Students are admitted with the intent of obtaining a Ph.D. degree in Pharmacology. Formal course requirements depend upon the individual student's career goals. Students must maintain a B average to be retained in the program and to continue to receive financial support.

To be awarded a Ph.D. in Pharmacology, each student must successfully complete the following:

• All required course work
• Candidacy examination, covering general course material and consisting of a written test of factual knowledge. The examination is given at the end of the spring semester of the first year, after the student has completed the required basic courses.
  Students must maintain a 3.0 (B) average to remain in good academic standing. Students are evaluated for admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree at the end of the first year by consideration of their academic performance, acquired laboratory skills, and a formal written examination of their progress in reading and understanding the scientific literature.
• Test of competency in English, demonstrating a high level of English proficiency prior to the admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. Graduates of English-speaking colleges or universities will be expected to have such skill prior to admission. International students whose native language is not English will demonstrate competence by achieving a score of at least 550 in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or its equivalent.
• Comprehensive examination, consisting of a written proposal on a research problem and an oral defense at the end of the second year.
  At the completion of substantially all course work (usually the end of the second or middle of the third year), students will take the comprehensive examination with the format to be determined by the student and the doctoral committee.
• Written and oral thesis defense. After completion of the thesis research (usually five years), students defend the Ph.D. thesis at the final oral examination.