MSIPS Curriculum
The MSIPS curriculum is highly flexible and offers students a wide variety of graduate-level courses from which to choose. Under the guidance of a faculty advisor assigned by your track, students tailor their educational and research experiences in preparation for the next stage of their academic training or professional career. The program is a residential, full-time master's degree requiring 32 total credit hours (24 credits of coursework, 8 credit capstone).
Required Coursework (24 credits)
College of Pharmacy – Our three academic areas (Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Clinical Pharmacy Translational Sciences) offer foundational courses and weekly scientific seminars. All students must complete at least 16 credits of coursework offered through the College of Pharmacy. Students are expected to choose coursework from an approved list with offerings in each track area (13 credits); there is also a required 1-credit ethics requirement (MEDCHEM 660) and 2 credits of required seminar (INTPHARM 750), totaling 16 credits.
U-M Electives – The remaining 8 credits may be from either additional College of Pharmacy department coursework or coursework from other University of Michigan departments such as BioChem, BioMed, BioStats, CancBio, Chem, Epid, Immun, MatSci, MicroBio, Physiol, and Stats. Explore what the University of Michigan has to offer at the graduate level!
Note: Courses that will not count as U-M Electives are department seminars like CPTS 850 and PS 838, ELI and PharmD courses, early Capstone registration, audited courses, and undergraduate courses not approved for graduate credit.
Capstone Project (8 credits)
Students must complete a capstone research project (or approved internship) under the guidance of a College of Pharmacy faculty member in your track area. The capstone project is usually done in the final Spring/Summer semester for 8 credits (INTPHARM 790) over 14 weeks, requiring a full-time commitment. At the end of the summer, the cohort is expected to give a presentation at our annual symposium and submit a written report & poster.
Past Capstone Project Examples:
- Structure-based de novo design of ALK inhibitor with computational and traditional chemistry methods
- Optimizing the drug development process using relationships between structures and drug-like properties in oral drug candidates
- Nanoparticle-based STING activation for Systemic Cancer Immunotherapy
- Drug-like property optimization of Proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) degrader
- Development of mouse models of intracellular lung infections
- High-density Lipoprotein Nanodisc delivering peptide treatment for Multiple Sclerosis
- Facilitators, Barriers, and Targets of Implementing an Area Agency on Aging Pharmacist-led Community Care Transition Initiative
- Impacts of Manufacturing Parameters on Exparel® Quality
- Phase IV single-arm pharmacokinetic study of skeletal muscle area-based paclitaxel infusion in patients with breast cancer
- An exploration of pyridyl containing inhibitors of T. gondii cathepsin L
- Purification and functional testing of platelet aggregating lectins from snake venoms
Below are sample curricula for both even and odd admissions years. Course availability by track will vary depending on the year of admission. A list of course descriptions for the U-M College of Pharmacy can be found HERE.
