Master of Science

Students must complete the following non-course requirements to confer their degree:

• Research Proposal: A written research proposal for committee review. Students must orally present their proposed research to their research committee for approval.

• Thesis Defense: Students must defend their thesis with an oral presentation and closed-door questioning from their research committee.

• Thesis Publication: Students must publish their thesis to confer their MS degree.

Berg Scholars must complete all Stanford University requirements for the Master of Science (MS) in Medicine in Biomedical Investigation while pursuing their MD. Students must adhere to the university’s residency requirements opens in a new tab. Units may not be duplicated or double-counted toward the residency requirement for both degrees. Students must complete the master’s degree requirements within three years of the first graduate quarter of the MS.

Course Requirements

To graduate, students must complete 280 minimum units (combined MS and MD). These units are broken down as follows:

• 45 unduplicated units taken in specific courses for the MS degree

  • 33 units in research

  •  12 units of coursework (3 one-unit required courses, plus 9 units of elective courses)

• 235 units in pre-clinical and clinical clerkships for the MD degree

Only courses 100-level or above can be counted toward the degree. A minimum of 23 units must be at the 200-level or above. All courses toward the 45-unit requirement must receive a passing grade.

Complete 33 research units from the SoM department in the student’s field of study. Such courses are typically numbered 399.