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DONNA KORZICK, Chair of Program
Associate Professor of Kinesiology
Penn State University Park
814-865-5679
Fax: 814-865-4602
Ph.D., M.S.
This is an intercollege program designed to enable students to obtain an integrated series of courses encompassing both the fundamentals of physiology and advanced training in a specialized area. Courses can be taken either at the College of Medicineor at University Park campus.
Graduate instruction in physiology is under the direction of the program committee, composed of graduate faculty from several departments at University Park–including the areas of animal science, biochemistry, bioengineering, biology, kinesiology, microbiology, and nutrition, as well as the Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology at the College of Medicine. The master's program, including courses, laboratory experience, and original research, is designed for completion in approximately two years, while the doctoral degree requires approximately five years.
Scores from the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) are required for admission. At the discretion of a graduate program, a student may be admitted provisionally for graduate study in a program without these scores. Requirements listed here are in addition to general Graduate School requirements stated in the GENERAL INFORMATION section of the Graduate Bulletin.
Students with a 3.00 junior/senior average (on a 4.00 scale) and with appropriate course backgrounds will be considered for admission. The best-qualified applicants will be accepted up to the number of spaces that are available for new students. Exceptions to the minimum 3.00 grade-point average may be made for students with special backgrounds, abilities, and interests.
Deficiencies in chemistry, biological science, mathematics (through a second course in calculus), and physics must be made up early in the student's graduate program. All candidates must complete a general basic laboratory course in physiology (combined cellular, mammalian, and comparative) before choosing an area of specialization. Possible areas of specialization are cardiovascular and respiratory physiology; cellular and subcellular physiology; comparative physiology; environmental physiology; exercise physiology; physiology of nutrition and metabolism; neurophysiology; renal physiology; and reproductive physiology. The graduate committee shall be appropriately represented by members of the physiology program committee and those of the area of specialization who shall have the responsibility and jurisdiction for determining the course program and research acceptable in satisfying degree requirements. The nonthesis option is available for the M.S. degree on a limited basis.
The communication and foreign language requirement for the Ph.D. degree may be satisfied by one of several options including intermediate knowledge of one foreign language.
Other Relevant Information
The following courses, among others, are available for physiology majors, and their descriptions may be found under the offerings of several departments: AGRO 545; AN SC 420, AN SC 423, AN SC 431W, AN SC 502, AN SC 514, AN SC 515; B M B 400, B M B 401, B M B 402, B M B 437; BIOE 402, BIOE 501, BIOE 502, BIOE 503, BIOE 504, BIOE 505, BIOE 506, BIOE 507, BIOE 552, BIOE 553, BIOE 570; BIOL 409, BIOL 428, BIOL 429, BIOL 437, BIOL 446, BIOL 465, BIOL 466, BIOL 467, BIOL 472, BIOL 473, BIOL 477, BIOL 479, BIOL 538, BIOL 539, BIOL 544, BIOL 550; CMPSC 412; EDPSY 400, EDPSY 406, EDPSY 450, EDPSY 506, EDPSY 507; KINES 456, KINES 457, KINES 484, KINES 530, KINES 565, KINES 567, KINES 577, KINES 587; MICRB 400, MICRB 401, MICRB 410, MICRB 412; NUC E 405, NUC E 420; NURS 503; NUTR 452, NUTR 515, NUTR 581, NUTR 582; PHSIO 503, PHSIO 506, PHSIO 507; PHYS 400, PHYS 402, PHYS 420; PTYSC 424, PTYSC 455; PSYCH 453, PSYCH 404, PSYCH 462, PSY 527; STAT 460, STAT 462, STAT 464, STAT 500, STAT 501, STAT 502, STAT 503, STAT 505; V SC 405, V SC 420.
The following courses are offered at the College of Medicine: ANAT 503, ANAT 505, ANAT 510, ANAT 512, ANAT 515, ANAT 535, ANAT 542, ANAT 543, ANAT 544, ANAT 545, ANAT 550; BCHEM 505, BCHEM 523, BCHEM 528, BCHEM 551, BCHEM 553; L A M 501, L A M 503, L A M 507, L A M 510, L A M 515; MICRO 552, MICRO 554, MICRO 555, MICRO 559; NEURO 509, NEURO 510, NEURO 515, NEURO 526, NEURO 527, NEURO 528, NEURO 550; PHARM 505, PHARM 511, PHARM 515, PHARM 520, PHARM 540, PHARM 550. Descriptions of these courses can be found under the designated program.
The objective of the doctoral minor in Physiology is to augment the training of doctoral students with a coordinated group of courses that provide an integrated perspective of physiology from the molecular to the organismal level. It is expected that most students pursuing the minor will be graduate degree candidates in basic biological sciences, health sciences, or bioengineering.
The graduate minor in Physiology requires the following. (1) BIOL 472. If the student took a one-semester, upper-level undergraduate mammalian physiology course as an undergraduate, then this requirement may be waived with approval by the chair of the Physiology program. (2) PHSIO 571 and PHSIO 572. If these courses are required for the major, then substitute an equal number of credits in 500-level Physiology elective courses. (3) A 3-credit, 500-level Physiology elective course. (4) Select additional credits from 500-level Physiology courses or a relevant 400- or 500-level course so that the total course credits for the minor is 15. These 15 credits cannot include course work that is used to fulfill requirements in the student's major. (5) Elective courses for the minor must be approved by the chair of the Physiology program. For a list of suggested courses, see “Other Relevant Information” in the Physiology section of this bulletin. (6) Students must earn a grade of C or better in each course in the minor and maintain an overall average of 3.00 in the minor. (7) One member of the doctoral committee must be a faculty member in the Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Physiology.
In addition to the fellowships, traineeships, graduate assistantships, and other forms of financial aid described in the STUDENT AID section of the Graduate Bulletin, the following awards typically have been available to graduate students in this program:
MRS. A. ROBERT NOLL GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP IN APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY
For graduate research in applied physiology, especially in environmental or exercise physiology; stipend variable.
Graduate courses carry numbers from 500 to 599 and 800 to 899. Advanced undergraduate courses numbered between 400 and 499 may be used to meet some graduate degree requirements when taken by graduate students. Courses below the 400 level may not. A graduate student may register for or audit these courses in order to make up deficiencies or to fill in gaps in previous education but not to meet requirements for an advanced degree.
BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY (BCHEM) course list
CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (CMBIO) course list
NEUROSCIENCE (NEURO) course list
PHYSIOLOGY (PHSIO) course list -- University Park Campus
DATE LAST REVIEWED BY GRADUATE SCHOOL: 5/27/04
UCA Revision #1: 9/1/06
Faculty updated: 2/19/13