Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Science

Program Overview

Our online Ph.D. in Nursing Science program prepares graduates to pursue a career of scientific inquiry, scholarship, and professional leadership. We recruit talented and diverse applicants who possess a research interest that matches our faculty’s research expertise, and a commitment to accomplishing the program milestones.

Motivated individuals without a nursing background, who have health-related work experience, may also benefit from this terminal degree and should seek advice from the program director about eligibility.

Why MUSC's Ph.D. Program

• Stipends for Financial Support: Available stipends and scholarships to help support your academic journey and research endeavors.
• Pilot Funding for Individual Research Projects: Access to pilot funding to support and advance your own research projects, helping to build the foundation for impactful work in nursing science.
• Technology Applications Center for Healthful Lifestyles (TACHL): Collaboration opportunities with TACHL, which specializes in the development, testing, and dissemination of digital innovations designed to promote health, prevent disease, and manage healthcare effectively.
• The Zucker Institute for Innovation Commercialization: Leverage resources from the Zucker Institute to support the commercialization of innovative research, bringing your ideas to life and maximizing their impact.
• Expert Research Mentorship: Receive guidance from nationally and internationally recognized scientists and mentors in the behavioral health space, ensuring that you are supported by leaders who are shaping the future of health and nursing science. Learn about faculty interests: https://nursing.musc.edu/research/faculty-interests
• Collaborative Research Opportunities: Engage in mentored research opportunities as you collaborate with faculty members who are at the forefront of behavioral health, program development, and implementation science.
• Cutting-Edge Research Infrastructure: Take advantage of state-of-the-art resources and facilities designed to enhance your research capabilities and foster innovation in nursing science.

Curriculum

Ph.D. in Nursing Science program offers the options of three-year or four-year plans of study. The Ph.D. curriculum is designed to promote our students’ achievement of essential competencies required of a novice researcher. Both programs require 53 semester hours of course work and 14 semester hours of dissertation.

* A minimum of fourteen (14) credit hours of NRPHD 990 are required. Credits above that amount maybe required, at 3 credits per semester, until the dissertation work is completed.

Minimum of 9 credit hours of Research of Content Focused Electives:

• NRPHD 708 Advanced Health Policy & Advocacy. 3 credit hours
• NRPHD 829 Mixed Methods Research. 3 credit hours
• NRPHD 840 Nursing Workforce Research. 3 credit hours
• NRPHD 842 Intervention Development, Dissemination, & Implementation 3 credit hours
• NRPHD 843 Palliative Care Research. 3 credit hours
• NRPHD 844 Community Engagement for Health Equity Research. 3 credit hours
• NRPHD 845 Trends in Technology Science. 3 credit hours

Additional courses may be taken as research or content electives with permission of the course faculty, research mentor, and PhD Assistant Dean.

• NRPHD 800 Mentored Teaching, 3 credit hours
• NRPHD 841 Mentored Special Topics. 1-9 variable credit hours
• Nurse Educator Courses required for NFLP recipients if not already CNE:
  • NURSM 615. Methodology of Online Teaching, 3 credit hours
  • NURSM 703. Instructional Process, 3 credit hours
  • NURSM 713. Curriculum Design & Development, 3 credit hours

Learning Intensives

Learning Intensives provide opportunities for collaborative learning and evaluation of expected competencies. The Learning Intensives are synchronized with the program of study to provide additional support for building scholarly scientific knowledge and skills over time, peer engagement, and socialization to the nurse scientist role. The Intensives integrate and expand on coursework through activities such as student presentations, scholarly discussions, interactive workshops, and review of work with faculty.