What is the meaning of pre-doctoral program?
In some parts of the world, this is the term used for a PhD program.

Before you obtain your doctorate (i.e. PhD), you are a pre-doctoral fellow or a doctoral candidate. After you have obtained it, you may become a post-doctoral fellow.

Example: http://www.ral.uni-leipzig.de/en/home/postdocs/pre-doc-award/



In other parts of the world, "predoctoral" may refer to the period before a student enrolls in a PhD programme.



On a related note, the term "PhD" is much abused these days with students who have not yet obtained a PhD being referred to as "PhDs". This is quite inaccurate as they have not yet obtained the degree and are thus not "doctors". They are a "PhD students", i.e. studying towards obtaining a doctorate.