MUSCMedical LinksCharleston LinksArchivesMedical EducatorSpeakers BureauSeminars and EventsResearch StudiesResearch GrantsGrantlandCommunity HappeningsCampus News

Return to Main Menu

College of Graduate Studies

Core Curriculum changes certain

by Dick Peterson
Public Relations
First it was a plan, then a goal. Soon it will become a reality.

College of Graduate Studies' dean, Perry Halushka, M.D., Ph.D., says a common first-year curriculum is certain to begin in the fall semester 2001.

Dr. Perry Halushka

Halushka’s goal to re-form the college's discipline-based curriculum to an interdisciplinary format became a mandate when the MUSC Board of Trustees approved his appointment. He replaced Rosalie Crouch, Ph.D., who became provost and vice president for academic affairs.

The core curriculum, as it has come to be called, will consolidate information taught by each discipline in the college into a course of study that crosses disciplines and introduces first-year students to a graduate-level overview of the biomedical sciences.

The resolve to begin planning the core curriculum comes in the wake of visits by curriculum consultants Roger Chalkley, D.Phil., of Vanderbilt and Rod Ulane, Ph.D., of Dallas Southwestern.

“Science is no longer purely discipline-based, so neither should our curriculum,” Halushka said. “Biomedical research requires the disciplines of a broad spectrum of scientists.” He explained that a core curriculum would give incoming students a full year to target their interests, assess the college's faculty members individually and choose which labs would give them the best research training in order for them to achieve their career goals. “They’d have access to the entire college.”

It's that access that has made the college’s most interdisciplinary program currently offered, the MCBP (Molecular Cellular Biology and Pathology) program, so popular, Halushka said. That sentiment was borne out by first-year MCBP student, Ricky Peterson, who said, “Why shouldn’t I choose the most general curriculum offered? If I can delay choosing my discipline, I can increase my career options.”

Also, a core curriculum would give College of Graduate Studies faculty a chance to recruit from all the students in the entire first-year class. “That’s a much higher quality applicant pool,” Halushka said, drawing a contrast to the present system which selects from the limited number of college applicants showing interest in individual disciplines.

Add to that the competitive advantage a larger high-quality student pool enjoys when applying for NIH Training Grants and you've got all the reasons Halushka and the college's First-Year Curriculum Committee need to commit to a core curriculum roll-out in the fall.

“It's great! I couldn't be happier,” Halushka said, describing the committee’s membership and leadership. Clearing the administrative landscape for the committee will be the college's associate dean George Linden-mayer, Ph.D., Edward Krug, Ph.D., and Adam Smolka, Ph.D., will have the freedom they need to focus the entire committee's attention on curriculum content.

When it all comes together in the fall 2001 academic year, Halushka expects a huge boost for the college. “I want this to promote our strengths and give maximum flexibility to the student. We've looked at other graduate schools and this is a feature of the best of them.”