Program Mission
Within a research-intensive context, the Faculty of Nursing’s PhD Program exists to prepare for the 21st century nursing scholars who are able to generate new knowledge and facilitate change to advance healthcare outcomes and nursing within a global context.
Program Vision
Students in the PhD Program are engaged in and educated for excellence in the development, organization and evaluation of new knowledge. The Program is characterized by rigour, flexibility and relevance: rigour in the quality of scholarship and flexibility within and relevance to the discipline of nursing and the student’s career goals and research interests. See the Faculty of Nursing website for full description of Program and Principles underlying it.
The graduate will exhibit competencies in each of the following core qualities:
- Advancing nursing
- Enhancing scholarship
- Mobilizing knowledge
- Extending inquiry
- Leading change
Program Requirements
For each student, advancement of the core qualities described in the program vision, will occur through a combination of activities, learning experiences and skills derived from supervision, course participation, scholarly experiences, various other activities and outputs, engagement with faculty and colleagues and reflection. These activities will occur in and outside of the Faculty of Nursing.
All students take the following four courses in the first two years:
In consultation with the supervisor and based on program plans, students are additionally expected to take design/method/analysis courses and one three-credit dissertation seminar (NURS 699 ).
Typically students take a total of 7-10 doctoral level courses which could include nursing history, research methods, statistics and philosophy of science as well as courses in students’ substantive areas. The number and type of courses will vary according to students’ academic backgrounds, experiences and career goals. The majority of courses are offered face to face and a few are offered via e-learning.
The minimum period of residence on campus is one Fall or Winter Term, or two Spring or Summer Terms. However, the Faculty of Nursing may require that a student spend more than the stated minimum time on campus.