BME PHD STUDENT HANDBOOK

Coursework

Purpose and philosophy

Research in Biomedical Engineering requires a solid working knowledge of a broad range of subjects in both engineering/mathematics and biomedicine. Although this knowledge could be obtained in several ways, it is most efficiently obtained through formal coursework.

The Committee feels that engineering, mathematics, and biology are best taught by engineers, mathematicians, and biologists respectively. Therefore the Program offers relatively few, lower-level, graduate courses. Students are expected to take, for credit, medical school (or comparable Arts and Sciences) biology courses to obtain biomedical background. Students are expected to take courses in the Whiting School of Engineering or in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences to obtain engineering/mathematics background. A student chooses courses with the advice of his/her advisors. The Program Director advises first year students until they have met with their advisory committees.

You will find that registration is a relatively simple matter for courses in any division of the University (including the Peabody School of Music). All registration is done through the Registrar at the School of Medicine. That office supplies the form necessary for registration on the other campuses. Remember, you are an interdivisional student, and there should be no problem with your registering anywhere in the University. If you have any problems in this respect, please see the program director.

Requirement

The program requires one year of biology, split equally between molecular and cellular topics and systems biology.  Often this consists of the following courses from the first year of the medical school:  Molecules and Cells, Immunology, Neuroscience, and Physiology.  Developmental Biology, Human Anatomy, and the histology component of Organ Systems are optional.  Alternative biology course programs can be taken.  They should consist of the equivalent of 18 credits and should be equally divided between molecular/cellular and systems topics.  Alternative programs should be discussed in advance with the program director and the student's advisory committee.

The Program requires a minimum of 18 credits of engineering and mathematics courses.  These must include two semester courses (equivalent of 6 credits) at the 600 level or higher. Of these two courses, at least one must have substantial theoretical content.  Generally the theory courses will be mathematics or mathematical sciences courses or engineering courses in which the goal is to present theoretical methods and tools useful in engineering.  Examples include courses in probability, statistics, and stochastic processes; courses in differential equations and other aspects of analysis and algebra; and courses in signal processing, theoretical mechanics, transport processes, or other advanced engineering topics.

First year

Students are required to take the equivalent of a year's coursework in biology.  As discussed above, the faculty are convinced this level of training in biology is essential to preparing tomorrow's leaders in biomedical engineering.  Because of its unique position in the School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins, students have to opportunity of obtaining the biology coursework by taking year 1 courses in the medical curriculum, including Molecules and Cells, Immunology, Neuroscience, and Physiology.  Developmental Biology, Human Anatomy, and Histology are optional.  Most students do this during the first year.  Alternative curricula are available which allow a mixture of biology and engineering/mathematics courses over the first two years of the program.  There is no set alternative program and appropriate courses are available in many departments at Hopkins.  Alternative programs are planned with the assistance of the student's advisory committee.

Second year

The coursework in the second year normally emphasizes engineering and mathematics, and most courses are taken on the Homewood campus.  A normal schedule includes four graduate courses each semester.  The selection of courses is determined by the student and his/her advisory committee.  The program must include at least two semesters of course work at the graduate level (600 or higher), at least one of which must contain substantial theory content.  These courses will usually cover primarily topics in mathematics or applied mathematics.  In planning their programs, students must pay attention to obtaining the prerequisites for these advanced courses.

Many students will continue taking biology courses or specialty seminars during the second year, to develop their expertise in areas related to their research interests.  The BME department offers courses and seminars in many research areas which are useful in this regard.

Necessarily, there is a certain amount of strategic planning in choosing courses that will lead to a coherent body of knowledge, testable in a Graduate Board Oral Examination.  In making these choices, a student should plan to have sufficient depth in each subject that will be tested in the exam.  This planning will entail, among other things, a careful study of prerequisite structures.

The rules of the Graduate Board  Oral Examination are not set by the BME Committee.  There are several important points here: 1) the faculty members eligible to sit on a Graduate Board Exam are strictly limited, generally to full-time faculty at the level of Assistant Professor and above in degree-granting departments; it is difficult to obtain permission for a member of a clinical department or a faculty member from the part-time (evening college) programs;  2) At least two of the examiners must be from outside the student's program; for BME, inside examiners are any member of the BME Department or the BME Committee.  3) There must be at least one associate or full professor on the committee.

The progress of students up to the time when they take their Graduate Board Oral Examination is monitored by the Junior Progress Committee.  More information on this monitoring can be found in the section devoted to the activities of this committee.

The years after the graduate board oral exam

Although a student should become heavily involved in his/her dissertation research after passing the Graduate Board Oral Exam, he/she usually takes one or two courses each semester throughout the third and fourth years in the Program. This coursework is often evenly distributed between engineering/mathematics and biomedicine. At this stage, engineering/mathematics courses are usually restricted to upper level graduate courses, and biomedical courses are restricted to advanced seminars. Informal, individual, reading courses can usually be arranged with faculty on relatively short notice, and these may represent an important resource for students.

All students who are conducting dissertation research must register for "Special Studies and Research in Biomedical Engineering," 210.801-802.