Dual Degree Programs

Duke's highly flexible curriculum gives students a golden opportunity to pursue a second degree while enrolled in medical school. In fact, around 40 percent of our students will graduate with two degrees--and with special knowledge and perspectives that will serve them well throughout their medical careers.

Duke currently offers nine dual degree programs. Typically, dual-degree students follow the same track as their classmates during the first and second years, then begin studies toward their second degree during the third year.

Check out the links below for more information on specific dual-degree programs. You can also pursue an area of special interest without enrolling in another degree program by taking advantage of Duke's many multidisciplinary study opportunities.

The prestigious Medical Scientist Training Program, funded by the National Institutes of Health, leads to a PhD in a basic science as well as an MD degree. Duke's program is one of the three oldest continuing physician-scientist training programs in the country and has been rated by the NIH as one of the nation's best. Interested students should apply to the MSTP when applying to medical school.

Duke's School of Medicine and School of Law sponsor a highly selective MD/JD Program.

The MD/MBA Program leads to both an MD degree as well as an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.

Students may seek a Master of Public Health (MD/MPH) degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill through the MD/MPH Program. The Duke Global Health Institute is developing a Master of Science in Global Health (MSc-GH) that has been approved by the Executive Committee of the Graduate Faculty and will be presented to the Academic Council and the Board of Trustees in fall 2008. Students in the Third Year Study Program in Global Health would be eligible for this degree program, which is expected to launch in fall 2009.

Students enrolled in the Medicine and Public Policy Program earn the MD and a Master of Public Policy (MD/MPP) degree from Duke's Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy.

While not a joint degree program, the Primary Care Physician Program offers special training and clinical and research options for those interested in primary care.

Duke Medical Scientist Training Program

Dual degree MD/PhD program

The Duke Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), conducted under the auspices of the Duke University Graduate School and the Duke University School of Medicine, trains highly qualified students as physician-scientists, equipping them for solving problems in human disease using the approaches and techniques of the basic biomedical sciences. The program, which leads to both the MD and PhD degrees and typically takes seven to eight years for completion, combines graduate education in a basic biomedical science with the full clinical curriculum of the School of Medicine. One of forty such programs funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Duke MSTP was one of the first three such programs established by the NIH in 1966 and is widely regarded as one of the best.

Program structure

The structure of Duke School of Medicine’s MD program is unique and provides a perfect setting for its associated dual-degree programs. Duke MD students complete all of the required basic science courses and clinical rotations in the first two years. The unique third-year research program gives straight-MD degree students a year working on a significant project in a research setting. In place of that third-year research project, Duke MSTP students begin the first-year of their PhD studies, taking typically four, sometimes five, years to finish the research degree. Following completion of the PhD, students return to an elective clinical year —the “fourth year” of medical school. Generally students spend the first eight weeks of this last MD year pursuing non-ward rotations, such as consult services or clinics, before taking the more intense rotations that prepare them for the move to residency training.

While the typical student follows the plan outlined above, students whose research interests are well developed early in the first MD year may opt to begin the PhD at the beginning of their second year and then complete the clinical sciences curriculum after finishing the PhD. Although this is not the typical sequence, much latitude is granted to students interested in early research experiences.

The program structure offers many advantages. Because the PhD years are credited toward Duke’s third-year research requirement, students complete the program on average in 7.5 years—without any shortcuts in their training. And by completing the core clinical year prior to graduate school, the students have the advantage of surveying all of clinical medicine before deciding on a field of graduate study. The structure of many MST programs is such that students have little or no knowledge of clinical medicine before choosing a field of research for their PhD. Duke MSTP students, on the other hand, have the best possible opportunities for making informed decisions about their research choices.

Support for students

Duke extends considerable efforts toward advising and following the progress of its MSTP students. In the first year, the program director and associate director meet with students frequently. The students also have basic science and clinical advisors assigned in their first two years. The supportive nature of Duke’s program accounts in part for its very low dropout rate.

Professional dinners, held frequently throughout the year, feature Duke’s star faculty members talking about their work. Weekly lunches showcasing the various PhD departments help first- and second-year trainees choose a basic science department for their PhD work. MSTP students are also invited to attend department retreats planned by the various research departments; this experience can give them an extended look at the faculty in a department in which they are interested. A number of other activities, both social and professional, bring students together during the year.

Financial support

All students admitted to the program receive a full fellowship award: tuition, fees, health insurance, and a stipend to cover living expenses. The stipend for 2008-2009 is $26,000 per year. The program provides fellowship funds for the medical school years and the early portion of the PhD study. The student’s PhD mentor provides financial support for the student in the upper-level PhD years.

What alumni are doing

Although the emphasis of the program is on basic medical science, the additional clinical component affords program graduates a remarkable range of career opportunities. Graduates typically follow one of two broad paths: Some go directly into careers in teaching and research in one of the basic medical sciences; others enter residency programs before pursuing investigative and teaching careers in clinical medicine.

More than 250 individuals have graduated from the Duke MSTP to date, and more than eighty percent of these graduates are forging highly successful careers in academic medicine. Almost all of our students complete residency programs and then go on to investigative and teaching careers in clinical medicine. The strong academic background serves as excellent preparation for the challenges of fundamental research.

Eligibility

• Applicants must meet the admission requirements of both the School of Medicine as a candidate for the MD degree and the Graduate School as a candidate for the PhD degree.
• Most candidates apply for admission to the first year of the program, but the program admits a few students each year from the second- and third-year classes of Duke School of Medicine.
• In addition to the minimum requirements for acceptance into the Graduate School and the School of Medicine, prior research experience and advanced course work in science and mathematics are important factors in the selection of candidates.
• A significant portion of the program’s student support funding is provided by a National Institutes of Health training grant, and for this reason program participants must be United States citizens or official permanent residents of the US.

How to apply

• Applicants to Duke MSTP apply simultaneously to MSTP and Duke University School of Medicine. Applicants not admitted to MSTP remain eligible for admission to the School of Medicine.
• The application to MSTP is due no later than November 1.
• The Medical College Admission Test should be taken, if possible, in April of the year in which the application is submitted, and the application should be completed and submitted as early as possible to facilitate review by both the MSTP and School of Medicine admissions committees.
• Interviews of selected candidates are held from early October through the end of January, and admissions decisions are announced in late February or early March.
• Applicants admitted to MSTP will be asked to complete an additional application for the Graduate School. The Graduate Record Examination is not required for this purpose.

Additional Information

Additional information may be obtained on the Duke MSTP Website (http://mstp.duke.edu) or by writing Medical Scientist Training Program, Box 102005 Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, MSTP@duke.edu, or telephoning the program office, 919-668-5528.

The Curriculum

Year 1—Core Basic Science Year. This year consists of three basic science courses: Practice, Molecules and Cells, Normal Body, Brain and Behavior, and Body and Disease, please refer to MD requirements.

Year 2—Core Clinical Science Year. The second year consists of an Orientation to the Clinical Year (OCY), six core clerkship rotations, clinical core sessions, three elective periods, the Practice course, and a final week for assessment. The goals of the core clerkships include developing students’ skills in accurate patient-based problem-solving and appropriate use of resources to diagnose and treat patients. The core clerkship rotations include:

• Medicine (8 weeks)
• Surgery (8 weeks)
• Obstetrics and Gynecology (6 weeks)
• Pediatrics (6 weeks)
• Family Medicine (4 weeks)
• Psychiatry (4 weeks)
• Practice (4 hours every other week for entire year) – Advanced clinical themes (ethics, professionalism, end-of-life, etc.)

Five one-week Clinical Core sessions occur between clerkship rotations. Each week has an interdisciplinary theme (i.e., Patient Safety, Aging, Critical Care, Oncology, and Disaster Preparedness).

Years 3, 4, 5, (6)—The Graduate Years. During the third, fourth, fifth and, if necessary, sixth year of the program, the trainee pursues graduate study to satisfy the requirements for the PhD degree. These requirements include: (1) completion of necessary course work, (2) adequate performance in the preliminary examination, (3) original research suitable for a dissertation, and (4) successful defense of the thesis in the final examination. Detailed descriptions of the other general requirements for the PhD degree are stated in the Bulletin of the Graduate School.

The graduate curriculum of each trainee is developed in consultation with the director of graduate studies of the department in which the trainee elects to study and requires the approval of the Medical Scientist Training Program Committee. Since most of the ordering ideas and experimental techniques of all the medical sciences derive from mathematics and the physical sciences, it is essential to ensure that all students in the program have an adequate foundation in these subjects. Because of the close working relationship and geographical proximity of the departments of medical and physical sciences at Duke, the setting is unusually favorable for the achievement of that goal.

Descriptions of the graduate courses in the Departments of Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Genetics and Microbiology, Immunology, Neurobiology, Pathology, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, and Zoology are listed in the Bulletin of the Graduate School. Trainees are encouraged to select courses which relate to their developing individual interests rather than follow a prescribed curriculum applied to all students in a given discipline. Such range, flexibility, and freedom are the essence of graduate education. The original research and dissertation of each trainee is supervised by a faculty adviser chosen by the trainee in consultation with the director of graduate studies in the appropriate department. The faculty adviser is the chairman of the trainee's supervisory committee, which consists of at least three members from the major department. This committee generally administers the preliminary examination before the student commences original research and the final examination after the student completes the dissertation.

Final Year—An Elective Year in Clinical Science. In this year, which is entered only after completion of all requirements for the PhD degree, the student and her or his Medical School advisory dean construct an individualized curriculum which often places major emphasis on one clinical area and minor emphasis on other fields. One aim is to integrate research interests and clinical experience in such a way that the student's research competence is facilitated; therefore, the year is planned with regard to the trainee's proposed career in research as well. This elective year provides further training in clinical medicine to complement the second (core) clinical year, so that the trainee's total clinical experience is the same as that given in the regular clinical years of medical school (the third and fourth years in the majority of schools). It should be noted that since students in the program receive the MD degree upon completion of the final year, great care is taken by the faculty to ensure that students are competent and knowledgeable in current concepts of patient care. It is hoped that the final year provides the student with an experience which is not repeated during the residency but serves to complement later phases of training. For example, future surgeons might be exposed to fields other than surgery, since they receive intensive training in that discipline during their residency programs.