CTS PhD Program
The CTS PhD program is designed to prepare students for careers that involve significant research in academic medicine, industry or government. This program is an in-person program with hybrid accommodations for students based at geographically distant Tufts CTSI partners.
Entry Portals to the PhD Program
There are three common entry portals to the PhD Program.
- Individuals in the MS Program who have successfully completed course work, a qualifying exam and prepared an approved thesis proposal may be approved to enter the PhD Program. This is the most commonly used entry portal.
- Individuals who have a professional doctoral degree and an MS in Clinical Research or an equivalent degree may apply directly to the PhD program.
- MD/PhD students are eligible to complete the PhD portion of their training in the CTS PhD program.
Areas of Study
Trainees in the PhD program may select from three areas of concentration: Clinical Discovery and Investigation, Clinical Effectiveness Research, and Practice to Policy Research. Other areas of strength are training in predictive modeling, epidemiology, biostatistics, decision analysis, and cost effectiveness studies. The diverse faculty exposes students in depth to each of these areas and allows them to pursue doctoral research that matches their clinical interests.
Descriptions of the requirements and courses for this program can be found in the GSBS catalog.
Students in the PhD program complete a PhD thesis under the guidance of a mentoring team and thesis committee and have an oral thesis defense with their committee and an outside examiner.