MSTP Fellows are simultaneously enrolled in the School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of New York University in a coordinated and integrated curriculum that emphasizes the close association of fundamental science and medicine. Throughout their tenure in the program, an average of eight years, students receive full fellowships which include tuition remission, stipends currently set at $27,000 per year and health insurance. The program receives financial support from an MSTP grant awarded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIH), as well as from the NYU School of Medicine and private foundations.

The usual course of study includes the first two years of medical school integrated with three summer research rotations followed by approximately 4 years of thesis studies, culminating with a PhD degree. After concluding with approximately 18 months of clinical clerkships and electives in the hospitals of Tisch , New York Veterans Administration and Bellevue, the MD degree is awarded and fellows enter top tier residency programs around the country. The typical MD/PhD graduate devotes approximately 80% of his or her time to biomedical research and the remainder to clinical or administrative responsibilities, usually in clinical departments of research-oriented medical centers.