Students interested in a research career in academic medicine may wish to apply for admission to the joint M.D.,C.M. & Ph.D. program. This is a seven-year program in which the basic and clinical sciences portion of the medical curriculum are completed from September of Year One to December 31 of Year Two, prior to the beginning of full-time graduate studies. The latter are expected to last three, but no more than four, years by which time all course work and the research requirements for the Ph.D. degree must have been completed and a thesis submitted.