Electives

Beyond required courses, each Pharmaceutical Sciences PhD student is expected to attain a depth of knowledge in their area of expertise. Students are expected to work with their advisor and thesis committee to identify elective course(s) to provide this desired depth.

A minimum of three (3) additional credits in the biological/chemical/physical sciences, engineering, or in clinical investigation are required for Pharmaceutical Sciences PhD students and must be completed before one’s preliminary exam.  Once drug action or drug delivery core course requirements have been met, additional courses taken from those core course lists can also be used in fulfillment of the elective requirement. Course(s) must have the “50% graduate coursework” attribute as denoted in the university’s Course Guide to fulfill the 3 credit elective requirement. Students may consult with the Director of Graduate Studies to assess whether a given course(s) will meet this requirement. Presented below is a list of common elective courses at this level taken by recent Pharmaceutical Sciences graduate students. Students are not restricted to this list; it is provided for information purposes. Additionally, if you are planning on taking an elective that isn’t taught every year, or is taught outside of our department, you may want to consult the timetable and/or contact the course coordinator to confirm that the course will be offered as planned.

Pharmaceutical Sciences Division Courses (Graduate Level)

COURSE TITLE COURSE NUMBER CR SEMESTER OFFERED
Biological Mass Spectrometry,
Fundamentals & Applications
Pharmaceutical Sciences 493
(meets with Chemistry 622)
2 fall, odd years
The Drug Development Process Pharmaceutical Sciences 751 3 fall
GPX (Good Practice): Working in a Regulated Environment Pharmaceutical Sciences 752 3 spring
Pharmaceutical Economics and Project Management Pharmaceutical Sciences 753 3 spring
Pharmacokinetics Pharmaceutical Sciences 768 3 fall

Elective graduate courses outside of the Pharmaceutical Sciences Division are listed below by hosting department. Courses mentioned here have been commonly enrolled in by recent Pharmaceutical Sciences graduate students.

Biochemistry

Chemical Biology Biochemistry 704 3 fall

Biomedical Engineering

Introduction to Biological and Medical Microsystems BME 550 3 fall

Biostatistics & Medical Informatics

Introduction to Clinical Trials I BMI 542 3 spring
Introduction to Biostatistics BMI 541 3 fall
Introduction to Clinical Trials II BMI 544 3 fall

Cell & Regenerative Biology

Fundamentals of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology CRB 640 3 spring

Chemistry

Advanced Organic Chemistry Chem 841 3 spring
Topics in Chemical Instrumentation:
Introduction to Mass Spectrometry
Chem 638 1 spring
Advanced Organic Chemistry Chem 641 3 fall
Physical Chemistry of Macromolecules Chem 664 2-3 spring
Selected Topics in Physical Chemistry Chem 860 1-3 varies
Spectrochemical Measurements Chem 605 3 spring
Physical Chemistry of Surfaces Chem 777 2-3 fall
Chemical Crystallography Chem 613 3 spring
Instrumental Analysis Chem 621 3-4 fall
Separations in Chemical Analysis Chem 625 2-3 fall
Materials Chemistry of Polymers Chem 654 2-3 spring
Biophysical Chemistry Chem 665 4 spring
Organometallic Chemistry of the Transition Elements Chem 714 2-3 fall

Family Medicine

Perspectives on Multidisciplinary
Clinical & Translational Research
Fam Med 701 2 spring

Materials Science & Engineering

Transmission Electron Microscopy Laboratory MSE 758 1 spring, even years

Microbiology

Microbial Symbiosis Micro 710 3 spring

Molecular & Environmental Toxicology

Toxicology I MET 625 3 fall
Toxicology II MET 626 3 spring

Neuroscience Training Program

Systems Neuroscience NTP 611 4 spring
Neurobiology of Disease NTP 735 2 spring, even years
Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience NTP 610 4 fall
Special Topics: Molecular Approaches to Neuroscience NTP 675 1-3 varies

Oncology

Advanced or Special Topics in Cancer Research
Topic: Core Techniques in Protein and Genetic Engineering
Onc 675 3 varies
Carcinogenesis and Tumor Cell Biology Onc 703 3 fall

Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Pathogenesis of Major Human Diseases Path 803 3 fall

Plant Pathology

General Virology—Multiplication of Viruses Plant Path 640 3 . fall

Statistics

Special Topics in Statistics Stat 679 1-3 varies

 

Pharmaceutical Sciences graduate students may also want to take School of Pharmacy courses in the PharmD program (for example Medicinal Chemistry) that will grow their background knowledge and may complement their research but will not fulfill the above elective requirement unless they carry the 50% graduate coursework attribute. Please consult the DGS or your thesis advisor if you are considering this possibility.