knowledgeable. The material for the examination is generally taken from the required departmental offerings and current literature in the area of pharmaceutical sciences.

The PhD Preliminary Examination can also be utilized, in part, by BS/MS, MS or PharmD/MS students who wish to complete their degree requirements by examination (instead of by research project). As described below, MS students only need to complete part of this examination.

Preliminary Exam Offerings

PhD and PharmD/PhD students should ordinarily take the Preliminary Examination before the beginning of their 4^th semester in the PhD program. Students who complete the core courses earlier than their 3^rd semester, should take the Preliminary Examination following the semester of the completion, upon consultation with the DGS and the major mentor.

The Preliminary Examination will be offered up to twice a year: in January immediately following the fall semester in June, only when requested by students before May 1^st and approved by the DGS.

All students who wish to take the examination are required to submit a written request to the Director of Graduate Studies no later than December 1 for the winter Preliminary Examination.

The exact dates of the test will be set by the Director of Graduate Studies or their designate. The Director of Graduate Studies has the option to postpone the Preliminary Examination for up to six months.

Scope and Exam Questions

For PhD students, the knowledge base for this examination includes, but not limited to, the required courses of the PhD curriculum. For BS/MS, MS or PharmD/MS students, the knowledge base pertains to the chosen area(s) of focus.

BS/MS, MS or PharmD/MS students who wish to complete their Masters degree requirements by examination are required to answer questions from any 2 of the above areas, whether they are from the core or elective areas. Students must indicate their choices of scientific areas in their written petition to sit for the examination. Changes cannot be made once the petition has been submitted.

The examination will be coordinated by the Director of Graduate Studies /designate. The Director of Graduate Studies may seek the assistance of another graduate faculty member of the department. The questions for the examination will selected from those submitted from the faculty of the department. The examination will contain no less than six and no more than 12 questions. No individual faculty member will have more than two questions in the examination.

Questions about research techniques and methodology may be incorporated in any of the above areas. Any faculty member can submit questions in any of the indicated areas. Thus, questions may not be derived specifically from any particular course, lecture or faculty. In fact, some questions are likely to originate from the current literature or recent seminars.

Purpose

The purpose of the Preliminary Examination is given to test the ability of the student to analyze, synthesize, apply, and extend knowledge in the pharmaceutical sciences. It is not the intent of this examination to test rote memorization.

Assessment & Grading

Papers will be given letter grades. The following numerical values are assigned for the purpose of computing averages:

A student Passes the Preliminary Examination if they attain an average of 80 or above without a single grade of C- or below.

A student obtains a Conditional Pass  if they attain an average of 80 or above but they also receive only one grade of C- or below. In such a case, the professor(s) who gives the failing grade will conduct a re-examination of the student. The results will be presented to the Graduate Education Committee who will decide whether remedial work and/or another examination is to be required or whether the Conditional Pass is to be changed to a Fail.

A student Fails the Preliminary Examination if they have not attained an average of 80 or above, or if the scores for two or more answers were graded C- or below. If a student fails the examination, they will be given the opportunity to take the entire examination again, no later than 30 days after they have been notified of the failure in the first examination. They must petition to the Director of Graduate Studies to schedule a second Preliminary Examination  within 10 days after being notified of their failure in the first examination. A student who fails the examination twice will be terminated from the PhD program, and their assistantship will be removed immediately.

Failure to Complete

If a student has not successfully completed the Preliminary Examination by the end of their 4th semester of registration in the program (not including summers), the department may withdraw stipend support from the student. In special cases, the Chair may grant a waiver of this rule upon petition.