CALIFORNIA TRINITY UNIVERSITY

Ph.D. Medical Science

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Graduation Requirements

Category		Unit	Comments
Clinical Experience & Internship		25	25-unit: at least 3 years clinical experience and participation at an acceptable approved medical center or equivalent. 20-unit: at least 2 years clinical experience and participation at an acceptable approved medical center or equivalent. 5-unit: Internship of Craniofacial Pain Clinic at White Memorial Medical Center or at an appropriate approved medical center or equivalent.
Teaching Requirement		10	At least one Semester Teaching experience (64hours(4Hours/week*16weeks)/semester)
Dissertation	Proposal	6	The proposal must be accepted by the Dissertation Committee
	Research Methods	6	Research methods must be accepted by the Dissertation Committee
	Oral Defense	18	The oral defense must be approved by the Dissertation Committee
Publishing or Presenting		5	Publishing articles, books or journals Presenting the thesis at medical center or health organization or equivalent place in public
Total		70

1. Complete a minimum of 70 semester units of prescribed Graduate-level courses. All candidates must enroll 5 semesters Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Science at California Trinity University.

2. Clinical Courses:
1) Candidates for Ph.D. Degree in Medical Science may earn up to 25-unit for their past clinical experience and participation at an acceptable approved medical center or equivalent place. Credits may also be received for time involved with clinical research. Such credit awards should relate to the candidates field of expertise.
25 units: at least 3 years clinical experience and participation
20 units: at least 2 years clinical experience and participation (5- credits can be awarded through internship at WMMC)
2) In order for credit to be acknowledged, candidates must provide documentation, which confirms applicable experience in reputable medical centers, research centers, colleges or universities along with their Application for Admissions.

3. Teaching Requirement: 10 units
California Trinity University considers that teaching is an important part of a candidate¨s professional development. To this end, all candidates are required to teach one semester during their training. The course director(s) in consultation with the candidate will determine what course the candidate will teach. Candidates must submit the evidence* of teaching with the signature of the Academic Dean of the school where they have taught. The candidate should normally have completed this requirement by the end of the Ph.D. program.
*Evidence of teaching must present their evidence of teaching experience with total 60 hours at college or equivalent.

4. Dissertation:
A dissertation is totally 30 units and consists of dissertation proposal (6 units), research methods (6 units), and oral defense (18 units).
1) Proposal:
The dissertation proposal is one of the most important milestones in your course of studies. It represents a statement on your part of your intended dissertation research, and its successful defense is an indication that the proposed research is likely to meet the standards of the field. The defended proposal is also a form of contract between you and your Research Committee regarding the work you will submit in your dissertation.
2) Research Methods:
It is necessary to choose an appropriate dissertation research method for your research. It is really so, because each research method has its own goals and purposes. In addition, the availing of methods is going to influence not only your research but also your entire paper holistically. All available dissertation research methods need your special attention before you pen your proposal and proceed further in the direction of your real dissertation.
3) Oral Defense:
The oral dissertation defense is scheduled by the dissertation committee and the coordinator of doctoral programs. During the defense, the committee will explore, with the candidate, research methods employed in conducting the study, findings and conclusions revealed by the study and contributions the study is expected to offer in the decision making processes. In this way, the candidate and examiners reach a more extensive insight into the candidate's research area. During the oral defense, all members of the Dissertation Committee must be present and must render a judgment on the candidate's performance. Should any member of the committee be unable to attend, a substitute for the oral defense may be provided.
4) Suggested interest of study in the field of Pain Management

Craniofacial Pain	Neuromuscular Pain	Psychosomatic Pain
1) Atypical Facial Pain Disorders	1) Accidents and Trauma	1) Abdominal Pain
2) Atypical Odontalgia	2) Acute or chronic headache	2) Anticonvulsants
3) Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics	3) Acute pain (e.g., postoperative pain, strains and sprains, labor pain)	3) Antidepressants
4) Foundations of Oral Biology	4) Arthritis	4) Chiari Malformation
5) Head and Neck Anatomy	5) Back, neck or shoulder pain	5) Chronic Pain
6) Headaches	6) Carpal Tunnel Syndrome	6) Depression
7) Herpes Zoster and Post Herpetic Neuralgia of the orofacial region	7) Fibromyalgia	7) Dietary Supplements
8) Internal Medicine and Systemic Disease	8) Lateral or medial epicondylitis	8) Digestive symptoms
9) Migraine	9) Neck Pain	9) Dry mouth
10) Myofascial Pain Disorders	10) Ocular Migraine Pain	10) Fibromyalgia
11) Neurogenic Based Oral and Facial Pains	11) Orthodontic pain	11) Gastrointestinal distress
12) Neurosciences	12) Other pain disorders	12) Headaches
13) Non-odontogenic Toothache disorders	13) Phantom Toothache	13) Heart Disease
14) Oral sleep appliances for managing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)	14) Sensitive or Ringing Ears	14) Hysteria
15) Orofacial Movement Disorders such as facial dystonias	15) Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain	15) Massage Therapy
16) Orofacial pain	16) Tendonitis	16) Migraine
17) Pharmacology	17) The Sinus Headache	17) Mouth ulcers
18) Physical Evaluation and Laboratory Diagnostics	18) Tinnitus	18) Muscle Relaxers
19) Psychological and Psychometric Assessment	19) Wound healing	19) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Psychosomatic Symptoms
20) Radiation Biology and Medical Imaging		20) Pain syndromes - Psychological back pain and Fibromyalgia
21) Sleep Disorders		21) Peptic Ulcer
22) Systems Physiology, Motor Disorders and Sleep Apnea		22) Physical Therapy
23) TMD, Orthopedics, Rheumatology and Physical Therapy		23) Psychological stigma
24) TMJ Disorders		24) Skin eruptions
25) Trigeminal Neuralgia and other chronic neuropathies		25) Stress
* Candidates can choose their own field of interest which must be approved by their advisor.

5. Publishing articles, books or presentations: 5 units

Dissertation

The dissertation may consist of several studies or cases, in which event their relationship to one another must be demonstrated. The dissertation may consist of a candidate¨s published or unpublished material or a combination of both, provided this has not been used for the award of any other academic qualification.

The candidate is required to complete a dissertation that embodies original and independent research and demonstrates advanced scholarly achievement. After a student's admission to candidacy, and during or before enrollment in the dissertation program, the student forms a dissertation committee.

1. Dissertation Committee
The dissertation committee consists of a minimum of three members. Two shall be chosen by a student from the faculty of the School of Medical Science; the third may be an appropriate doctoral prepared person outside the University. This dissertation committee must be approved by Ph.D. Board of California Trinity University.

2. Dissertation Regulations
1) The dissertation abstract is simply a brief summary of the results of the dissertation research. As a general rule, a dissertation abstract should not be over two pages long. When preparing an abstract to submit with a job application, it is generally recommended that it not be more than 400-600 words.
2) The limit in length of a PhD dissertation is 65,000 words including appendices, bibliography, footnotes, tables and equations. The limit on the number of figures is 150. The word limit corresponds to 250 Letter pages of double-spaced normal size type and 260 words to the page. Typically, dissertations contain about 55,000 words but some of the best dissertations are much shorter than this. Permission to exceed the limits of 65,000 words or 150 figures is only granted by the Degree Committee in exceptional circumstances.
3) The minimum number of copies to be submitted for the Ph.D. dissertation is four, two of which are for the office of the Graduate Faculties, one for the research advisor, and one for the student. In some cases, additional copies may be necessary for sponsored projects. The dissertation may be bound and the fees must be paid for by the student.
4) Ph.D. dissertations commonly follow the sequence:
� Statement of the problem and the reason for solving it.
� Review of previous work in the field.
� Development of the candidate's own ideas, backed up by experimental evidence and/or mathematical analysis.
� Discussion of the impact that the contributions are likely to have on future Pain Management issues.
� Suggestions for further research.
� Appendices.

A numbered list of references should be included either as a single list at the end of the dissertation or by chapter. When a reference is quoted in the text both the name of the author(s) and the number of the reference should be included.

Oral Defense

The candidate in a public oral examination shall defend the dissertation. Official approval of the dissertation committee is required; committee members certify their acceptance by signing the title page of the dissertation.

After completion of the dissertation manuscript, an oral examination is scheduled for defense of the dissertation research. The defense may not be scheduled less than six months after the date on which your Research Committee was approved. Dissertation committee members must receive a clean copy of the dissertation manuscript at least four weeks prior to the defense.
The submitted dissertation becomes the property of California Trinity University, but the University does not limit the author's right to publish the results.