New grad school curriculum moves students into research sooner
A new curriculum for incoming students at UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences was launched at the start of the 2013 academic year. This change was precipitated by a desire to shorten those students’ time in school and move them into research careers sooner.
Entering graduate students can complete almost all of their class work in the first year of school, then move into research their second year. The new regimen – a change in scheduling but not course content – grew out of a decision last year to shift students into research sooner.
That’s partly because state funding comes to each institution based on the number of students enrolled. In the graduate schools, this funding supports students only during the first year. Thereafter, the students are engaged in projects that are typically supported by training grants and research funding.
The curriculum now focuses more on theory and application rather than transferring fact and content to the student. Once they have mastered the courses, the students then move into the lab to learn how to efficiently teach themselves what they need to know for their research.
Leilani Marty Santos, an alum of the graduate school and now a postdoctoral fellow at the University of MIchigan, has seen the curriculum evolve. She began as a student in the previous curriculum and subsequently tutored students under the new regimen.
“This is really different than the way previously we did it,” said Dr. Marty Santos, who graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with degrees in biology and chemistry and earned her PhD in the laboratory of Dr. Ondine Cleaver, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology. “Then, you had two full years of class work; now, you’re done in a year. There’s some pressure attendant in that, but you actually have more time to learn in your specific field.”
Ms. Marty Santos began tutoring fellow students in her first year of grad school and continued after completing her core courses.
“What happens a lot is that students have a gap in their knowledge when they come to grad school here,” she said. “We tutors try to fill those gaps, and it’s fun when you see the light come on, and suddenly they know how to talk about a concept or technique that was previously unclear to them.”
Valerie Granados, a fourth-year student who graduated from UT El Paso with a degree in biology and is now in the laboratory of Dr. Rene Galindo, Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology, said: “Leilani helped me with key concepts in areas where I needed help. When I got here, it quickly became clear that I wasn’t strong on proteins. She gave me a boost that kept me from really lagging behind.
“Graduate school is pretty heavy-duty, and the time commitment is huge. It’s graduate school, so it’s not supposed to be easy, but when you need help, it’s good to know that it’s there.”
