The University of Chicago MSTP is committed to training excellent physician-scientists to lead biomedicine in the 21st century.
The University of Chicago Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) was established in 1967 and is one of the longest running physician-scientist training programs in the country. The program is designed for students who seek careers in biomedical research and have a desire to apply both clinical and research expertise to solve the most pressing problems in medical science. The program has an illustrious history of training students to assume positions of leadership in academic medicine at major research institutions nationwide.
The first year of the program combines both medical and graduate school classes. Students then typically begin their PhD thesis research work and return to the second year of medical school after a successful defense. This structure ensures a focused, intensive research experience and preserves the continuity of clinical training. On average, MSTP trainees complete both degrees in eight years.
Graduates of the MSTP are awarded a MD from the Pritzker School of Medicine and a PhD from the graduate studies arm of the MSTP, the Interdisciplinary Scientist Training Program (ISTP). The Pritzker School of Medicine is one of the top fifteen medical schools in the nation. The curriculum is taught in small study groups that emphasize active learning and scholarship. It fully integrates other scientific disciplines in order to highlight how advances in the basic sciences shape the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases.
MSTP students take graduate courses and perform their PhD thesis work under the umbrella of the ISTP. This novel, highly adaptable program allows students full access to the superb graduate programs within the Division of Biological Sciences, the Division of Physical Sciences, and the Division of Social Sciences. The ISTP allows students to pursue training in one field or to craft a unique course of study that integrates two classical disciplines. Examples of the latter include computational biology and human genetics, structural biology and immunology, or developmental biology and microbiology. Such integrations reflect the evolution of biomedical research in which several disciplines are brought to bear on important questions in human disease.
