Graduate Training (Ph.D.) Program in Physiology > Goals

Goals

The primary goals of the graduate program are to foster and nurture the intellectual growth of our graduate students, to achieve the highest standards of quality in scientific research and education, and to produce outstanding scientists who will be capable of independent basic research. In an effort to meet these goals, we provide students with a factual basis for understanding the function of each organ system and the interrelationship of these organ systems in maintaining integrative whole body as well as cellular homeostasis. We teach the scientific method as an analytic approach to physiologic research, including teaching the students how to critically evaluate data, as well as to search and critically evaluate the scientific literature. We provide the students with specialized courses and supervised experience in the art of scientific communication, both written and oral. We provide an environment that encourages and facilitates the trainees' development of independent and creative approaches to research problems. The program is directed toward familiarizing students with contemporary concepts and trends in physiology and related areas, both through scholarship and laboratory practice.