Course requirements and performance expectations

Expectations for all MSc and PhD students 

All students are expected to:

  • attend 50% of faculty seminars as a course requirement when enrolled in the Student Seminar Series
  • participate in the annual LMP Research Conference. Second-year MSc/PhD students and fourth-year PhD students will present their research. 
  • maintain a minimum A- average and must demonstrate an acceptable level of performance in their research as assessed by the student’s thesis advisory committee.   
  • meet regularly with their Thesis Advisory Committee (TAC), every 9-12 months. 

See all graduate courses

MSc course requirements  

The research content of an MSc thesis should be approximately equivalent to the amount contained in one manuscript published in a scientific journal. There is no degree requirement for the data to be published in a scientific journal. 

FCE: Full-course equivalent. This is either a Y (year) course that takes place in both the fall and winter terms, or two H (half) courses that each take place in only one term.

If you started your program before August 31st, 2020 

If you started your program after August 31st, 2020 

PhD course requirements 

  • Regular entry (via a MSc degree or equivalent): You need to complete your course work by end of 3rd year. 
  • Direct entry (via  BSc degree) or a transfer (via an MSc-to-PhD transfer exam): You need to complete your course work by end of 4th year. 

The PhD thesis must demonstrate a substantial contribution to medical research (expectations of research content can be found in Program completion. The standard of work must be publishable in both content and presentation. We expect you to publish your data in peer-reviewed journals, but publication is not a degree requirement. 

FCE: Full-course equivalent. This is either a Y (year) course that takes place in both the fall and winter terms, or two H (half) courses that each take place in only one term.

If you started your initial program (MSc or PhD) before August 31st, 2020 

  • LMP1001Y – Graduate Seminars in Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (1.0 FCE). Must be taken throughout academic program (attendance is mandatory)  
  • LMP1404H – Molecular & Cellular Mechanisms of Disease (0.5 FCE)  
  • Elective courses (1.5 FCE; exception for graduates of the Undergraduate Pathobiology Program, 1.0 FCE)  
  • RST9999Y – Thesis  

If you are a PhD student holding a MSc degree or equivalent, and started your program after August 31st, 2020 

  • LMP1003H Student Seminar Series III (0.5 FCE: taken in both Fall and Winter terms for both year one and two. You must attend in year one and present (and attend) in year two). 
  • Elective courses (0.5 FCE) – students may take either one 0.5 FCE or two 0.25 FCE LMP courses (courses offered by other departments may be substituted with the permission of the graduate office)  
  • RST9999Y - Thesis  

Direct-entry or transferred students, if you started your initial program (MSc or PhD) after August 31st, 2020)