Veterinary Biomedical Science (M.S.)

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The Masters of Veterinary Biomedical Science Degree is a College of Veterinary Medicine-based program leading to an MS degree. Graduate study may be inter-disciplinary or focused in one of the three participating disciplines: Anatomy & Physiology; Clinical Sciences; Pathobiology. Each student’s program will be designed by his/her supervisory committee to support the student’s thesis project, educational and career goals.

Admission

To be admitted with full standing, the applicant must have either an average of B or better in the junior and senior undergraduate years or a veterinary medical degree from an approved institution. Adequate undergraduate preparation in the proposed field is essential. Applicants must complete a minimum of 30 hours of credit, which includes 6 to 12 hours of research credit. A student who has less than a B average, based on individual merit, may be admitted on probationary status. Full standing is attained automatically upon completion of at least 9 hours of course work for graduate credit with grade of B or better and upon the removal of any deficiency which was specified at the time of admission. International students must have a health certificate, demonstrated evidence of financial support if not support by a departmental assistantship and acceptable scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL).

Students applying to the disciplines of Anatomy and Physiology and Pathobiology are encouraged to have completed undergraduate coursework in areas such as animal science, microbiology, biology, biochemistry/pharmacology, genetics and food science with training in biology and biochemistry being especially important.

Students admitted to the discipline of Clinical Sciences have typically completed a doctor of veterinary medicine degree or its equivalent. Applicants currently enrolled in the professional veterinary curriculum or those holding a baccalaureate degree will be considered on an individual basis.

Application for Admission

Applications are considered on a regular basis either as positions become available in research programs within each department or early in the calendar year for admission for the fall semester. Teaching and research assistantships are awarded on the basis of merit and availability, using the same criteria used for admission decisions. All students offered admission are considered for financial support.

Application information is available either from the Graduate School, Office of Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs, College of Veterinary Medicine or the CCVM graduate program heads. Applications should be made by February 1st for admission to the program in a fall semester.

Master’s degree requirements

Requirements for graduate admission, credit requirements and continued enrollment in the Master’s degree programs in the College of Veterinary Medicine are in accordance with those of the Graduate School at Kansas State University. The GRE is required for all three disciplines. A minimum of 30 semester hours of credit including 6 to 12 semester hours of thesis research credit are required. Additional requirements: Anatomy & Physiology requires 2 Seminar presentations (AP803); Clinical Sciences requires 1-2 Seminar presentations (CD 859); Pathobiology requires 2 Seminar presentations (DMP 870). Applicants with a bachelor’s degree who are concurrently pursuing a DVM degree may apply 12 hours from relevant courses towards both the Master’s and DVM degrees. Only two 500-level courses (6 hours total) may be used for an M.S. degree. A significant majority of course work (at least 60 per cent) should be at the 700 level or higher. Only 3 hours of problems or individualized study may apply toward the M.S. degree. Successful completion of a final oral or comprehensive written examination, or both, is required of all master’s degree candidates. The final examination is administered by the supervisory committee and may include defense of the thesis and/or a testing of the student’s understanding of the field of study.

Subject to the approval of the graduate discipline, the candidate may choose one of the following program options: (1) a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate credit including a master’s thesis of 6 to 12 semester hours; (2) a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate credit including a written report of 2 semester hours either of research or of problem work on a topic in the major field; or (3) a minimum of 30 semester hours of graduate credit in course work only, but including evidence of scholarly effort such as term papers or production of creative work, as determined by the student’s supervisory committee. Decisions on each option will be made by the student’s supervisory committee in consultation and approval by the student’s advisor.

A graduate student may be denied continued enrollment in the university in case of: i) failure to satisfy conditions necessary for removal of probationary status, ii) accumulation of 6 or more semester hours of work with grades less than B, or grade point average less than 3.0, iii) demonstrable lack of diligence in meeting published degree requirements, iv) failure to acquire mastery of the methodology and content of one’s field sufficient to complete a successful thesis.

Before the end of the second semester of graduate study, the student must file with the Graduate School a “program of study” that serves as a planning document. The student’s program of study is prepared with the assistance of a supervisory committee consisting of the major advisor and two other graduate faculty members. The program is subject to the approval of the dean of the Graduate School upon recommendation of the student’s supervisory committee and the Director of Graduate Studies. The program may be modified on further recommendation of the supervisory committee and the approval of the graduate dean.

Successful completion of a final oral examination or comprehensive written examination, or both, shall be required of all master’s degree candidates, the specific form being determined by individual programs. The final examination is administered by the student’s supervisory committee and may include a defense of the thesis or report, an interpretation of other scholarly products, or a testing of the student’s understanding of the field(s) of study. The option for the final examination must be approved by the student’s supervisory committee and his/her major professor.

If a student’s program of study includes any course credits more than six years old at the time the student is about to complete all degree requirements, the final master’s examination will normally include an examination over the body of course work listed on the program of study. The form and content of this competency examination is determined by each master’s program, which may impose additional requirements for revalidating the student’s competency in the supporting course work. Exceptions to this policy may be sought from the Dean of the Graduate School in a master’s program for which such a revalidation examination may be inappropriate.

All theses, reports and dissertations will be submitted electronically. Guidelines and templates for electronic submission are available on the Graduate School website at www.k-state.edu/grad/etdr/index.htm. An ETDR submission fee of $100 will be added to the student’s university account. This fee replaces the previous binding fee and printing costs. If the student wants personal bound copies of the thesis, the process for that can be found at http://www.k-state.edu/grad/etdr/bound.htm.