Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) Related Information:

• Admissions Instructions and Requirements
  
• Admissions Deadline: Admits for fall semester only — application deadline April 1
  
• Applicant Letter of Reference Form
  
• Applicant Resources
  
• Catalog (pdf)
  
• Apply Now (pdf)
  

For more information contact:

Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Curriculum Overview§

The curriculum includes 66 semester hours distributed as shown below. The clinical residency course sequence is designed to prepare clinical scholars to develop, test, and implement innovation in health care delivery and to teach the next generations of nurses in advanced practice. During this sequence of courses (N7530, N7550, N7551, N7552) the student participates in clinical practice, interdisciplinary interactions and planning, and the development of a research problem. The student works with an interdisciplinary team of faculty mentors who have established practices and research programs. Courses in this sequence are taken concurrently with those in philosophy of science, theory, and research. These theory research-practice links provide the basis for the student to develop a dissertation topic that is clinically focused yet grounded in a strong theoretical base.

Each doctoral student will be assigned an academic advisor at the time of admission to the doctoral program. The doctoral student and their academic advisor will complete a degree plan to specify which courses are to be taken to complete the degree requirements. Degree plan policy and procedures may be found in PhD Program Policy D7320 (pdf).

Degree Plans

• Full-Time
  
• PhD Part-Time Option 1
  
• PhD Part-Time Option 2
  

Note: 1 semester hour of credit is earned for

• 3 clock hours per week of clinical experience,
• 1 clock hour per week of lecture, or
• 2 clock hours per week of seminar.

Consult individual course descriptions in the catalog for details on clinical, lecture, and seminar hours.

Candidacy Exam

The candidacy examination serves as a basis for determining the student's readiness for pursuing dissertation research. It is composed of a written paper and an oral examination. The student should demonstrate a command of the theoretical and methodological issues related to the selected topic as a basis for pursuing research in a specific population of interest. The candidacy examination is viewed as a continuing step in the educational process building on previous course work and leading to the dissertation proposal defense and the dissertation. Candidacy exam policy and procedures may be found in PhD Program Policy D7315 (pdf).

Dissertation Requirement

An original research dissertation that constitutes a substantial contribution to the body of knowledge in nursing must be completed under the direction of a dissertation committee chairperson who is a member of the School of Nursing faculty. Information regarding the dissertation policy and procedures may be found in PhD Program Policy D7400 (pdf) and the Dissertation Manual (pdf).