Advising Forms

Forms:

• Waitlist
• 484 Shadowing/Internship
• x85 Directed Studies
  • with VMBS faculty
  • with Non-VMBS faculty
• x91 Research
  • with VMBS faculty
  • with Non-VMBS faculty
  • MSCI 691
  • Lab Safety Trainings
  • BIMS Research Writing Intensive

BIMS students are eligible to gain relevant work/field/research experience while receiving BIMS Directed Elective (BDE) credit. Students may elect to register for biomedical science related field experience (shadowing/internship), directed studies, or research opportunity courses. Students may not exceed a combined total of 9 credit hours of these work/field/research experience opportunities in their undergraduate BIMS career. Note below that other limitations for credit hours a student can earn may apply.

BIMS Advising will register students for all BIMS shadowing/internship, directed studies, or research courses. Registration of courses will accurately reflect on the student’s Howdy portal (not Schedule Builder). Students will need to register for these special request opportunities each semester they plan to take these courses.

Waitlist for BIMS Classes

Spring 2025 Waitlist Form

Students must submit their waitlist application for courses that they are struggling to register for. Priority is given to students who are graduating the semester that they are requesting the waitlist application for, if the course that they are requesting is a graduation requirement. BIMS Advising does not guarantee BIMS students a seat in the specific class that they are requesting to take. BIMS Advising will notify students up to the week prior to the start of classes if their request has been granted. Please check with bims@tamu.edu during this time if you have any questions.

Field experience (shadowing/internship) – BIMS 484

This course provides you with the opportunity for additional learning through field training, shadowing or internship experience. You are responsible for finding your own field training or shadowing experience in a biomedical science related professional setting where you will be provided with professional supervision. An agreement/arrangement must be made between you and the professional organization before you submit your forms to have your opportunity potentially count for course credit. You will need to calculate working 30 hours for every credit hour that you register for; you will earn a S/U for this course. BIMS 484 course credit cannot be sought retroactively and can only be requested for experiences that you are currently involved in or for experiences that you actively plan to be involved in, in the approaching semester.

Please complete the BIMS 484 Google Form once you have established which professional organization and supervisor you will be working with. Your form will be reviewed by BIMS Advising to determine if the experience you are requesting credit for meets the rigor to count toward your BDE requirements. BIMS Advising will register you for the course if your request is approved; you will need to submit your paperwork before the end of add/drop week. You can potentially register for 0-3 credit hours per semester with a maximum of 6 credit hours of BIMS 484 counting toward BDEs in your degree plan.

Directed Studies – BIMS 285/485

This course provides you with the opportunity to customize your learning through a faculty led, in-depth study of a biomedical science topic. Expectations of directed studies courses can include guided readings and discussions of current literature or direct hands-on learning of laboratory techniques and/or animal handling. The course requires you to reach out to faculty who specialize in a biomedical science topic that you are interested in. You will be responsible for the learning agreement that you make with your selected faculty member and will need to submit your forms with the stated agreement to have the learning opportunity potentially count for course credit. You will not be able to retroactively register for BIMS 485. If you were previously enrolled in a 485 course, and the course meets BDE requirements, you may request a BDE adjustment be made for your previously registered 485 course. Note that these requests are not guaranteed but will be reviewed for consideration. BIMS Advising will notify you if your adjustment request is approved.

BIMS 285/485 with VMBS Faculty

Please complete the appropriate BIMS 285/485 Google Form once you have established which faculty member you will be working with, and a learning agreement has been made with them. Your 485 form will be reviewed by BIMS Advising to determine whether it meets the criteria to count toward your BDE requirements. You can potentially register for 0-3 credit hours per semester with a maximum of 9 credit hours counting toward BDEs in your degree plan. The BIMS 285/485 form must be submitted prior to the end of add/drop week of the semester in which you desire to register. Once signed and completed, BIMS Advising will register you for the directed studies course with the appropriate VMBS faculty member.

BIMS 285/485 with Non-VMBS Faculty

As a BIMS major you can also elect to do biomedical science related directed studies with NON-VMBS faculty. In this case the department associated with that instructor will register you for the directed studies course in their department; you will need to fill out paperwork required from that specific department. In addition, you will also need to complete the 285/485 WITH NON-VMBS Faculty PDF and email the completed form to bims@tamu.edu to have that course reviewed to potentially receive supporting coursework credit for your directed studies course with NON-VMBS faculty. Your directed studies request form will be reviewed by BIMS Advising to assess whether it meets the criteria expected of a BDE, and if the request is approved, a course adjustment (so that your directed studies course can count as BDEs in your degree plan) will be sought after you are registered for the course by the other department.

Research – BIMS 291/491  

This course provides you with the opportunity to customize your learning through a faculty led research experiment(s) and experience. Expectations of the research course includes learning specialized laboratory techniques, doing laboratory experiments, and testing biomedical science related hypotheses and data analysis. The course requires you to reach out to faculty who specialize in a biomedical science research project that you are interested in. You will be responsible for the research agreement that you make with your selected faculty member and will need to submit your forms with the stated agreement to have the research opportunity potentially count for course credit. You can elect to do research with VMBS faculty (professors who are in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences) or with NON-VMBS faculty members.

You can potentially register for 0-4 credit hours per semester with a maximum of 9 credit hours, over your TAMU undergraduate education, counting toward BDEs in your degree plan. BIMS Advising policy does not allow a student to receive a stipend/payment for research credit work. Please complete the appropriate 291/491 form once you have established which faculty member you will be working with, and a research agreement has been made with them.

BIMS 291/491 with VMBS Faculty

You will need to complete the 291/491 WITH VMBS Faculty Form (PDF) if you elect to do research with VMBS faculty (professors who are in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences). Once the form is signed and completed, BIMS Advising will register you for research credit with the appropriate VMBS faculty member. Note that the forms must be submitted prior to the end of add/drop week of the semester in which you desire to register.

BIMS 291/491 with Non-VMBS Faculty

BIMS students can also elect to do biomedical science related research with Non-VMBS faculty. In this case, the department where your professor has an appointment in will register you for the research course; you will need to fill out paperwork required from that specific department. In addition, you will also need to complete the 291/491 Non-VMBS Faculty Form (PDF) to have your research evaluated by BIMS Advising to see if it meets the rigor of the BDE criteria. Your research request form will be reviewed and if approved, a course adjustment (so that your research course can count as a BDE in your degree plan) will be submitted to the registrar’s office after you are registered for the course by the other department.

BDE course credit can potentially be sought retroactively for research completed with Non-VMBS faculty IF you were previously registered for the course and the course sufficiently focused on biomedical science research. Note that you will need to fill out a 291/491 NON-VMBS Faculty Form to have your request considered. Also note that these requests will be reviewed for consideration and are not guaranteed.

MSCI 691 Research

You may choose to do research with faculty members who have an appointment in Texas A&M University College of Medicine. You must seek out your own biomedical science research opportunities with the TAMU College of Medicine faculty and an agreement must be made with the faculty member. The agreement should be reflected on the MSCI 691 Research Form (PDF) that must be submitted to BIMS Advising.

You can register for 0-4 credit hours per semester with a maximum of 9 credit hours, over your TAMU undergraduate education, counting toward BDEs in your degree plan. As MSCI 691 is a graduate level research course, you will earn a S/U for the course; letter grades cannot be earned for this course. BIMS Advising policy does not allow a student to receive a stipend/payment for research credit work.

The MSCI 691 Request Form should include:

1. The student’s academic information
2. The number of credit hours that you and professor have agreed for you to earn
3. The biomedical science research goal(s) and your specific biomedical science related research learning objectives
4. The professor’s signature and the Texas A&M University College of Medicine’s departmental representative’s “College Offering Course” signature (this is the 3^rd signature on the form and is signed by the dean who can be reached at med-graduatestudies@tamu.edu; the student’s professor will assist in seeking this 3^rd signature).

The form should be sent to bims@tamu.edu so that BIMS Advising can determine the appropriateness of the request to count toward BDE criteria. If the request meets the rigor of the BDE criteria, then BIMS Advising will seek out the additional 2 remaining signatures on the form (i.e., the “student’s major dept. head signature” and the “student’s undergraduate dean’s signature”, the second and fourth signatures on the form). Once all 4 signatures are collected then you will be responsible for sending the form back to the Texas A&M University College of Medicine so that they may register you for the MSCI 691 course (your professor will assist you with your registration). The MSCI 691 Research Form should be submitted to the College of Medicine and BIMS Advising before the end of add/drop week.

Lab Safety Trainings

You are responsible to speak with your faculty member to see if they require you to take research laboratory trainings. Your research professor will keep track of these trainings for you. Common research laboratory trainings include:

• 11020 Hazardous Communication
• 2114106 Lab Safety Training

These trainings can be accessed through Traintraq. To access Traintraq, go to:
Howdy -> SSO -> Traintraq.

Please reach out to the Organizational Development Department (through Texas A&M University Human Resources, 979-845-4141 or OrgDev@tamu.edu) if you have trouble accessing Traintraq.

Research as BIMS Writing Intensive Request

Research courses may potentially be used to meet one of two required BIMS Writing Intensive Courses. In this instance, one course could potentially fulfill two requirements, if this is deemed appropriate and if the course fulfills the student’s degree plan needs, a BDE and a BIMS Writing Intensive requirement. Note that BIMS Writing Intensive requirements can only be fulfilled by classes that are in the same college as the student (for BIMS students – The College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences). Keep in mind that the BIMS Writing Intensive Form must be submitted prior to the end of add/drop week of the semester in which you desire to register. For a research course to fulfill the BIMS Writing Intensive requirement, the student must:

1. The student must be registered for a BIMS Writing Research Course (Non-VMBS research courses are not eligible to count toward the BIMS Writing Intensive requirement unless arrangements can be made with the Non-VMBS faculty member to teach a BIMS course).
2. The research professor must agree to the writing intensive requirements and grading requirements. The research professor should provide the student with a copy of their research and writing intensive syllabus. A signed copy, by the professor and student, of the BIMS Writing Intensive Form (PDF) and syllabus should be sent to bims@tamu.edu. 
3. The research professor must assign the student their writing intensive assignments. Examples of the writing intensive assignments can be found in the BIMS Writing Intensive Sample Syllabus.

**It is suggested for the any writing intensive research course to be taken as a second research course rather than as the student’s first research experience.