The rockefeller university

The mission of the Tri-Institutional M.D.- Ph.D. Program is to educate and train physician- scientists, who are able to bridge the gap between laboratory research and clinical medicine and thereby contribute toward improving health and enhancing the quality of life by reducing disability and death from disease. Rockefeller participates in the program jointly with its two neighbors: Weill Medical College and the Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University, and the Sloan-Kettering Institute at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Between 12 and 14 students enroll in this highly competitive program every year, and at any one time 25 or so are performing thesis research in Rockefeller University laboratories. Students spend their first two years in medical school, while also completing three research rotations. Following the completion of graduate studies and thesis research at either The Rockefeller University, the Gerstner Sloan-Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences or Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, students receive their Ph.D. degrees and then reenter medical school to complete clinical rotations and receive their M.D. degrees.

With more than 25 years of continuous funding through the Medical Scientist Training Program of the National Institutes of Health and significant institutional and foundation support, the Tri-Institutional M.D.-Ph.D. Program offers full tuition and stipends. Graduates typically go on to pursue clinical and advanced research training, and many alumni of the program occupy research, clinical and administrative positions at the nation’s top medical schools and academic medical centers.

Students who are also interested in the Ph.D. program of the Rockefeller University, as an alternative to the Tri-Institutional M.D.-Ph.D. program, must complete a separate application to that program.