Indiana University School of Medicine - Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology

Educational Research Track PhD

The goal of this track is to produce a cadre of doctoral-level anatomy educators who are capable of teaching all of the anatomical disciplines to undergraduate, graduate, or professional students, and who are capable of producing the high-quality educational research and other scholarly work necessary for promotion and tenure.

Curriculum

Designed as a five-year program, the Educational Research Track requires a total of 90credit hours—64 credits in required coursework and 26 credits in dissertation research. The coursework is divided into two “core” areas, as well as statistics courses and electives:

• Anatomy Core (31 hours) – will provide rigorous training in the major anatomical disciplines of Gross Anatomy, Histology, Neuroscience, and Cell Biology, as well as supervised and mentored teaching experiences with medical students and graduate students.
• Education Core (18 hours) – will provide fundamentals of pedagogy and assessment, including educational research and scholarship.
• Statistics (6 hours) – will provide the statistical tools needed to properly design and evaluate educational research projects.
• Electives (9 hours) – will provide the opportunity for further training in the biomedical sciences, education, or statistics.

After completing the coursework, students will be required to pass a Qualifying Examination that tests their knowledge of anatomy, grasp of relevant literature, and the ability to form educational research hypotheses and design studies to test these hypotheses. Students must successfully complete a doctoral research project, including the writing and defense of a Dissertation.

Admission Requirements

Applicants to the Educational Research Track should possess a bachelors degree, preferably in biology or a related scientific field.  The successful applicant will ordinarily have an undergraduate GPA above 3.4 and score above the 70th percentile overall on the GRE, with strong scores on the writing portion of the test.  Students with prior graduate or professional school training will also be given serious consideration.

Applications should be submitted through the School’s website (https://app.applyyourself.com/?id=iu-ina).

Application materials should include:

 *   A personal statement that describes the applicant’s background and interests, and explains why this program meets his or her career goals

 *   Three letters of recommendation that address the applicant’s suitability for a career in teaching and the potential of independent educational scholarship

Send college transcripts and letters of recommendation to:

James J. Brokaw, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology
Indiana University School of Medicine
Medical Science Building , Room 164
635 Barnhill Drive
Indianapolis , IN 46202-5120
Phone: 317-278-2891
jbrokaw@iupui.edu<mailto:jbrokaw@iupui.edu>

Application Deadline: January 15, 2009

Financial Aid

Financial aid is available to qualified Ph.D. applicants, on a competitive basis, in the form of Departmental Stipends and Fee Scholarship (fee remission) Awards.