Overview
Baylor College of Medicine, an independent, private, and fully accredited biomedical institution, is located in the heart of the Texas Medical Center, one of the largest medical centers in the world. The medical center, adjacent to residential areas, covers more than 500 acres and has forty-one institutions, 10,000 students, and 50,000 employees. Baylor is recognized as a leader in biomedical and basic science research and ranks first in the nation for research expenditures in the biological sciences by universities and colleges. The graduate school is committed to excellence in graduate training. There is a high degree of interdisciplinary cooperation, not only among the faculty members in basic science areas but also with clinical investigators in the College and associated institutions in the Texas Medical Center. Ongoing research programs being carried out by productive and widely recognized investigators in both the basic sciences and the clinical faculty, coupled with the favorable faculty-student ratio, permit students to be directly involved in and contribute to significant research projects.

The graduate students in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics comprise an eclectic group with varied academic backgrounds, from physics to biology. They are an integral part of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences that included 482 Ph.D. students enrolled in 2004–05. The department also maintains a vigorous postdoctoral training program that includes research fellows and visiting scientists.

The Location and Community
As the nation’s fourth-largest city, Houston is a vibrant scientific and industrial center. Its symphony orchestra, grand opera, ballet, theater companies, and art museums, many close to the Texas Medical Center, are nationally recognized. Recreational activities abound, with facilities and opportunities for a wide range of professional and amateur sports. The Texas Medical Center adjoins Hermann Park, which includes a zoo, a garden center, the Miller Outdoor Theater, the Museum of Natural Science, the Burke-Baker Planetarium, a golf course, tennis courts, jogging tracks, and picnic areas.

Programs of study and degree requirements
Medicine offers a research-oriented program of graduate study that leads to the Ph.D. degree. This program applies the most current methods of molecular and cell biology, mouse genetics, neuroscience, imaging, electrophysiology, biophysics, immunology, protein biochemistry, and pharmacology to the study of problems of physiological importance. The department participates in Baylor College of Medicine’s M.D./Ph.D. Program, whose candidates may earn both the degrees of M.D. and Ph.D.

The departmental faculty members are very interactive with ongoing research in the areas of structure and function of ion channels and transport proteins, signal transduction, synaptic plasticity, cell-cycle control, reactive oxygen species, neuronal morphology, drug and gene delivery, development of biosensors for genetic diagnosis, and small-animal in vivo neuronal tract tracing utilizing manganese enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MEMRI). In addition, knockout and transgenic mice are used for a number of different types of animal studies, including the study of muscle and cardiovascular function, learning and memory, and cancer.

Facilities & Resources
The department occupies 18,000 square feet of contiguous space with recently constructed laboratories and offices. It contains an array of modern facilities and instrumentation. There are laboratories for electrophysiology (voltage clamping, patch clamping, and planar lipid bilayer), ligand binding, fluorescence spectroscopy, protein biochemistry, automated peptide synthesis and microsequencing, fluorescence imaging, confocal microscopy, X-ray crystallography, cryomicroscopy, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), echo cardiography, recombinant DNA technology, and transgenic and genetic knockout mice production. Shared facilities include cold rooms, scintillation and gamma counters, molecular modeling workstations, ultracentrifuges, a P2/P3 facility, radioisotope preparation rooms, machine and electronics shops, and darkrooms. Central computational facilities are housed within the department, and all laboratories are connected to this facility via a local area network that also provides access to the central Baylor Computing Resources and to the Internet. The high level of collaboration among the various departments at Baylor College of Medicine and the other institutions in the Houston scientific community provides access to exceptional facilities. The library of the Texas Medical Center, across the street from Baylor College of Medicine, houses more than 333,000 books, subscribes to more than 4,000 electronic journals, and offers access to more than 400 computer databases. A Learning Resource Center, open to students 24 hours a day, provides additional computer access and a quiet area for study.

Expenses and Aid
Tuition for the academic year is $10,200. Students pay a one-time matriculation fee of $25, a one-time graduation fee of $140 during the fourth year, and a student fee of $150 for the first year and $20 for subsequent years. Students on temporary visas also pay an annual international services fee of $75 for an F-1 visa or $100 for a J-1 visa.

Costs for Ph.D. students are normally covered by scholarships awarded by the College. Tuition scholarships are available to all students. Stipends for entering Ph.D. students are $28,000 for the academic year. Health insurance is provided for students; additional financial aid is also available. Requests for information regarding financial aid should be addressed to the Financial Aid Office, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030.

One residence hall, located adjacent to Baylor College of Medicine in the Texas Medical Center, offers fully furnished rooms and apartments that are moderately priced. There are also a wide range of privately owned furnished and unfurnished apartments and houses available nearby. Housing in Houston is moderately priced compared with other major U.S. cities.

How to Apply
The school year begins in August and ends in July; it consists of five terms, each eight weeks long. Applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree or a more advanced degree or must be in the final stages of a program leading to a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent. Undergraduate course requirements include a year each of general biology, physics, mathematics, chemistry, and organic chemistry, all with a B average or better. The TOEFL is required of all students who have not earned a degree at a university in which the primary language is English. Official transcripts from each college or university attended, letters of evaluation from at least 3 professors, and scores from the Graduate Record Examinations (General Test and Subject Test recommended in biology, chemistry, or biochemistry, cell and molecular biology) must be mailed directly to the School rather than by the applicant. January 1 is the target date for completed applications; early application is encouraged. An electronic application can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.bcm.tmc.edu/gradschool/gs-apply.html. The $30 application fee is waived for electronic applications.

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