The College of Dental Medicine of Columbia University offers a graduate research training program exclusively for students in its postgraduate clinical programs. Through this program, selected students have the opportunity to earn the M.A. degree from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. The program is primarily intended for those clinical trainees whose career goals include participation in academic teaching programs and institutional research programs. Because the program involves clinical training, students become highly trained dental specialists, capable of incorporating new biological concepts in treatment, and act as dental investigators.