Overview

View our Department overview presentation.

Background

The Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology is part of the School of Medicine and is located on the MCV Campus in historic downtown Richmond. VCU offers a graduate program in pharmacology and toxicology leading to the degrees of Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy. More than 230 scholars have earned their Ph.D. from our department since 1953, making it one of the oldest and largest in the country. With more than 40 dedicated faculty members and a department that ranks in the top nine of NIH-funded pharmacology and toxicology programs, the department offers a rich and highly interdisciplinary environment for research.

Indeed, our program is ranked first in the U.S. for pharmacology departments as contributors to their university publication record. Our students have won national and state awards for their research excellence such as back-to-back sweeps in the Virginia Academy of Sciences for 2002 and 2003.

The department is nationally recognized for its research in alcohol and drug abuse, cancer pharmacology, molecular biology and environmental toxicology. All of our doctoral students are supported for their graduate education with NIH training grants, fellowship funds and institutional support. The average duration of study for our doctoral candidates is 4.7 years – significantly lower than the national average of more than seven years – attesting to the efficiency of our program. A one-year certificate degree also is available (see Pre-medical Basic Health Sciences Certificate Program for more details).

Requirements

Applicants should have a baccalaureate degree in a discipline such as pharmacy, chemistry, biochemistry or a biological science. This training should include course work in each of the following areas:

• inorganic and organic chemistry
• calculus and the biological sciences
• physiology
• biochemistry
• zoology

Program Introduction

In their first year, students seeking a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology may rotate in laboratories and select courses from Pharmacology and Toxicology or other departments on the MCV campus. After this first year, students select a dissertation advisor and become students in the department of his or her mentor. Thus, students are not obligated to stay in Pharmacology and Toxicology and can chose another department. In the first year, students typically complete 27 credit hours, for example, four elective courses (15-20 credits), three laboratory rotations (9 credits) and two seminars (2 credits). These credits, regardless of which department offers the courses, count toward the Ph.D. requirements in Pharmacology and Toxicology. Students are free to specialize in Pharmacology and Toxicology immediately by electing courses and laboratories exclusively in this program. Official entry to Pharmacology and Toxicology, however, takes place at the end of the first year. Please visit the Biomedical Sciences Doctoral Portal for more details: http://www.medschool.vcu.edu/graduate/phd/index.html