Students complete both the MD and PhD degrees while participating in a range of MSTP-specific programs that support scientific development, clinical continuity, leadership, mentorship, and physician-scientist career planning. Through intentional integration of medical and graduate education, students develop the skills needed to bridge scientific discovery and clinical practice throughout their careers.

Program Structure

The MSTP curriculum spans approximately eight years and integrates medical education, doctoral research, and physician-scientist professional development. Students complete the full MD curriculum, earn a PhD through the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and participate in a variety of longitudinal MSTP programs designed to support their growth as scientists, clinicians, educators, and leaders.

The program is highly individualized, allowing students to tailor their training through a choice of multidisciplinary training areas (MTAs), research mentors, graduate coursework, and scholarly opportunities.

Signature MSTP Experiences

MSTP TREK Academy

Students begin their physician-scientist journey with the MSTP TREK Academy, an immersive summer experience that takes place before the start of medical school. TREK introduces students to the physician-scientist career pathway while providing structured training in leadership, resilience, mentorship, professional identity formation, and research readiness.

Through faculty interactions, career exploration activities, mentoring workshops, and development of an Individual Development Plan (IDP), students establish a strong foundation for success in both medical and scientific training while building relationships with faculty mentors and fellow MSTP trainees.

Finding the Right Research Home

Selecting a dissertation mentor is one of the most important decisions in MD-PhD training. Beginning in the first year of medical school, students explore research opportunities across Mount Sinai's scientific community through faculty meetings, individualized advising, and laboratory rotations.

Students complete dedicated laboratory rotations during the pre-PhD phase, including summer research experiences between the first and second years of medical school. These experiences allow students to evaluate scientific interests, mentorship styles, laboratory culture, and research opportunities before selecting a dissertation laboratory.

Laboratory rotations are supported through MSTP Horizons, a longitudinal advising framework that helps students identify research interests, reflect on rotation experiences, and make informed mentor selections. By the start of the PhD phase, students have selected a dissertation advisor and multidisciplinary training area aligned with their scientific interests and long-term career goals.

MSTP Horizons

MSTP Horizons is a longitudinal physician-scientist career development program that spans medical school, graduate training, and clinical re-entry. Through workshops, small-group discussions, and individualized advising, students receive guidance on topics including scientific communication, grant funding, career pathways, residency planning, networking, mentorship, and leadership development.

Horizons reinforces physician-scientist career development as a continuous process throughout training and helps students navigate key transitions across the dual-degree pathway.

Curriculum Timeline

Pre-Clerkship Phase (MD Phase 1)

Students begin training in the Pre-Clerkship Phase of the MD curriculum, where they develop foundational knowledge in biomedical science, clinical reasoning, and patient care. Through the Practice of Medicine curriculum and early clinical experiences, students begin building the clinical skills and professional competencies that will serve as the foundation for their future careers.

In parallel with the medical curriculum, students complete Biomedical Sciences for MD-PhD Students, a graduate-level course sequence that fulfills core PhD requirements while emphasizing experimental design, critical analysis of scientific literature, rigor and reproducibility, and translational science.

Students then prepare for and complete the USMLE Step 1 examination before transitioning to the PhD phase.

Clerkship Phase (MD Phase 2)

Unlike many traditional MD-PhD programs, Mount Sinai students complete core clinical clerkships before entering full-time graduate research training. Following the pre-clerkship curriculum, students complete three core clerkship blocks, providing meaningful clinical immersion and helping them develop clinical perspectives that inform their future research careers.

PhD Phase

Following completion of the initial clinical curriculum and Step 1, students transition to full-time doctoral research. Students pursue advanced graduate coursework, complete discipline-specific scholarly activities within their MTA, and conduct independent dissertation research under the guidance of their dissertation advisor and Thesis Advisory Committee.

Research training emphasizes scientific rigor, experimental design, quantitative reasoning, communication skills, and independent investigation. Students participate in journal clubs, seminar series, works-in-progress sessions, grant-writing experiences, and national scientific meetings while developing expertise within their chosen field.

Throughout the PhD Phase, students remain engaged in the physician-scientist community through Medical Scientist Grand Rounds, the Annual MSTP Retreat, MSTP Horizons, and a variety of optional clinical and professional development activities. Opportunities such as MSTP Bedside Rounds, Meet the Physician-Scientist, the EHHOP Physician-Scientist Track, and the Mount Sinai Academy of Physician-Scientists (MAPS) help students maintain clinical engagement, expand professional networks, and explore diverse physician-scientist career paths.

Return to Clinical Training (MD Phase 2 and 3)

Near defense of the PhD dissertation, students participate in a dedicated MD-PhD Clinical Refresher Course designed to support the transition back to clinical training. This structured program reinforces clinical skills, diagnostic reasoning, and patient care competencies prior to clerkship re-entry.

Students then return to the MD curriculum to complete their remaining clerkships, followed by advanced clinical training, acting internships, Integration and Transitions experiences, and residency preparation. During this phase, students refine their clinical interests, pursue advanced electives, and explore residency pathways that support physician-scientist careers.

This integrated curriculum allows students to maintain continuity between scientific discovery and clinical medicine while developing the knowledge, skills, and professional identity needed to become leaders in academic medicine, biomedical research, and translational science.