The Harvard Medical School's Office of the Registrar

THE FIVE YEAR M.D. PROGRAM GENERAL INFORMATION

The standard M.D. program at Harvard Medical School takes four years to complete, however, students may request to enroll in a five year MD program in order to enrich their education with a further year of full time academic work. To be approved for the five year M.D. program, students must obtain formal approval from the Council on Student Affairs by submitting to their Society the 5 Year M.D. Program Plan Form. This form is available in all societies, the Enrichment Office, the Registrar’s Office, or online.

All Unsatisfactory or Incomplete work must be made up before the request for a Five Year M.D. program will be considered. Students must be in good standing to be eligible to apply for the 5 Yr. M.D.

Students must submit the 5 Year MD Program Plan form and, in most cases, additional course registration and application process is also required (i.e. research experiences and international program experiences). Contact the Enrichment Office, located in the Cannon Society for the necessary course registration forms.

Other Degrees:

Students who wish to pursue another degree are not considered enrolled in a 5-year MD program. While pursuing another degree, the student is registered at another school and is tracked as "Other Degree Program"; generally tuition and fees are charged by the other school.

Please refer to the Student Handbook for the policy on Length of Time to Complete the M.D. Degree.

Tuition and Fee Policy

Students who take advantage of the five year M.D. program are considered full-time students for all five years. Full tuition will be charged for the first four years and the facilities fee in the fifth year. Health insurance and disability insurance will be charged each year. It is mandatory that students planning to do a 5 year program meet with their Financial Aid Officer. Students must maintain full-time status for the duration of their program.

N.B. Effective 1999-2000, the tuition formula will be different for students who are accepted to under take a Howard Hughes research year. The Facilities fee will be charged in the year that the student is doing research.

Full time status requires a minimum of 12 credits be taken in a semester.

The Fall semester runs July - December and the Spring semester runs January – June.

Application for Change of Program to 5 Year M.D.:

Students obtain a 5 Year M.D. Program Application/Form from their Society.

Students request a transcript from the Registrar’s Office to accompany their 5 Year M.D. Program Application.

Students complete the form outlining their academic plan and meet with their Society Associate Master (in some cases, students may meet with Assoc. Master before completing the form then meet again after the form is completed.) A transcript should accompany the 5-year program form when the Associate Master reviews and signs the form.

Review of Requests for the 5 Year M.D. by the Council on Student Affairs (CSA):

In addition to Associate Master signatures on the 5-Year Program form, the Society Research Fellow and/or International Fellow must sign the form (if the academic plan contains research or international experiences).

The Associate Master presents the 5-Year program form to the CSA. When the CSA approves the plan, copies are distributed at the meeting (i.e, Registrar, Financial Aid, Society, Enrichment Offices).

Student is notified of the decision of the C.S.A. by their Academic Society

If your program involves a Research experience, complete a SOC199.0 Research Course Registration Form and have it signed by your Society Research Fellow. For more information, see Audrey Bernfield in the Enrichment Office.

If your program involves an International experience, complete a SOC900.41 Research Course Registration Form and have it signed by your Society Research Fellow. For more information, see Audrey Bernfield in the Enrichment Office.

Course Registration for 5 Year M.D. Program/Enrichment Activities:

Research:
Course# SOC199.0

Application deadlines:
April 4 for July 1 research
Oct. 15 for Jan.1 research

International Experience:
Course# SOC900.41

Applications must be received at least 90 days prior to the start of the project.

If the 5-Year Plan includes a research component, students complete a separate course registration form for SOC199.0

The completed SOC199.0 research course registration form with accompanying material, if relevant, must be reviewed and signed by the student’s Society Research Fellow.

The form is to be returned to the Enrichment Office to be reviewed/approved by the Research Committee.

The Registrar is notified so the course number appears on the student’s schedule (a copy of the course registration form is forwarded to the Registrar.)

If the 5-Year Plan includes an international experience component, students complete a separate course registration form for SOC900.41

The completed SOC900.41 international course registration form with accompanying material, if relevant, must be reviewed and signed by the student’s Society International Fellow.

The form is to be returned to the Enrichment Office to be reviewed/approved by the International Committee.

The Registrar is notified so the course number appears on the student’s schedule (a copy of the course registration form is forwarded to the Registrar.)

Student Schedules & Drop/Add of Courses

Once the 5-year plan has been approved, students must contact the Registrar’s Office to "drop" or make other adjustments to clerkships on their schedule as a result of their change in program. (Submit an Add/Drop form by the first of the month, two months prior to the start of the first clerkship to be dropped.)