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Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Since its inception in 1954, the PhD program in nursing at the University of Pittsburgh has been characterized as pioneering. The University of Pittsburgh was one of the first three schools in the nation to recognize the importance of doctoral preparation in nursing and to offer a Doctor of Philosophy program of study. The School continues to be a trend setter, modifying the curriculum in response to current and future needs and offering both the MSN to PhD and BSN to PhD options. The current program ensures that the reputation for timeliness and excellence will continue.

Program Description

The program of study provides a coherent series of courses, seminars, and discussions designed to develop in the student a mature understanding of content, methods, and values of the field of nursing and its relation to other fields. The curriculum includes courses in history and philosophy of science, theoretical foundations for research, and the structure of knowledge. Additional courses include advanced statistics, advanced quantitative methods, quantitative and qualitative research methods, instrumentation, and several research practica with experienced research mentors. Students work closely with faculty researchers from nursing and other disciplines. The dissertation is the culminating requirement in the course of study.

Doctoral study is rigorous and requires considerable time and energy on the part of both students and faculty. The Doctor of Philosophy Degree requires a distinctive level of performance as a scholar and researcher; this goes beyond an acceptable level of performance in individual courses that comprise the program of study.

Research interests and expertise of doctoral program faculty reflect a diversity of educational backgrounds and research experience. Early in the program, the student selects an area of research emphasis. This research interest must match a faculty member's research emphasis. The research emphasis areas focus on adolescent health, chronic disorders, critical care, women's health, technology, and genetics and are in keeping with the goals and mission of the University, its resources and cooperating agencies, and with the expertise of the School of Nursing doctoral faculty.

The PhD program in Nursing requires a focal concentration to be taken outside the School of Nursing. The purpose of this focal concentration is "to strengthen research competence by developing an understanding of essential knowledge from related fields applicable to a focused area of study in nursing" (from Minutes, Doctoral Retreat, December, 1989) The Focal Concentration:

  • Consists of a minimum of 12 cognate credits
  • Requires that at least six credits be taken outside the School of Nursing
  • Allows for one of the four courses in the concentration to be an independent study
  • Enables students to take courses in more than one department or school

Prerequisites to the advanced statistical courses in the curriculum plan include parametric statistical courses which prepare the student in descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. If the student does not possess such statistics background when entering the program, then the parametric statistics sequences offered in the Department of Biostatistics (BIOSTAT 2041 and BIOSTAT 2042) or in the School of Education (PSYED 2014, 2015, and 2016) have to be taken and completed with a minimum of a B grade. Students may also fulfill these prerequisites at other universities. An evaluation of the content of a course taken elsewhere must be made by the Coordinator of the Doctoral Program to determine its comparability with the prerequisite knowledge base needed by all students. Prerequisite statistics course work is reinforced when students enroll in required courses during their doctoral program: a 3-credit course in regression analysis (BIOSTAT 2049, PSYED 2410 or PSYED 3410) and a 3-credit course in a specialty concentration of advanced statistics or research methods. The doctoral faculty strongly recommends that students develop knowledge of and experience with word processing, database management, and computerized literature searches prior to applying to the doctoral program.

Purpose and Objectives

The purpose of the PhD in nursing degree program is to prepare scholars who will discover and extend scientific knowledge that advances the science and practice of nursing and contributes to other disciplines. Objectives are to enable graduates to:

  1. generate new knowledge through research and testing of theory;
  2. examine the trends and factors that influence the generation of knowledge and its use in health care;
  3. contribute to solutions that advance health care in a culturally diverse society through communication of knowledge to the scientific community;
  4. reflect a nursing and interdisciplinary perspective in research and scholarly endeavors.

Length of Program

The post-master's full-time student (MSN to PhD) may complete the program in eight terms of study beyond the master's degree (64 credits minimum) depending upon the nature and complexity of research for the dissertation. The part-time student may complete the program in four to six years. The statute of limitations for completion of the program is eight consecutive calendar years from the first term of registration for credits that are in the required curriculum plan for the doctoral degree.

In addition to the requirements for the traditional doctoral program, the BSN to PhD (94-97 credits) requires selected coursework from the master's program. These courses do not lead to a master's degree but must be completed prior to beginning the 3000 level doctoral courses. Students admitted to the BSN to PhD program are expected to enroll full-time. The statute of limitations for completion of the program is 10 consecutive calendar years from the first term of registration for credits that are in the required curriculum plan for the doctoral degree. For more information, see Policy 208.

Residency Requirement

The University Council of Graduate Studies has mandated that students seeking the PhD degree are required to engage in a minimum of one term of full-time doctoral study (nine credits), which excludes any other employment except as approved by their departments. The doctoral student must notify the Doctoral Program Coordinator in writing the term in which this occurs.

Preliminary Examination

The preliminary examination is taken after completing a minimum of 18 credits of work that have been accepted as credits required for the degree including: Theoretical Foundations for Research, Research Methods, Philosophy of Science, Structure of Knowledge, and all statistics prerequisites. The preliminary examination is designed to assess the student's breadth of knowledge of the discipline of nursing and potential ability to apply research methods independently. Remediation work may be required if deficiencies are identified that may impede the student's success in program completion. For more information, see Policy 230.

Dissertation Committee

The student selects a qualified nursing faculty member with expertise in the area of research focus to guide the research and chair the dissertation committee. After the student and dissertation chair agree on a topic and a general method to approach the proposed study, the student seeks approval of the dissertation focus from PhD Council.

In consultation with the committee chair, the student selects a minimum of three faculty members in addition to the committee chair to serve as dissertation committee members. The majority of the committee, including the major advisor, must be full or adjunct members of the Graduate Faculty of the University of Pittsburgh. Three committee members must be faculty in the School of Nursing.

This doctoral committee has the responsibility to advise the student during the progress of the candidate's research and has the authority to require high-quality research and/or the rewriting of any portion or all of the dissertation. It conducts the final oral examination and determines whether the dissertation meets acceptable standards.

Meetings of the doctoral candidate and his/her dissertation committee must occur at least annually from the time the student gains admission to doctoral candidacy. During these meetings, the committee should assess the student's progress toward the degree and discuss objectives for the following year and a timetable for completing degree requirements. It is the responsibility of the student to give the Doctoral Program Coordinator a summary of the meetings.

Membership of the doctoral committee may be changed whenever it is appropriate or necessary, subject to the approval of the Doctoral Program Coordinator and the Dean. For more information, see Policy 227.

Dissertation Focus

Dissertation focus must be approved by the PhD Council before the student can proceed with the selected research. This approval will be based on the appropriateness of the study topic to the science of nursing and the match between the School of Nursing faculty and the research topic. For more information, see Policy 234

Comprehensive Examination and Overview

The comprehensive examination assesses the student's mastery of the general field of doctoral study, acquisition of depth and breadth of knowledge in a focused area of study, and the ability to use the research methods of the discipline and is done in conjunction with the overview. No more than nine (9) credits of dissertation may be completed prior to successful completion of the comprehensive examination. The comprehensive examination is taken after completion of all required course work. Overview requires the student to formulate a research plan and to justify the selected approach for studying the topic.For more information, see Policy 235.

Admission to Candidacy for the Doctoral DEGREE

Admission to candidacy for the Doctor of Philosophy degree constitutes a promotion of the student to the most advanced stage of graduate study and provides formal approval to devote essentially exclusive attention to the research and the writing of the dissertation. To qualify for admission to candidacy, students must be in full graduate status, have satisfied the requirement of the preliminary evaluation, have completed formal course work with a minimum quality point average of 3.00, have passed the comprehensive examination, and have received approval of the proposed subject and research plan or overview.

Dissertation

Each student must write a dissertation that presents the results of a research project carried out by the student. An appropriate research project involves a substantive piece of original and independent research grounded in an appropriate body of literature. It is relevant to an identifiable field as it is currently practiced. It presents a hypothesis tested by data and analysis and provides a significant contribution or advancement in that field. It is the responsibility of the student's doctoral committee to evaluate the dissertation in these terms and to recommend the awarding of the doctoral degree only if the dissertation is judged to demonstrate these qualities.

Characteristics that a dissertation should demonstrate are: the establishment of an historical context for the presentation of an innovative and creative approach to the problem analysis and solution; a clear understanding of the problem area as revealed by analysis and synthesis of a broad literature base; a well-defined research design; clarity in composition and careful documentation; results of sufficient merit to be published in refereed journals or to form the basis of a book or monograph; sufficient detail so that other scholars can build on it in subsequent work; and the preparation of the author to assume a position within the profession. The date and title of the defense must be submitted to the Doctoral Program Coordinator one month prior to the final defense so that this event can be announced to the University community.

Financial Aid

Teaching Fellow, Graduate Student Researcher, and Graduate Student Assistant positions, which provide a stipend and tuition benefits, are available on a competitive basis. Doctoral students are encouraged to apply for individual National Research Service (T32 NR). Awards for predoctoral fellowships through the "Technology Research in Chronic and Critical Illness . Scholarships and grants providing partial tuition support are available subject to funding. Doctoral students may also qualify for loans or predoctoral minority supplements for further financial assistance. For more information, see the Current Students section of the Nursing Web site.

Organizations

PhD Council is responsible for planning, implementing, and evaluating the doctoral program, as well as admitting, advising, and monitoring the progression of doctoral students. This Council is comprised of faculty approved for membership in the University Council on Graduate Study and a representative from the Doctoral Nursing Student Organization. The Council is chaired by the Doctoral Program Coordinator.

The Doctoral Nursing Student Organization (DNSO) is the student governance organization for doctoral students and exists for the benefit of doctoral nursing students. Doctoral students are automatically members of DNSO upon registration for graduate courses. The DNSO offers a program of professional and social activities for its members.

Application Procedure

All applicants should obtain application materials from the Student Services Office, School of Nursing, 239 Victoria Building, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 or download the form as a PDF. Each applicant should then submit the following:

  1. Completed application form
  2. Application fee
  3. Complete official transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate work
  4. Admission test scores (see following sections)
  5. Three letters of reference
  6. Personal essay indicating professional goals and focal area of research

After all admission materials have been submitted, each applicant will be personally interviewed by three members of the PHD Council unless great distance is an obstacle. In that case, telephone interviews will be used.

The doctoral program uses a process of rolling admissions. Applicants will be notified at the earliest possible date of their admission status. Applicants wishing to be admitted for full-time study should apply for Fall Term admission.

Qualified applicants are admitted without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, disability, or status as a disabled veteran or a veteran of the Vietnam era. For more information, see Policy 231.

Admission Criteria

Applicants to the MSN-PhD program must have an appropriate master's degree. Some advanced nursing preparation is required. Additional course work may be required when the degree is in a field other than nursing.

Applicants to the BSN-PhD program must have a baccalaureate degree in nursing. These applicants may have modifications to the criteria listed below and will be evaluated individually by PhD Council.

All applicants must have:

  • Graduated with a baccalaureate degree in nursing.
  • A cumulative QPA of 3.5 or higher from a master's program.
  • A current license to practice nursing in a state or territory of the United States. Foreign applicants should see section on Admission of Students from Other Countries.
  • A pre-admission interview. If the applicant resides at a great distance, a telephone interview may be substituted.
  • Three letters of reference attesting to the applicant's capacity and potential for doctoral study. Two references should be from academic sources and one from a recent employer.
  • Scores received within the past five years on the GRE.
  • Prerequisite statistics courses.
  • Evidence of an ability to communicate in writing that includes a statement of goals and focal area of research.

Applicants who do not meet all of the criteria may be admitted with provisional status. Please refer to Policy 231.

Admission of International Students

Application is made through the Student Services Office, School of Nursing, University of Pittsburgh, 239 Victoria Building, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. Applications from international students are reviewed according to the doctoral program admission criteria stated above and are admitted on a rolling basis. The application must be completed in English and accompanied by official academic credentials with notarized English translations. A doctoral applicant must have evidence of the receipt of a degree comparable to the American master's degree for admissions to the MSN to PhD program or a degree comparable to the American baccalaureate degree for admissions to the BSN to PhD program. The official transcripts must show all high school and post-high school work, including grades in each course, examination grades and standing in examinations and classes, and whatever other credentials are available to give a clear description of the student's academic accomplishments.

Important information regarding PhD Applicants from Other Countries.

A student wishing to study full time is advised to apply for Summer Term in order to allow adequate opportunity to take English courses and adjust to life in the United States before beginning the nursing Fall Term curriculum.

International students may not register until non-academic clearance has been issued by the University Office of International Services (OIS). It is especially important that the student have adequate financial support.

After final admission, the School of Nursing reserves the right, even after arrival and enrollment, to require, at the student's expense if necessary, individual curricular adjustments whenever particular deficiencies or needs are found. This could include enrollment in courses prerequisite to the regular course of study or additional course work in English as a second language.

To facilitate the educational experience and to help the student adjust to the United States, the University offers the support of the Office of International Services, 706 William Pitt Union, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Please refer to Policy 201.

Readmission

A new/readmitted student who did not register in the term of admission/readmission is considered inactive and must receive permission from the doctoral program coordinator to be readmitted and to register for a subsequent term.

A student who has not registered for three consecutive terms (one calendar year) will be transferred automatically to inactive status. The student must file an application for readmission to graduate study (and pay the application fee) before being permitted to register again. While on inactive status, a student is not eligible to use the University facilities and should not expect to receive counseling by the faculty or active supervision by his/her advisor and committee. Readmission is not automatic nor does it necessarily reinstate the student in the status enjoyed prior to becoming inactive. Readmitted students must meet all current admission and degree requirements. A student may not be readmitted for the term in which he or she resigned. Please refer to Policy 216.

Contact Information

Dr. Judith Erlen, Doctoral Program Coordinator
Email: jae001@pitt.edu
Phone: 412-624-1905
Tracey Lang, RN, BSN, Graduate Student Advisor
Email: langt@pitt.edu
Phone: 412-624-7941