Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

The Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (MCGSBS), formerly known as Mayo Graduate School (MGS),^[1] is one of the schools of higher education within the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. It offers graduate training in the biomedical sciences with programs for Ph.D., M.D.-Ph.D., and master's degree-seeking students. In addition, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences offers summer undergraduate research fellowships and post-baccalaureate research opportunities.

Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences

Former names	Mayo Graduate School (until 2017)^[1]
Type	Private nonprofit graduate school
Established	1989
Parent institution	Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science
Dean	Stephen Ekker, Ph.D.^[2]
Academic staff	341^[3]
Doctoral students	202^[3]
Location	Rochester , Minnesota , USA 44°01′17″N 92°28′01″W / 44.0213°N 92.4670°W / 44.0213; -92.4670
Campus	Urban
Website	college.mayo.edu/academics/biomedical-research-training/

Location

Mayo Graduate School has locations in the three Mayo Clinic campuses: Rochester, MN, Jacksonville, FL, and Scottsdale, AZ. The majority of students pursue their degrees in Rochester; however, research areas such as neuroscience and cancer biology include faculty at the other sites. The Rochester campus has its school office located in the Guggenheim building and a student center in the Mitchell building.

Rankings

As of 2018, U.S. News & World Report ranks the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences #27 (tie) on their "Best Grad Schools: Biological Sciences" list.^[4]

Academics

Ph.D. program

Core courses for all Ph.D. students cover basic mechanisms and fundamental concepts in biological sciences. More specialized education is provided in advanced, track-specific courses. During the first year, students complete at least three 8-week laboratory rotations in laboratories of their choice. Students then select the labs in which they will pursue their degrees. In order to complete the degree, students must pass written and oral qualifying exams, have at least one first author publication accepted, and write a thesis on their work. The average time length for a Mayo graduate student to get a PhD degree is 5.25 years.^[5]

All Ph.D. students are guaranteed an internal fellowship for up to five years. The fellowship covers full tuition, benefits and a competitive stipend. Students are not required serve as a teaching assistant but can if they choose.^[6]

Tracks

Over 340 faculty members^[3] mentor students in eight tracks:^[7]

• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (BMB)
• Biomedical Engineering and Physiology (BMEP)
• Clinical and Translational Science (CTS)
• Immunology (IMM)
• Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (MPET)
• Neuroscience (NSCI)
• Regenerative Sciences (REGS)
• Virology and Gene Therapy (VGT)

Additionally, a Regenerative Sciences Training Program (RSTP) was started in 2017 in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine.^[8] The RSTP is open to students in any of the Ph.D. tracks as a subspecialization in order to foster application of these fields to regenerative medicine. The RSTP evolved into the REGS track in 2020.^[9]

M.D.-Ph.D. program

MCGSBS cooperates with the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine (MCASOM) to offer the MD-PhD degree, which is fully funded by an NIH/NIGMS Medical Scientist Training Program T32 grant.^[10][11]

Master's program

MCGSBS also provides master's degree of biomedical research education. It typically takes 2–3 years. Students or Mayo employees can choose master education from seven tracks described above. Students usually take related courses and finish a scientific project to obtain the degree.

Other programs

Career development internships

Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is committed to the principle that society benefits from PhD-trained biomedical scientists leading in a broad range of careers. Many of these careers are different from the careers of graduate school mentors. Therefore, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences offers to upper level PhD and MD/PhD students funded 100-hour Career Development Internships (CDI)^[12] allowing networking in a variety of professional settings where biomedical PhD training is highly valued. Internship opportunities include liberal arts education, pharma, clinical lab management, technology transfer, science writing, and public policy.

Diversity programming

Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is a national center of excellence for the biomedical research training of students from backgrounds underrepresented in science. This training is supported by three long-running NIH diversity training grants.^[13]

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences sponsors a highly-competitive Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program at its three national campuses for PhD- and MD/PhD-bound rising juniors and seniors.^[14]

Photos

•  
  Mayo Rochester Plummer Building
•  
  Mayo Clinic Rochester Night
•  
  Mayo Clinic Arizona- Mayo Clinic Collaborative Research Building (MCCRB)
•  
  Mayo Clinic Arizona- Johnson Medical Research Building
•  
  Mayo Clinic Arizona- Johnson Research Building and ASU's Biomedical Informatics (BMI)
•  
  Mayo Clinic Florida Griffin
•  
  Mayo Clinic Florida Birdsall

References

1. "Mayo Clinic updates names of its college and schools". Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
2. "Stephen Ekker, Ph.D., Named New Dean of Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences". Mayo Clinic College of Medicine & Science. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
3. "Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences". Peterson's. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
4. "Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences". Best Grad Schools. U.S. News & World Report L.P. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
5. "MCGSBS Ph.D. Program Core Curriculum". Mayo Clinic. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
6. http://cen.acs.org/articles/90/i43/Top-Companies-Chemists.html Top companies for chemists
7. "MCGSBS Ph.D. Program Tracks". Mayo Clinic. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
8. "MCGSBS Regenerative Sciences Training Program". Mayo Clinic. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
9. "Mayo Clinic to offer advanced degree in regenerative sciences". Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
10. "MCGSBS Programs". Mayo Clinic. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
11. "Medical Scientist Training Program at Mayo Clinic". National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
12. Career Development Internships
13. Diversity Education
14. Undergraduate Fellowship