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 and DNP-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.
Current students: If you began the PhD program in the Fall 2021 semester or earlier, please refer to the academic catalog of the year when you started the program for degree requirements.
Candidacy Exam
The candidacy examination serves as a basis for determining the student’s readiness for pursuing dissertation research. 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 Cizik School of Nursing faculty.
Students must complete 12 hours of dissertation prior to graduation. The 12 hours are taken after Candidacy is successfully completed and should be taken in increments of 3 hours but must have at least 3 hours in the last semester (semester of final defense)
Information regarding the dissertation policy and procedures may be found in PhD Program Policy D7400 (pdf). The Dissertation Manual for students admitted before Fall 2021 can be found at found at Dissertation Manual (pre 2021) (pdf). For students admitted Fall 2021 and after, the Dissertation Manual can be found at Dissertation Manual (post 2021) (pdf).
An active list of recent graduate dissertations is available for viewing through the Texas Medical Center library.
