Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Post-Graduate Certificate

PMHNP Certificate Program Overview

Make a lasting impact in one of the most vital and rapidly growing fields in health care. As a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP), you’ll be on the front lines of transforming lives—offering expert, compassionate care to individuals across the lifespan. At the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), our PMHNP Certificate Program equips you with the skills, confidence, and clinical experience to lead in this essential specialty.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nurse practitioner role is expected to grow by 45% through 2029—one of the highest rates in the country. Upon graduation, you’ll be eligible to sit for board certification through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).

At MUSC, you’ll learn from nationally recognized faculty committed to advancing behavioral health, telepsychiatry, and interprofessional collaboration. Whether you’re transitioning your practice focus or expanding your scope, our PMHNP Certificate Program offers a streamlined, supportive path to specialization in psychiatric mental health care.

Who Should Apply? 

This post-graduate certificate program is designed for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) who are already certified in another population focus (e.g., FNP, AGNP, PNP) and seek additional certification as a PMHNP.

The Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Role

As an experienced APRN, adding a PMHNP certification allows you to expand your scope of practice into one of the most essential and rewarding areas of health care. Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners assess, diagnose, and treat individuals with mental health and psychiatric conditions using a comprehensive, evidence-based approach. This advanced credential offers you the opportunity to broaden your impact and diversify your clinical expertise.

With a PMHNP certificate, you can:

• Focus on children, adolescents, adults, or all age groups
• Provide psychotherapy, medication management, or a combination of both depending on your interests and clinical setting
• Practice in diverse settings including hospitals, private practices, specialty clinics, schools, telehealth, or community health settings 
• Specialize in high-demand areas such as trauma recovery, addiction treatment, developmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, or perinatal and reproductive psychiatry
• A specialized focus on relationship-building makes this a unique and rewarding specialty.

You will often be seen as an educator – advancing recognition of mental health as a fundamental component of an individual’s well-being and assisting in health care reform and policy development.

Program Highlights: Why Choose MUSC

Our program goes beyond textbooks. You’ll be immersed in rich, real-world experiences and learn from faculty who are passionate about mentoring the next generation of mental health leaders.

• Learn to treat the whole person, not just the diagnosis through a holistic, integrated framework.
• Our curriculum offers specialized training in psychiatric medication management as well as psychotherapy training opportunities in modalities including trauma focused therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing and Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment (COPE).
• Integrated curriculum with an interprofessional learning environment that enables you to learn about a variety of different disciplines and specialty areas such as telemedicine, primary care, school based care, substance use disorders and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Curriculum

Year 1, Spring

Year 1, Summer

Year 1, Fall

Year 2, Spring

PMHNP Clinical Experience

Clinical training at MUSC is where knowledge becomes practice and your future comes to life. We support your placement efforts whether you're in South Carolina or out of state, and our network continues to grow

• PMHNP students are required to complete clinical hours at approved sites.
• Our current students are gaining hands-on experience in a wide range of clinical settings, including EMDR therapy, telehealth, school-based mental health, trauma recovery programs, substance use treatment centers, and opportunities to work with diverse and specialized populations.
• A portion of your clinical time may be spent conducting psychotherapy with a PMHNP, Psychologist, or Licensed Counselor.
  
  

Meet Your Lead Faculty, Dr. Hannah Robidoux

Hannah Robidoux
DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC
Assistant Professor
Lead Faculty
robidouh@musc.edu

Dr. Hannah Robidoux is an Assistant Professor in the College of Nursing at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), where she teaches in both the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs. She also serves as the lead faculty for the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) track, guiding curriculum development, student mentorship, and strategic initiatives to strengthen the PMHNP program. She is passionate about both teaching and advancing mental health care, particularly for pediatric and adolescent populations.

Dr. Robidoux began her academic journey with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of South Carolina. She later earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice from MUSC, specializing as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.

Her clinical career began in cardiac and medical-surgical hospital settings before transitioning to psychiatry, where she worked at a psychiatric residential treatment facility focused on children and adolescents. After completing her DNP, she completed a one-year fellowship at MUSC’s College of Nursing in collaboration with the Center for Telehealth, focusing on expanding behavioral health access for patients across the lifespan through telepsychiatry.

Dr. Robidoux is board-certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) as a PMHNP across the lifespan. She currently provides outpatient telehealth services to pediatric and adolescent patients through MUSC’s College of Nursing Next Steps Clinic in North Charleston, SC.

Her scholarly work focuses on early identification and intervention in infant and pediatric mental health, behavioral health equity, the impact of digital technology on child development and innovative approaches to training the future psychiatric workforce. She has published on topics such as maternal mental health, conceptualizing infant mental health in neonatal nursing, and the impact of screen time on children’s psychological development. She has presented nationally, most recently on integrating innovative interdisciplinary psychotherapy training for PMHNP students.

Dr. Robidoux is an active member of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties and the Neuroscience Education Institute.

Since joining the College of Nursing faculty in 2022, Dr. Robidoux has remained committed to mentoring the next generation of nurse practitioners and fostering a collaborative, student-centered learning environment aimed at improving mental health outcomes for all.

Federal Aid Notice: Due to federal funding guidelines, federal financial aid is unavailable to students who participate in the Psychiatric Mental Health Certificate program.