Doctorate in medicine
After having obtained the federal or cantonal diploma in human or dental medicine, physicians pursue their training by undertaking assistant physician activities within various hospital services, in dental medicine or in basic medical research. Hospital training usually leads to obtaining a title of specialised physician according to the criteria established by the Federation of Swiss Physicians -FMH).
During this postgraduate specialisation period, physicians have the opportunity to achieve their thesis in order to obtain a doctorate in medicine.
This doctorate only concerns candidates holding a diploma in human or dentist medicine. It cannot be started before obtaining the diploma or an equivalent degree. It must usually be undertaken during the clinical specialisation period or during an internship in clinical or basis research.
Various kinds of theses can be undertaken within all activities recognised by the Faculty of medicine, for instance (this list is not exhaustive):
- in clinical research
- in basic research
- in social and preventive medicine
- in community medicine
- in dental medicine
- retrospective case study
The time frame allows for a maximum of 10 university semesters and a minimum of 2 semesters.
Procedures
Applying physicians holding a federal diploma in medicine or an end-of-medical studies, either of which were obtained from the Faculty of medicine of the University of Geneva, must:
- Provide the Students' secretariat of the Faculty of medicine with a declaration on behalf of the thesis director stating that the doctorate student is preparing a thesis under his direction. This declaration shall be validated by the secretariat;
- Submit the validated declaration to the Students' administrative office of the University of Geneva so that they may proceed with the doctorate student's registration (Uni-Dufour, Rue du Général Dufour 24 - 2nd floor - Tel. +41 22 379 7694).
Applying physicians holding a federal diploma in medicine or an equivalent degree obtained from another canton than Geneva
- Provide the Students' secretariat of the Faculty of medicine with:
- a declaration on behalf of the thesis director stating that the doctorate student is preparing a thesis under his direction. This declaration shall be validated by the secretariat;
- an updated curriculum vitae;
- a copy of the second and third parts of the final exam results;
- a copy of the diploma in medicine.
- Submit the validated declaration to the Students' administrative office of the University of Geneva so that they may proceed with the doctorate student's registration (Uni-Dufour, Rue du Général Dufour 24 - 2nd floor - Tel. +41 22 379 7694).
Applying physicians from European Union states under a bilateral agreements with Switzerland regime
- Apply for an equivalence of their diploma of medicine from the Swiss Public Health Federal Office (Office fédéral de la santé publique - OFSP) :
- Provide the Students' secretariat of the Faculty of medicine with:
- the OFSP declaration of equivalence of their diploma of medicine;
- a declaration on behalf of the thesis director stating that the doctorate student is preparing a thesis under his direction;
- an updated curriculum vitae.
- Contact the Students' administrative office of the University of Geneva who will provide all necessary information with regards to the registration of the doctorate student (Uni-Dufour, Rue du Général Dufour 24 - 2nd floor - Tel. +41 22 379 76 94).
Applying physicians from non European Union states or European Union states that are not under a bilateral agreements with Switzerland regime
- Provide the Students' secretariat of the Faculty of medicine with:
- a declaration on behalf of the thesis director stating that the doctorate student is preparing a thesis under his direction;
- an updated curriculum vitae;
- the original copy of the diploma of medicine;
- a copy of the diploma of medicine with a certified translation (if the original language is neither French, German or English);
- a description of the subject matters studied during each year of study;
- a certified copy of all results obtained during the course of studies and medical exams.
- On the basis of these documents and after decision of the Admission and Equivalences Commission, the Students' Secretariat will establish a certification of authenticity of the medical diploma and will validate the declaration on behalf of the thesis director.
- Contact the Students' administrative office of the University of Geneva who will provide all necessary information with regards to the registration of the doctorate student (Uni-Dufour, Rue du Général Dufour 24 - 2nd floor - Tel. +41 22 379 76 94).
Physicians holding a federal medical diploma or an equivalent degree are allowed to register as doctorate students in order to obtain a medical doctorate. They must have found beforehand a thesis director by submitting their request directly to the department or service where they wish to undertake their doctorate thesis.
It is mandatory for the doctorate student to be registered within a doctorate programme during the whole thesis period for a maximum of 10 semesters (art. 18 of the University regulation).
Director of f thesis
- A thesis is undertaken within a department or a university centre, under the supervision of a thesis director, member of the teaching staff (ordinary professor, associate professor, titulary professor, assistant professor, lecturer or privat-docent).
- When a thesis is undertaken under the supervision of a person in charge of an MER group, this person will take on the mandate under the responsibility of a member of the teaching staff who is his/her hierarchical superior and possibly the head of the department.
- Any change of thesis director must be reported to the Students' secretariat.
Subject of thesis
- The choice of the thesis subject is agreed upon between the doctorate student and the thesis director.
- The doctorate registration is confirmed only once the director has submitted the Students' secretariat the document certifying his academic responsibility with regard to the thesis work.
- Any change of subject of the thesis must be reported to the Students' secretariat.
Writing the thesis
The thesis is written either in French or in English. In the case of English, the thesis must include a summary as well as an introduction of approximately ten pages in French. The text on the cover page must also be in French.
Whatever the choice of language, the thesis will be examined on the grounds of a typed A4 format text that should contain:
- a table of contents;
- a summary in French;
- a bibliography that includes the following directives. All references must contain: the name and initials of all the authors, the title of the journal, the number, the year, the number of the first and the last page if it concerns a chapter, the name of the publishing house, the city and year of publication if it concerns a book;
- the thesis report established and signed by the thesis director;
- the summary of 150 words on an ad hoc form, with the University of Geneva header (see Annexe 1), will have to have the signature of the doctorate student as well as the thesis director. This summary will be used by the University for the publication of an 'Annotated list of doctorate thesis'.
Cover page of thesis
- Must include (in Fench) in the top left hand corner of the page 'Université de Genève', in the top right hand corner 'Faculté de médecine' and below, the name of the department and the division within which the thesis was undertaken and the mention 'thèse effectuée sous la responsabilité de ..." (thesis undertaken under the responsibility of ..." (indicate in full wording the title, name and surname of the head of thesis (see Annexe 2);
- Must be mentioned your usual name(s) before your surname. Married doctorate students must include their maiden name if they were registered at the university under that name;
- Must be mentioned the name of the state or place of origin under the surname. Swiss citizens will include the name of their commune of origine, followed by the name of the canton in brackets.
Preparing a thesis on the basis of original publications
- One or a group of original publications in journals that have an editorial policy as well as an international distribution can constitute the basis of a doctorate.
- In principle, the doctorate student must be the first author of such publications, thereby attesting his/her main role in the planning of the study, data collection and/or data interpretation. Should the occasion arise, the thesis director must certify the proportion of work actually achieved by the student if he/she is no the first author.
- With regards to the use of articles published in journals with a less wide distribution and/or a limited impact factor, the student will seek to obtain preliminary authorisation from the person in charge of theses.
- In all cases, such publications will be accompanied by an introductory text aiming to present them in a coherent manner and to justify the pertinence of their inclusion.
- Developments that do not appear in the original publications may be included in the thesis.
Evaluation of thesis
Each thesis is assessed in the following manner :
- by the director of thesis who will provide a written report on the content and value of the presented work;
- by two members of the teaching staff of the Faculty of medicine, designed by the person in charge of coordinating theses, according to their specific expertise and who will provide a written report pertaining the content and value of the present work. These two reporters may, if necessary, ask for modifications of form and/or of content in the thesis manuscript.
Corrections of thesis
- If corrections are needed after thesis evaluation, the person in charge of coordinating theses shall inform the doctorate student in writing and as soon as possible.
- The thesis, once corrected, will be returned to the person in charge of coordinating theses, together with a letter mentioning the corrections and, if such is the case, why they could not be made. After having checked the corrections, the theses coordinator will submit the corrected manuscript to the Dean of the Faculty in order to obtain imprimatur.
Imprimatur
- Imprimatur is granted by the Dean of the Faculty of medicine.
- The imprimatur will mention the thesis number and will give the doctorate student authority to have it published.
Thesis number
- The thesis number is mentioned on the imprimatur and must be repeated on the cover page within the designed area.
Deposit of thesis for acceptance
Electronic version of the thesis as well as:
are to be deposited at the Students' secretariat.
Editing and final printing of thesis
The doctorate student will be informed by mail of the acceptance of the thesis. He/she shall receive the imprematur that specifies the thesis number.
The doctorate student will include on the cover page the following indications :
- the number of the thesis (see annexe 2);
- the place of edition and the date of publication (see annexe 2).
Should the thesis lead to a publication, the reference of this publication must be mentioned at the bottom on the back of the cover page.
The imprimatur must be inserted after the cover page and before the beginning of the thesis
"Archive ouverte UNIGE"
When depositing the final version of the thesis, it is mandatory that the doctorate student provide the Students' secretariat with an IT support containing the entire text as well as a digitalised version of all illustrations.
You may contact the library of the Faculty of medicine:
archive-ouverte-theses(at)unige.ch - Tel. +41 22 379 92 02
You may consult on-line theses on the Web at the following addresses:
Attribution of the doctor title
The "Doctorate diploma" is conferred by the University of Geneva (Diplomas' service - Tel. +41 22 379 77 44). It is sent to the "Doctor" by registered mail
Right to publish
Independently of the statutory deposit in Archive ouverte, doctorate students can publish under their own responsibility their work in any form they wants.
In this case, any mention regarding the University will be taken out of the publication.
Deposit of thesis for acceptance
Electronic version of the thesis as well as:
are to be deposited at the Students' secretariat.
Editing and final printing of thesis
The doctorate student will be informed by mail of the acceptance of the thesis. He/she shall receive the imprematur that specifies the thesis number.
The doctorate student will include on the cover page the following indications :
- the number of the thesis (see annexe 2);
- the place of edition and the date of publication (see annexe 2).
Should the thesis lead to a publication, the reference of this publication must be mentioned at the bottom on the back of the cover page.
The imprimatur must be inserted after the cover page and before the beginning of the thesis
"Archive ouverte UNIGE"
When depositing the final version of the thesis, it is mandatory that the doctorate student provide the Students' secretariat with an IT support containing the entire text as well as a digitalised version of all illustrations.
You may contact the library of the Faculty of medicine:
archive-ouverte-theses(at)unige.ch - Tel. +41 22 379 92 02
You may consult on-line theses on the Web at the following addresses:
Attribution of the doctor title
The "Doctorate diploma" is conferred by the University of Geneva (Diplomas' service - Tel. +41 22 379 77 44). It is sent to the "Doctor" by registered mail
Right to publish
Independently of the statutory deposit in Archive ouverte, doctorate students can publish under their own responsibility their work in any form they wants.
In this case, any mention regarding the University will be taken out of the publication.