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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, N7543, 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.

Course #	Course Title	Hours
Clinical Residency Courses
N7530	Analysis of Healthcare*	3
N7543	Inter-Professional Dimensions of Research*	3
N7550	Science-Based Nursing Practice*	3
N7552	Innovations in Practice*	3
Philosophy of Science and Nursing Theory
N7501	Structure of Scientific Inquiry*	3
Research Design and Methods
N7540	Advanced Research Designs and Methods I*	3
N7541	Research II: Measurement in Nursing Research and Practice*	3
N7542	Advanced Research Designs and Methods II*	3
XXXX	Research Methods Elective	3
OR
XXXX	Advanced Research Methods Elective**	3
Statistical Methods
PH1725	Intermediate Biometry I*	4
PH1726	Intermediate Biometry II*	4
Cognates
XXXX	Cognate 1**	3
XXXX	Cognate 2**	3
XXXX	Cognate 3**	3
Candidacy
N7590	Candidacy Examination*	1
Electives
XXXX	Elective 1**	3
XXXX	Elective 2**	3
XXXX	Elective 3**	3
Dissertation
N7600	Dissertation	6
N7600	Dissertation	6
Total		66
** These courses may be selected from offerings at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston or other universities through enrollment agreements. * Required courses are offered only one (1) time a year.

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 and prerequisite or corequisite requirements.

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).

§ The University of Texas School of Nursing at Houston and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston reserve the right to withdraw courses at any time, to change fees or tuition, calendar, curriculum, degree requirements, graduation procedures, and any other requirements affecting students. Changes will become effective whenever the proper authorities so determine and will apply to both prospective students and those already enrolled.