The graduate curriculum typically begins on the third Monday of August (e.g. August 19, 2024). We post the start date on our website ~6 months in advance, and if you need more advance notice, please contact Linda Martin, our MS program Coordinator (lmartin10@tulane.edu).
All lectures are presented in our department classroom, which was recently upgraded with rectangular tables for laptop use and a maximum seating capacity of 24. Class attendance is mandatory, except for excused absences such as illness, acute transportation issues, or personal situations where an excused absence is granted by our program’s curriculum director. We use Zoom for lecture recording, so that students can go back and review content before module exams. In rare instances we have switched to online learning for a lecture or two due to extreme weather events
Our medical school does not allow direct linkages between MS or PhD programs and medical admissions. However they are always on the look out for good applicants, and our department faculty and program director frequently write letters of recommendation for students applying to Tulane and other medical or professional schools.
Our pharmacology MS graduate curriculum includes 32 credit hours of coursework to satisfy a minimum requirement used by those medical schools that focus on the most recent 32 hours of course work (the "32-hour rule") when assessing past academic performance during their admissions process. This is of greatest benefit to those students with either a low undergraduate GPA, or who have been out of school for awhile, prior to applying to medical school. Medical schools that have officially adopted the 32-hour rule include both LSU medical schools (New Orleans & Shreveport), Wayne State and Michigan State schools of medicine. Other medical schools may have a similar unofficial policy.
There is a Deming residence hall catty-corner across Tulane Ave from the SOM that is connected by two elevated walkway bridges. There is also a newly renovated building with furnished apartments that is immediately next door to the SOM at 1315 Gravier (https://www.thirteen15nola.com/). Some students choose to live in these locations, while others prefer to find housing near the Tulane University undergraduate campus located 4 miles away (14 min drive) and utilize the Tulane University shuttle busses for convenient transportation to and from these two areas.
We have recent graduates from our program in the area that offer tutoring for current MS students who need such help. Tutoring is subsidized by the department, and there is no expense to the student for this service. The program director and professors who give lectures are also available when needed. We also highly recommend that students create study groups and meet several times per week, as schedules permit. You often don't recognize what you don't understand until you try to teach someone else!
We do not have scholarships available. However Tulane University does have a financial aid office, and a financial aid representative will be present during the first morning of program orientation to explain the ins and outs of the financial aid process. Many students utilize this service.
Not specifically. We ask students to select an appropriate time for taking the MCAT that does not conflict with our full time graduate curriculum. Four such options include: 1) Thanksgiving week, 2) Winter break, 3) the week of Mardi Gras (our program’s Spring break), or 4) after the last course exam scheduled the last week of April. Most students find that completing our curriculum helps them to improves their MCAT performance, so choosing a date closer to the end of the academic year, or immediately following may be optimal.
Many students wait until completing the program to take, or re-take the MCAT exam. Hence their cycle of application to the professional programs of their choice, and successful admittance is typically delayed by at least a year following graduation. Some also choose to get involved with a program such as Teach for America for one or two years following graduation for both the experience and improvement of their medical school application credentials. Hence we look at multi-year trends over a 5 years or more for assessment of program outcomes. Historically ~80% of graduates have gained acceptance into either medical or dental school, or a PhD program of their choice ever since the first MS graduating class of 1999.
Yes, but we don’t recommend that students seek work after hours because this can reduce study time, and have a negative impact on academic performance. Our graduate curriculum, which includes the same medical pharmacology content taken during medical school, is generally more challenging than experienced during undergraduate education. It requires more study time, with daily review of recently covered material and self assessment. Nevertheless, we recognize that some students may have no other option than to work to generate income for living expenses.
Some students do get involved in lab research. The opportunities vary from year to year depending on each faculty’s individual research program. It also depends on what areas of research are of interest to the student. You can get an idea of the types of research being conducted by looking at our faculty web pages – which include a description of the research programs that each faculty is currently involved in. For those students who wish to become involved in lab research, we ask them to wait until after the first two sets of module exams in the Fall (e.g. until mid September) before deciding if spending time in a lab is appropriate. This is because we believe that a postbac student’s main priority should be to achieve and maintain a relatively high GPA. Most students find that our graduate curriculum is much more challenging compared to their experience with their undergraduate curriculum, and requires significantly more study time outside of class in order to do well. Consequently, If spending time in a lab is taking away needed time for studying, this could interfere with developing the most favorable academic profile possible for gaining acceptance into medical, dental or veterinary school. We also require a minimum of 12 hours of outside community service in the Fall, and 24 hours in the Spring, because having experience with community service is considered a positive credential when applying to medical school.
