Anatomical Science Education PhD Program

2023-2024 Anatomical Sciences Education Student Handbook

Meet the Graduate Students

Scholarly Activities

Overview

The PhD program in human Anatomical Sciences Education is a dissertation-based doctoral program designed to train individuals to become fully qualified educators in all of the anatomical disciplines and conduct educational scholarly research for promotion and tenure. It offers a broad range of courses related to medical human gross and microscopic anatomy, anatomical imaging, cell biology, combined with higher education. This program will cover anatomical knowledge, pedagogical expertise, and assessment skills critical for training students for a career in teaching anatomy at the university level and in conducting scholarship in medical education. Students will be mentored to perform and document medical educational research culminating in a dissertation that will be defended in front of a PhD committee composed of faculty from the Colleges of Medicine and Education. The courses offered jointly by the College of Medicine and the College of Education will prepare individuals for competitive positions at higher education colleges and universities. Rather than conducting biomedical bench-based research, individuals in this program will conduct scholarly research in medical education directed by faculty in the Colleges of Medicine and Education.

This PhD program in Anatomical Sciences Education is a unique program in Florida and the Southeast. The design of the curriculum for the doctoral program includes required courses in all of the anatomical disciplines: gross anatomy, embryology, histology, and neuroanatomy. In addition, students will be expected to complete other biomedical courses such as cell biology, in order to give students a solid foundational knowledge that helps them understand and teach anatomy, embryology, and histology. This is particularly important because medical schools are moving their curricula to be more integrated and expect faculty to combine material from, say, anatomy and physiology or histology and biochemistry. PhD candidates will take educational research courses as well as courses focusing on curriculum development and teaching adult learners in the College of Education.

Doctoral students in our program may take classes with other professional students and later in the curriculum could serve as teaching assistants in anatomy and histology courses to pre-professional and professional students. For their dissertation work, students will be able to pursue a broad array of medical education research topics. This will yield a more versatile educational researcher, thereby, giving our students credibility to the broader community of medical education researchers and opening up more avenues for publishing and presenting their work.

Admission Requirements

Applicants must meet the minimum requirements for the University of Florida Graduate School: Junior/Senior GPA > 3.0. The student will submit a minimum of three letters of reference, a statement of purpose, and a resume, which the admissions committee will use to assess the student’s qualifications for admission to the program. International students must comply with current UF standards for admission to the Graduate School, including requirements for English language competency and financial responsibility.

Graduation Requirements

The student will complete a total of 90+ credit hours for graduation. The degree program will require completion of a dissertation under the direction of the student’s supervisory committee and a qualifying and final examination by the supervisory committee. The student will complete written and verbal qualifying examinations and will present and defend a research proposal before the graduate supervisory committee prior to initiating research for the doctoral dissertation. The graduate supervisory committee will assess the written dissertation and will examine the student’s overall comprehension and knowledge in a final defense of the dissertation.

Note: The pre-requisites for the PhD program will be the same regardless of whether a student completed an online Master’s or has a Bachelor’s degree. Applicants to the doctorate program must have completed a Bachelor’s degree from a nationally accredited institution, or equivalent. This advanced program requires a strong foundation of science courses in Biology, Anatomy & Physiology, Chemistry, and/or Physics.

In the case a PhD student requests early graduation with a master’s degree, the student must be in good academic standing within the PhD program. The Master’s supervisory committee will be composed of the same members who served on the student’s previous PhD supervisory committee. Procedurally, applications to the Master’s program should contain a letter from the student requesting a change of degree program and a letter of recommendation from the student’s PhD mentor stating that previous work conducted while in the PhD program is sufficient to meet all the requirements for the Master’s Program and that all that remains is writing a Master’s thesis and successfully defending it before the supervisory committee.

Curriculum

Proposed Plan of Study

Course Details

Science Courses

• GMS 5604: Medical Human Embryology (3 credits)
  This course provides the basis for the development of the organs of human body.
• GMS 5605: Medical Anatomy (3 credits)
  This course uses regional and system-based approaches to teach the organization of the anatomy of the human body.
• GMS 5606L: Medical Anatomy Lab (3 credits)
  This laboratory course uses images of human dissections to study the anatomy of the human body.
• GMS 5613: Medical Human Anatomy by Diagnostic Imaging (3 credits)
  This course is a systematic approach to visualizing by ultrasound, X-ray, MRI, and CAT the organization of the major structures within the human body.
• GMS 5630: Medical Histology (3 credits)
  This course is designed to cover the histology of tissues and organs through lectures and chat sessions.
• GMS 5057: Medical Cell Biology (3 credits)
  Focus on the basics of cellular structure and function in the context of human health and disease.
• GMS 6421: Cell Biology (4 credits)
  This course will examine the -most recent advances in cell biology by lecture and small group discussions of current publications from high impact cell biology journals.
• GMS 6691: Special Topics in Cell Biology and Anatomy (3 credits)
  This onsite course will examine the deficiencies and abnormalities of the cell that occur in various diseased conditions.
• GMS 6440: Fundamentals of Medical Physiology (1 credit)
  This course teaches the basic functions of the human body at a level required for clinical medicine and basic research in medical physiology.
• GMS 6401: Medical Renal Physiology (2 credits)
  This course teaches the functions of the renal system of the human body at a level required for clinical medicine and basic research in medical physiology.
• GMS 6474: Medical Cardiovascular and Muscle Physiology (3 credits)
  This course teaches the functions and regulation of the muscle and the cardiovascular system.
• GMS 6402: Medical Respiration Physiology (3 credits)
  This course teaches the functions of the pulmonary system of the human body, including the uptake, transport and utilization of oxygen and other blood gases.
• GMS 6419: Medical Endocrinology and Reproduction (3 credits)
  This course teaches the functions of the endocrine and reproductive systems of the human body.
• GMS 6479: Medical Gastrointestinal Physiology (2 credits)
  This course teaches the functions of the digestive system of human body.
• GMS 6607C: Essential Human Anatomy (4 credits)
  This course is taken onsite and includes laboratory dissections to explore the anatomical features of the human body. It is considered a capstone course that “rounds off” the program, allowing students to integrate their various experiences and meet all the anatomical and educational expectations from the program. 
• GMS 6610: Anatomy of the Peripheral Nervous System (3 credits)
  The normal anatomy of spinal nerves and cranial nerves are studied as well as the results of lesions of these nerves.
• GMS 6690: Molecular Cell Biology Journal club (1 credit)
  The students will read and present to the_ class findings of recent articles in medical education.
• GMS 6940: Supervised Teaching (3 credits)
  This onsite course is currently being designed for the PhD program. The student will assist in the all aspects of instruction and assessment in Gross Anatomy, Histology, or Cell Biology.
• GMS 7979: Advanced Research (1-6 credits)
  This course of independent research will be taken prior to the doctoral qualifying exam. The student will have picked a mentor and a committee to guide this research.
• GMS 7980: Research for Doctoral Dissertation (3-9 credits)
  Upon completion of the qualifying doctoral exam, the student will continue their mentored doctoral research project under this course.

Education & Research Courses

• SCE 5140: Science Curriculum Development (3 credits)
  Al1ows teachers to explore science curriculum development from theoretical and practical perspectives. Focuses on research-based science curriculum and the research and science-specific pedagogical themes underlying their development.
• SCE 5765: Data-Driven Science Instruction (3 credits)
  Focusing on assessment of science instruction and learning. The course will include the study of research-based approaches to assessment, learning, and teaching.
• EME 5207: Designing Technology-Rich Curricula (3 credits)
  Extensive work in curriculum development utilizing instructional technologies. Contrasting views of curriculum development.
• EME 5405: Internet in K-12 Instruction (3 credits)
  Preparing preservice teachers, in-service teachers, and teacher educators to use the Internet.
• EDG 6305: Multiple Perspectives on Teaching and Learning (3 credits)
  Graduate seminar designed to provide a survey of major theoretical perspectives on learning and instruction, including classical and contemporary theories as well as emerging views.
• EME 6065: Human-Computer Interaction and the Learner (3 credits)
  Students will explore the interface between pedagogy, educational technology, cognitive science, graphic design, and software engineering, and define effective human-computer interaction.
• EME 6458: Distance Teaching and Learning (3 credits)
  This course explores forms of synchronous and synchronous interactive distance education from perspectives of theory and practice.
• EME 6609: Instructional Design (3 credits)
  Focuses on the application of instructional design principles to the development of instruction.
• EDG 6931: Special Topics: “Teaching Adults” (3 credits)
  The purpose of the course is to explore theory and practice related to teaching adult learners
• EDF 6520: History of Education (3 credits)
  Salient issues in education from the Reformation to the present.
• EDF 6544: Philosophical Foundations of Education (3 credits)
  Philosophical bases for democracy and education.
• EDG 6017: Writing for Academic Purposes (3 credits)
  This seminar is designed to enhance the capacity of advanced graduate students from all academic disciplines to write for academic purposes. It guides students through key rhetorical moves in academic writing — working with what “they say”, presenting what “I say”, creating discursive flow, and editing/revising.
• EDG 6931: Special Topics: Survey of Research Methods in STEM Education (3 credits)
  Focusing on mixed method and design-based research, this advanced course is intended to develop an understanding of the foci and research methods used in STEM education.
• EDG 7252: Perspectives in Curriculum, Teaching, and Teacher Education (3 credits)
  This course involves a collaborative exploration of enduring issues related to curriculum and its impact on teaching and learning in classrooms at all levels.
• EDF 6402: Quantitative Foundations in Educational Research: Inferential Statistics (3 credits)
  Analysis of variance: One-way ANOVA, two-way ANOVA, ANOVA, repeated measures, and split plot.
• EDF 6403: Quantitative Foundations of Educational Research (6 credits)
  Integrated coverage of fundamentals in the general field of education research. Includes statistics, experimental design, and data processing.
• EDF 6471: Survey Design and Analysis in Educational Research (3 credits)
  Development and analysis techniques for surveys and questionnaires. Techniques of protocol development, data collection, analysis, and reporting.
• EDF 7412: Structural Equation Models (3 credits)
  Confirmatory factor analysis and causal models.
• EDF 7474: Multilevel Models (3 credits)
  Models and methods for analysis of multilevel data.
• EDF 7932: Multivariate Analysis in Educational Research (3 credits)
  Review of selected studies, focusing on methods of data analysis. Emphasis on using multivariate techniques.
• EDF 6475: Qualitative Foundations of Educational Research (4 credits)
  Introduction to philosophical, historical, sociological, and other methodologies as aspects of qualitative educational research.
• EDF 7479: Qualitative Data Analysis: Approaches and Techniques (3 credits)
  Theories, approaches, and techniques of qualitative data analysis.
• EDF 7483: Qualitative Data Collection: Approaches and Techniques (3 credits)
  This course on qualitative data collection addresses both theoretical and practical dimensions of conducting qualitative research.
• EDF 7486: Methods of Educational Research (3 credits)
  Examination of research methodologies. Problem identification as well as organization and presentation of data.
• EME 6059: Blended Learning Environments (3 credits)
  Exploring blended learning from perspectives of theory and practice. The course is designed for educators and instructional designers in K-12, higher education, corporate environments, and other professional settings.

Financial Support

PhD students will be supported  Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology (ACB) and College of Medicine.

Supervisory Committee

Committee Meeting Form

Program Contact:

Kyle E. Rarey, Ph.D
Anatomical Sciences Education PhD Program Director
(352) 273-5753
rarey@ufl.edu

Mark Zakshvesky
Academic Program Specialist III
(352) 273-8471
zmz30@ufl.edu

We are not accepting applications for Fall 2024.