Section 3: Programs of Study: How to Create an MS or PhD Program of Study and Get it Approved by the BMEGSC

3.1 Program of Study

In consultation with their research advisor (and with input as needed from the core advisor), a proposed MS or PhD graduate Program of Study (i.e., course plan) is required to be submitted to the BMEGSC for approval before the end of the second Autumn semester. (MS students often do this sooner as they are not enrolled as long.)

The selection of courses is individually tailored to the student's background, interests, and research and is organized by four basic areas: Required Courses; Fundamental Courses; Electives; and Research. The distribution of engineering and life science courses must be appropriate for each individual student's program, as determined by the advisor, in accordance with BME curriculum requirements.

Curriculum requirements for the MS and PhD programs can be found in sections 4, 6, and 8 of this Handbook, along with some sample program “skeletons”.

Customizable templates exist for the purpose of formatting proposed Programs of Study: to help organize the courses in order to more easily determine whether or not all requirements have been met. They are available here in the Handbook appendices and on the BME website.

The BMEGSC may accept any or all of the 30 semester credit hours from an earned MS degree (or from prior MS/PhD work) toward the PhD degree course requirements on the recommendation of the student's advisor. However, the fit of the transferred courses into the program template is more important than the number of credit hours. Generally, students will not use all transferred credits toward the program of study even if they are accepted to appear on the student’s transcript.

The Program of Study should include a brief cover letter and must be signed by the student’s advisor and examination committee members before the student submits it to the BME Graduate Studies Coordinator (by email to senitko.1) for review and approval by the BMEGSC.

MS Examination Committees require 2 faculty (advisor plus one “reader”)
PhD Examination (Candidacy) Committees require 4 faculty (advisor plus three “readers”)

For detailed information on MS (thesis) and PhD (candidacy and dissertation) committees, see sections 5, 7, and 9 of this handbook and sections 6 and 7 of the GSH.

Individualized study courses (e.g., BME 8193) can be taken with a faculty member for course credit on any topic not covered by an offered course in adequate depth. With documentation (i.e., a syllabus drafted by the instructor) students may request that these be used in programs of study as electives, with BMEGSC approval.

In developing and approving student programs of study, the BMEGSC will recognize and respond to the needs of students with physical and/or learning disabilities.

Students entering the PhD program from the MS program should submit their proposed program of study to the BMEGSC when requesting admission to the PhD.

Once a Program of Study is approved, any changes in courses, advisors, or examination committee membership must again be requested of the BMEGSC at least one term in advance of the intended examination or term of graduation.
After Program of Study approval, transferring external credits to Ohio State is a one-step process requiring completion of a transfer request form on the gradforms.osu.edu system. This form should not be completed until the student has consulted with the BME Graduate Program Coordinator. Students may email the form along with an official transcript with official degree statement (if one has not been provided to the office of graduate admissions) to the BME Graduate Studies Coordinator for review. Once approved it will be approved and forwarded to the Graduate School for final processing.

Q: When can BMEGSC decide on my request?

The BMEGSC meets roughly once per month in AU and SP semesters only. They sometimes do work outside of meetings if they learn that a student is in trouble or need, but many decisions require faculty discussion and can be made only at meetings. As a rule, the BMEGSC does not review program requests in the same term as candidacy or graduation.

The BMEGSC tries to be flexible and to make as many exceptions as possible. They know everybody needs to make an urgent request sometimes. However, too many last-minute urgent requests can pile up and place delays on the business of students who submitted their material on time. This ends up being least fair to those who are meeting the deadlines and patiently waiting their turn. The last and most important reason to get your program squared away early is so you don’t end up having to take additional unexpected coursework later.