Biomedical Sciences, MS

Dr. Tiffany Wills
Program Coordinator of the Basic Science Track

Dr. Chindo Hicks
Program Coordinator of the Bioinformatics Track

The Biomedical Sciences Program at LSUHSC-NO contains two tracks: a Basic Science track and a Bioinformatics track. 

The Basic Sciences track provides students with an integrated curriculum and the opportunity to select a mentor and research project from a wide range of disciplines within seven basic science departments.  Students participate in a one-year integrated curriculum and a series of two research rotations in different labs.  At the completion of the first semester, students select a mentor/department where they will complete electives over the next 3-4 semesters as required by their department and conduct research for the thesis. 

The overarching goal of the Bioinformatics track is to train and equip the next generation scientists and biomedical professionals for careers pathways in bioinformatics and computational genomics. 

• Requirements for the Degree

  • Residence - 1 academic year, 2 semesters, or 4 summer terms represents the minimum requirement. 2 years residence represents a more realistic average. 
     
  • Semester Hours - Minimum requirement is 30 semester hours of graduate work, not over six hours of which is allowed for research and compostion of a thesis, and not more than 2 credit hours of seminars. At least 15 hours must be in courses that receive a letter grade (A,B,C,D, F). At least 15 semester hours must be in graduate courses outside the medical or dental curriculum. Program requirements will generally exceed these minimal requirements. Although concentration is required in the major field of interest, every program should include at least six semester hours of credit in one or more related fields. INTER 200, 220, 240, 260, and 280 are required courses for all students. 
     
  • Grade Requirement - Students must maintain a cumulative 3.0 average on all work taken as a graduate student. A student will be dropped from the rolls of the School of Graduate Studies if the student’s cumulative average is below a 3.0 for three consecutive semesters. Individual departmental programs may set higher standards and may not accept a grade of C or lower for credit. In addition, they may consider consistent grades below A in the major field as evidence of unsatisfactory performance. 
      
  • Transfer Credit - Candidates for the M.S. degree may receive up to 13 hours of transfer credit at the discretion of the program involved, providing they have completed the courses, which are comparable to School of Graduate Studies courses in another graduate level institution, and satisfy the subject matter requirements. No transfer credit is permitted for course work receiving a grade below B. Transfer of the credit does not reduce the residency requirement. 
     
  • Candidacy - A student becomes a candidate if the student has completed 12 semester hours of work with a B average and has received program approval. 
     
  • Foreign Language - There is no School of Graduate Studies requirement for foreign languages. 
     
  • Thesis Instructions - Instructions on the preparation of the thesis may be obtained from the School of Graduate Studies website. For the planned graduation date, the student should check the school calendar date for the final date for the submission of the thesis to the School of Graduate Studies. Final approval of the thesis rests with a committee of not less than 3 graduate faculty members, 1 of whom must be from a department different than the student’s department, nominated by the head of the department, and appointed by the dean. The dean may serve as a member or may appoint members to the committee.