The curriculum for the Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Program at Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston includes 66 semester hours for MSN-prepared students and 90 hours for BSN-prepared students. The course sequence is designed to prepare nurse scientists to develop, test, and implement innovation in health care delivery and to teach the next generations of nurses in research and practice.
During the sequence of courses, the student participates in development of a research program that includes interdisciplinary interactions. The student works with an interdisciplinary team of faculty mentors who have established research programs. Courses in the nursing sequence are focused on the health care delivery system, theory, and research.
The student also takes one elective and three cognate courses to develop knowledge in a focused area of interest. The theory, research, and practice links provide the basis for the student to develop a dissertation that is focused on preparing a nurse scientist who will improve health and health care.