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PhD Comprehensive Exam

Planning

  • PhD students must complete their comprehensive exam by the end of their second year in the program.
  • At the beginning of the semester in which they plan to take their exam, PhD students must register for the course PSYT 701: Comprehensive Exam Mental Health.
  • Contact graduate.psychiatry [at] mcgill.ca to arrange a Chair for the exam.

Submission

  • The student must submit a written thesis proposal at least 3 weeks prior to the proposed date of the examination

Examining Committee

The examining committee will consist of:

  • Advisory committee (supervisor, co-supervisor (if applicable) and 2 members)
  • External member (a Faculty Member who does not sit on the advisory committee)
  • Examination Chair (Graduate Program Director or Delegate) (contact graduate.psychiatry [at] mcgill.ca to make arrangements)
  • The entire committee, including the Chair, must be present for the oral exam to take place. If one of the members is missing, the exam must be rescheduled

Examination

  • The examination, conducted in close session, begins with a formal 30 min. presentation by the student which reviews the background and the rationale for the proposed study, the specific hypotheses and objectives, the methodology, results obtained to date and future directions.
  • The candidate will then be asked to respond to questions from the examining committee. The student will be queried on topics related to the proposed area of research. The goal of the examining committee is to determine that the candidate has sufficient understanding of the background information, rationale, and methodological issues to perform and analyze their research topic.
  • The Graduate Program Director or delegate will act as Examination Chair, and ensure that the examination is conducted in an orderly and constructive manner.

Evaluation

  • At the end of the oral exam, the Examination Chair will ask the candidate to leave the room while the committee meets in closed session. The examining committee will deliberate and make a judgement of satisfactory or unsatisfactory, and results will be communicated to the student by the Chair. The supervisor may only act as a resource allowing the committee to make an informed decision; he/she will not cast a vote to determine whether the performance is satisfactory or unsatisfactory.
  • A judgement of satisfactory will result in a grade of PASS and allow the student to proceed with PhD studies. If the judgement is unsatisfactory, the student will be required to re-take the exam within 4 months. 听For a second exam, the examination team must contain an additional Committee member

Format of PhD Proposal

The written thesis proposal must state the hypothesis being tested, review the relevant background literature and summarize the methods that will be used to address the research question. The proposal should be approximately 20-25 pages in length, double-spaced (including references). A recommended format is:

  1. Introduction and statement of the problem (1 page)
  2. Background information - i.e. relevant literature leading up to your studies (5 pages)
  3. Rationale for the study, hypothesis and specific aims (1 page)
  4. Methods for each specific aim, including the rationale for the choice of methods when alternatives exist, possible problems that may be encountered and their solutions, analysis and interpretation of data, etc. (5 pages)
  5. Summary of results to date (specific items may be included in methods, if preferable)
  6. Short conclusion and statement of expected contributions to original knowledge (1 page)
  7. Preliminary bibliography

Forms
PDF icon PhD Comprehensive Exam Form

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