In keeping with the mission of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the Department of Physiology and Biophysics maintains an active and productive role in teaching, research, and service to the medical center and to the national and international community. Extramural funding for the department, primarily from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the American Heart Association (AHA), totals ~ $5,000,000/year. The department has one of the longest funded NIH program project grant in the United States and is currently in year 39 of funding. In addition to research, the faculty play leading roles in national and international service to the American Physiological Society, the AHA, the AHA Council for High Blood Pressure Research, NIH, the International Society of Hypertension, and the Inter-American Society of Hypertension.
The Department of Physiology offers a Ph.D. in Physiology and a M.S. degree in Biomedical Science. The department also supports a combined M.D./Ph.D. degree in Physiology. All students entering graduate school in Biomedical Science take a core curriculum of interdisciplinary classes (link to Progression through the Graduate Program) during their first year of graduate studies. After completing a minimum of 30 credit hours, 10-12 credit hours from courses outside their major, and the required core courses, students receive a M.S. degree in Biomedical Science. For the Ph.D. degree, a minimum of 60 credit hours in physiology and biomedical science courses are required, at least 15 of the 60 credits must be outside the major area of study. In addition, a dissertation is a requisite for the Ph.D. A combined M.D./Ph.D. degree (http://som.umc.edu/admissions.html) is offered to highly qualified students by the School of Medicine in collaboration with the School of Graduate Studies in the Health Sciences. This program is designed primarily to train physician scientists who seek a professional career combining clinical skills and research.