UT School of Nursing offers accelerated Ph.D. option with stipends for students
HOUSTON - Nov. 3, 2009 -The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Nursing is offering an opportunity for selected doctoral students to study full time in an Accelerated Ph.D. program that can be completed in just three years. The program, which includes stipends for living expenses, starts in fall 2010.
Now completing its fund-raising stage, a $2 million initiative will provide up to $60,000 per year to help doctoral candidates to earn their Ph.D. in three years rather than the traditional five to seven years. The accelerated curriculum, which includes 66 post-master's credits, will offer the same study plan and rigorous requirements as the traditional doctoral program.
"In addition to financial support, applicants selected for the Accelerated Ph.D. program will be designated as named Scholars. This is a distinction a graduate will carry throughout her or his professional career," said UT School of Nursing at Houston Dean Patricia L. Starck, D.S.N., R.N.
Those accepted to the Accelerated Ph.D. program must agree to provide at least three years of service as nursing faculty at the UT School of Nursing or elsewhere in the Texas Gulf Coast region.
Starting next fall semester, 10 Ph.D. students would be enrolled full-time in the new program. When each group of accelerated Ph.D. graduates begins to teach other nursing students, Starck said, the school could increase its enrollment by 100 students.
"By a conservative estimate, a nurse cares for 1,000 patients every year," said Starck, who also is the John P. McGovern Distinguished Professor of Nursing. "The Accelerated Ph.D. program would mean that at least 100,000 patients benefit from the top-flight skills of these new nursing graduates annually. The impact on health care in our community and on the nursing shortage crisis would be very significant."
A $500,000 challenge grant from The George Foundation, plus support from Memorial Hermann Healthcare System and others, launched the fund-raising campaign for the Accelerated Ph.D. program.
Ranked among the top five percent of the nation's nursing schools by the U.S. News & World Report's 2010 edition of the influential "America's Best Graduate Schools" guide, the UT School of Nursing at Houston is a pacesetter in developing creative academic programs to help reduce the nursing shortage and strengthen nursing's role in meeting society's healthcare needs.
Similarly innovative programs at the UT School of Nursing include: the Accelerated B.S.N. program, in which student complete their degree in three semesters instead of four; the new "Pacesetter" program, which offers traditional B.S.N. students an intensive 16 weeks of full-time clinical experience at the end of their curriculum; and the Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.) degree program, which prepares advanced-practice nurses to be clinical scholars and faculty members in nursing education.
For complete Ph.D. admissions requirements or to apply, visit the School of Nursing.
Meredith Raine
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