Biomedical Engineering (Ph.D.)

Departmental Requirements (39 credit hours)

Biomedical Engineering is an extremely broad discipline. A consequence of this breadth is that it is difficult to define a set of core courses that will satisfy the needs of all students. In USD’s program, we have identified a short list of courses that we believe are essential for all students, and this list is enumerated below. In addition to the listed courses, a graduate student’s advisor as well as their advisory committee may require that a student take other courses (from Biomedical Engineering and other disciplines as appropriate) that are relevant to their research and career goals. Up to 21 credits of prior graduate level coursework may be applied toward the Ph.D. program at the discretion of the student’s advisory committee.

• BME 710 - Experimental Design & Data Analysis in Biomedical Engineering (C) 3 cr hrs
• BME 790 - Seminar (C) 1 cr hrs (6 credits of Seminar required)

•  

• BME 888 - Doctoral Research Problems/Projects (C) 1-12 cr hrs

• OR

• BME 898 - Dissertation (C) 1 to 9 cr hrs (30 credits required of either 888 or 898 with advisor approval)

Approved Elective Courses (45 credit hours)

Approved elective courses in the area of the student’s intended research are to be selected in consultation with the student’s advisory committee. The number of elective courses required will depend on the student’s background and educational goals. 

Students must select:

• 12 graduate credits of BME XXX electives (BME 888 does not meet this requirement) are required.
• 33 graduate credits of electives with the approval of the department chair, the remaining electives may include departmental, transfer, or non-departmental coursework. Non-departmental electives are limited to a maximum of 15 credits.

• BME 612 - Biotechnology for Biomedical Engineers 3 cr hrs
• BME 714 - Optical Biochemical Sensors 3 cr hrs
• BME 721 - Tissue Engineering 3 cr hrs
• BME 724 - Biopolymers (C) 3 cr hrs
• BME 740 - Biomaterials Surface Science and Engineering (C) 3 cr hrs
• BME 747 - Cardiovascular Biomaterials 3 cr hrs
• BME 751 - Drug Delivery (C) 3 cr hrs
• BME 761 - Bioadhesives (C) 3 cr hrs
• BME 792 - Topics (C) 1 to 3 cr hrs
• BME 888 - Doctoral Research Problems/Projects (C) 1-12 cr hrs (with advisor approval)
• BME 898 - Dissertation (C) 1 to 9 cr hrs [Additional dissertation credits may be used as electives with advisor’s approval.]