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The beauty of the M.D./Ph.D. Program is that it provides us with the abililty to identify key clinical problems, the skills to investigate these problems in the laboratory, and the foresight to apply the knowledge gained in the laboratory to patient care. The opportunity to participate in every aspect of this cycle and to possibly change the way medicine is practiced is both exhilarating and rewarding.
                         -Meena Kumar, MSTP Alum

The goal of the program is to provide students with the highest quality training to conduct biomedical research as well as a firm grounding in clinical medicine. Ph.D. training may be done in one of our Basic Science Departments including Cell Biology, Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics, Biology, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, Microbiology, Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, Pathology and Pharmacology. We offer a wide variety of Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs in the areas of Immunology, Cardiovascular Physiology, Cell and Molecular Biology, Neuroscience, Biophysics, Molecular Pharmacology, Molecular Medicine, Chemical Engineering, Cancer, and Infectious Diseases. A major emphasis of the program is to train physician-scientists who will lead the biomedical research community in efforts to discover the fundamental basis of human disease and to develop innovative new therapies for their treatment.

Hospital FloorThe details of how students move through their training and develop into passionate and focused physician scientists are complex because our program strives for a perfect balance of support and flexibility.  At UVa you can enroll in any PhD you choose, yet through our advising system, we try to guide you towards productive use of your training years.  Our students frequently tell us that they came here because of these very qualities!  We are always happy to answer questions.  You'll have opportunities to talk with our director in before your interview, and in the meantime, please feel free to explore our Program Handbook