The Combined MD/MS Journey Program Flow
The Combined MD/MS Journey Program Flow
University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry · Department of Health Humanities & Bioethics
One Path, Two Degrees
The Combined MD / MS in Health Humanities and Bioethics
A 4+0 course plan. Students earn the MS in Health Humanities and Bioethics inside the standard four years of medical school. Graduate coursework is woven into evenings, summers, and asynchronous windows, so the master's adds depth without adding time to the MD.
4+0
MD and MS in four years, no added time
30
MS credits across ten components
9
Credits carried from the MD program
2
Degrees conferred together at graduation
How to read this map
MD curriculum, in sequence Graduate MHB coursework Semester marker (when it happens) Longitudinal HHBe enrichment Degree milestone
Runs all four years
HHBe Pathway Program (required as part of the combined degree) · MD Required HHBe Content & Selectives. These thread continuously through every semester below and count toward the MS, supplying nine of the thirty credits carried directly from the MD program.
The four-year journey, semester by semester
Year 1Phase 1 · Pre-clerkship
MD curriculum
- Orientation
- Human Structure & Function (HSF)
- Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM)
- Medical Evidence & Inquiry (MEI)
FallAug – Dec
Graduate MHB coursework
↓Aug – Nov: HSF underway. MHB 412 begins only after HSF is complete.
MHB 4123 cr
Introduction to the Health Humanities
An introduction to the field of health humanities, drawing on the arts, humanities, philosophy, and social sciences to enrich our understanding of health, illness, and healthcare. Students engage major theoretical models, including the biopsychosocial framework, and analyze narrative, visual, and media representations of medicine.
Begins late November (after HSF) and runs asynchronously through the end of the spring semester, with four evening meetings.
- Molecules to Cells (MTC)
- Foundations of Biopsychosocial Practice (FBP)
- HHBe Selective (4 wks) + Pathway Seminar (6 wks)
- Pharmacology · Host Defense
- Phase 1 Assessment
SpringJan – May
MHB 412cont'd
Introduction to the Health Humanities (continues)
The asynchronous course continues through Phase 1, concluding at the end of the spring semester with its final evening meeting. No new graduate seminar this term.
- Summer break / scholarly & research time
SummerJun – Jul
MHB 4303 cr
Art and Medicine
Explores how art and visual culture have shaped knowledge, communication, and cultural representations of medicine, health, and the body, bringing visual culture studies and art history into conversation with the history of medicine.
Graduate Seminar I · intensive summer term.
MHB 4723 cr
Philosophical Foundations of Bioethics
Introduces the foundational principles of clinical bioethics — patient autonomy, patient benefit, and justice — and, through close study of philosophical texts, builds skill in constructing and critiquing ethical arguments.
Graduate Seminar II · intensive summer term.
Year 2Phase 2 → Phase 3 begins
MD curriculum
- Mind / Brain / Behavior (MBB)
- Primary Care Clerkship begins
- HHBe Selective (4 wks) + Pathway Seminar (6 wks)
- DPT 1: Cardiopulmonary–Renal
- DPT 2
FallAug – Dec
Graduate MHB coursework
MHB 4203 cr
Stories in Healthcare
Examines how stories and storytelling structure medical experience, practice, and knowledge. Students analyze the form and context of illness narratives to become more attentive interpreters of patients and the stories they tell.
Graduate Seminar III · evenings, once weekly across 14 weeks.
- Disease Processes & Therapeutics 2 · Disorders of Childhood
- Women's Health
- Phase 2 Assessment
- Transition to Licensure — USMLE Step 1 prep
SpringJan – May
MHB 4213 cr
History of Modern Medicine, 18th Century to Present
A 10-week evening seminar on the history of modern medicine since the eighteenth century and its role in unequal health outcomes.
↑MHB 421 ends here. Mar – May: dedicated USMLE Step 1 prep (no MHB coursework).
- Phase 3 begins — Surgery Clerkship (6 wks)
- Electives
SummerJun – Jul
No new graduate seminar this term.
Year 3Phase 3 · Core clerkships
MD curriculum
- Medicine Clerkship (8 wks)
- SSFM: Principles of ICU Science & Ethics (POISE)
- OB/GYN Clerkship (5 wks)
- Pediatrics Clerkship (5 wks)
FallAug – Dec
Graduate MHB coursework
Clinical immersion year. No new graduate seminars in Phase 3.
- Electives
- SSFM: Genes, Ecology & Culture (GEC)
- Neurology Clerkship (4 wks)
- Psychiatry Clerkship (4 wks)
- SSFM: Mind, Brain & Behavior II
- Phase 3 Assessment
SpringJan – May
- Phase 4 begins — Emergency Medicine (4 wks)
- Family Medicine (4 wks) · Acting Internship
- Electives
SummerJun – Jul
Year 4Phase 4 · Individualization
MD curriculum
- Advanced Electives
- Critical Care Selective (2 wks)
FallAug – Dec
Graduate MHB coursework
MHB 4973 cr
Capstone Practicum & Capstone Project
The culminating experience of the program: an independent scholarly or creative project advised by department faculty, concluding with a departmental presentation to peers and faculty.
Begins in Phase 4; advising meetings arranged individually.
Choose one3 cr
Directed Readings · Two-Week Intensive · Clinical Ethics Elective (MHU 602)
One capstone-adjacent elective that synthesizes learning across the combined degree.
- Improving Health Systems (IHS, 3 wks)
- Surgical Subspecialty (2 wks)
- Successful Interning (2 wks)
- Residency Match
- MD conferred (May)
SpringJan – May
Capstone Project completes with a departmental presentation. MS conferred with the MD in May.
MS conferred with the MD
Both degrees are awarded together at graduation, in May of Year 4.
Credits at a glance
30
Total MS credits (ten 3-credit components)
21
Graduate MHB credits (discounted 50%)
9
Credits carried from the MD program
Derived from Appendix 1 (Comparative Degree Completion Timeline) and the Summary Course Plan in the MD/MS in Health Humanities and Bioethics Proposal, R10 (August 2026); course descriptions condensed from the HHBe Educational Programs Overview. MD blocks follow the URSMD Double Helix Curriculum. Colors follow the University of Rochester brand palette. Semester placement and course timing reflect the proposal as drafted and remain subject to scheduling confirmation.