Curriculum

Selection into the program secures admission into the College of Medicine at the University of Florida, contingent upon satisfactory completion of the junior year (third year) curriculum. Each student’s progress is reviewed at the end of the junior year to assure that the student has complied with the academic and research requirements, and maintained the high standards expected of a student participating in this accelerated honors program.

The curriculum for the JHMP year (third year of undergraduate training) is as follows:

Academics

By the end of their junior year, participants in the JHMP must have fulfilled the following academic requirements:

  • JHMP students take three required seminars taught by College of Medicine faculty. These required seminars are in Cell Biology
    (MEL 4003 Cell Biology), Pharmacology (MEL 4002 Pharmacology), and Translational Neuroscience (MEL 4001 Translational Neuroscience). These courses provide extensive faculty contact and a solid background in biochemistry and other areas of preclinical science. Emphasis is placed on student participation in a relatively non-structured and informal format.
  • In addition to the above seminars, students continue to register for course work within the College of Liberal Arts and Science or the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to meet course requirements for graduation. This may include General Education requirements in English, a Foreign Language, and Social Sciences and Humanities.
  • Physics 1 and 2*
  • Biochemistry (BCH 4024 or equivalent)*

*  Note that one or more of these classes may have been completed prior to the JHMP year.

JHMP students may choose to take the following elective classes during their junior year.

Research

The program also requires that students perform an individual honors thesis research project during the JHMP year.  The research, which is normally performed within the Health Science Center complex (Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, etc.), may be basic sciences, clinical sciences, translational medicine, health policy research, or a community medicine project. Students may also choose to continue an established research project from a different discipline, such as chemistry or biology. JHMP students may perform research in an area of their choosing, but their project and mentor must undergo prior approval by the JHMP Director.

There is no designated list of JHMP research mentors.  Students can use the following research databases/search engines to find a mentor. The first 3 are databases associated with the UF Honors program and 2 other programs (USP & HHMI-Science for Life) that award small scholarships for research.  The 4th is the search engine for the College of Medicine PhD program.  Not that you will be doing a PhD at this point, but this site has a great faculty/research search function, including a keyword search. We suggest that you utilize these resources to come up with a list of potential mentors.  You can also find more information about potential mentors and their research by visiting their Department web page (http://www.ufl.edu/websites/).

1.  UF Honors web site

http://www.honors.ufl.edu/Research.aspx

2.  University Scholars Program

http://universityscholars.sites.medinfo.ufl.edu/com-participating-faculty/

3.  HHMI Science for Life Program

http://sfl.aa.ufl.edu/idh3931/mentorlist/index.php

4.  College of Medicine PhD program (IDP)

http://216.155.98.52/HostedSites/IDP/Pages/SearchIDP.asp

During the senior year (fourth year of undergraduate training), students who have successfully completed the third year merge into the standard first year medical program. At the end of the first year of medical school (the fourth year of college), students in the JHMP receive a B.S. degree from the University of Florida.  Graduation is either with honors, high honors or highest honors, based on academic performance and evaluation of the research thesis.