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The Department of Toxicology offers a Bachelor of Science degree, as well as the Ph.D. degree and two M.S. options (thesis or non-thesis). Students typically receive graduate assistantships upon admission, generally at the beginning of the Fall or Spring semesters. The Ph.D. and the thesis-option M.S. require the student to engage in basic or applied toxicology research resulting in the production of an original manuscript in the form of a dissertatioin or thesis, respectively. The research project is conducted in the laboratory of the student's major professor. The non-thesis option M.S. requires the student to engage in a limited research project resulting in the production of a paper. Department of Toxicology graduates have generally hand an outstanding history of obtaining high-profile postdoctoral positions, academic, industrial and/or government employment.

Bachelor of Science Curriculum Requirements

Toxicology Graduate Students

Prerequisites
General Toxicology Toxicology 411 and 412 or equivelant
Organic Chemistry Chemistry 303, 305 and Chemistry 304, 306 or equivalents
Biochemistry Pharmacy 407 or equivalent
Statistics Math 116 or equivalent

Core Courses
Pharmacy 550 Biochemical Toxicology
Pharmacy 581 Advanced Toxicology
Pharmacy 582 Advanced Toxicology Lab
Pharmacy 552 Seminar
Pharmacy 559 Thesis

Additional Requirements for Ph.D. Students
Math 521 Statistics
Pharmacy 590 Methods and Principles of Toxicology
Pharmacy 699 Dissertation

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Other classes will be decided between the student, the major professor and the advisory committee. The student will select a major advisor (if not admitted specifically to a faculty member's program) and, no later than the second semester of enrollment, select an advisory committee. For the Ph.D. student, the committee will consist of a minimum of 4 members (including the major professor), at least 3 of which must be from the Department of Toxicology. For the M.S. student, the committee will consist of a minimum of 3 members (including the major professor), at least 2 of which is from the Department of Toxicology.

A comprehensive written examination will be administered after the student has completed approximately 80% of his/her coursework. For the majority of candidates, this turns out to be approximately two years after they have been in the toxicology graduate program. The examination is divided into two sections: Core and Advanced.

The Core examination is administered during the first day of the Comprehensive Examination to all graduate degree candidates (M.S. and Ph.D.) This is the only Comprehensive Examination required of the M.S. degree candidates. In general, the Core examination is intended to test competency in graduate educational enrichment offered through various formal courses. Factual and conceptual areas of competency are tested in this examination.

The Advanced examination is administered to the doctoral (Ph.D.) candidates during the second day of the two-day Comprehensive Examination. In this section, in addition to testing the candidate's competency in the conceptual areas of learning enrichment, the candidates are tested for their competency in synthetic, analytical, data interpretation and critical conceptualization skills as future researchers.

Graduate School Hour Requirements

Ph.D.
M.S. (Thesis)
M.S. (Non-Thesis)
500 level hours
24
16
24
400 level + 500 level structured hours
30
27
33
Total Hours (structured and non-structured) Determined by Advisory Committee Determined by Advisory Committee
36

For further information regarding the Toxicology program at ULM, please contact:

Dr. Kevin Baer
Department Head, Toxicology Program
700 University Ave.
Monroe, LA 71209
Phone: 318-342-1698
Fax: 318-342-1606
Email: baer@ulm.edu

For information regarding Graduate Studies within the College of Pharmacy, including Toxicology, please contact:

Dr. Paul W. Sylvester
Pfizer Endowed Professor of Pharmacology
College of Pharmacy
The University of Louisiana at Monroe
700 University Ave.
Monroe, LA 71209
Telephone: 318-342-1958
Fax: 318-342-1737
Email: sylvester@ulm.edu