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Is this program a good fit for me?
The Graduate Education in Medical Sciences (GEMS) program is a structured educational experience for MIT PhD students interested in working at the intersection where engineering and science meet medicine and real world healthcare. GEMS scholars learn how advances in basic science and engineering become medically relevant therapies and tools for the improvement of human health.
Why was the GEMS program established?
The Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES) offers GEMS through collaboration among MIT, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Brigham and Women's Hospital. An award from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) initially funded GEMS as part of a program to encourage graduate schools to integrate medical knowledge and an understanding of clinical practice into PhD curricula.
What credential will I earn?
You will earn a certificate of program completion from HST and a credential for your resume. The certificate is not listed on your MIT transcript.
What can I do with this certificate?
GEMS graduates are well prepared to become the next generation of leaders in medically-related research and biomedical business. GEMS scholars develop lasting relationships with like-minded PhD students with complementary skill sets and with active physicians and physician-scientists.
What can I expect?
GEMS scholars learn how advances in basic science and engineering become medically relevant therapies and tools that improve human health. This is accomplished by supplementing standard doctoral programs with this specially-designed experience:
Two classes on the mechanisms of human disease:
- Principles and Practices of Human Pathology - HST034/HST035
- Principles of Human Disease: Physiology and Pathology - HBTM 235, offered by Harvard Faculty of Arts & Sciences (FAS)
An intensive clinical experience tailored to individual student interests - HST 240
(International students - pre-completion OPT is required, please consult with your ISO contact)
Three semesters of a graduate seminar series for GEMS scholars and HST PhD candidates that focuses on the professional skills required to succeed in interdisciplinary research - HST590. One semester topic must be ethics.
How long will it take me to earn a GEMS Certificate from HST?
The GEMS Certificate Program runs concurrently with the normal course of an MIT graduate education and can be completed in less than two years, without prolonging a typical PhD career.
