Doctoral Programs Overview

Doctoral education at Columbia prepares individuals to fill the growing need for expert researchers and clinicians to meet the health care challenges facing our nation. Graduates are prepared to conduct research or to ameliorate critical health care deficits in our most vulnerable populations.

The Doctor of Science in Nursing (DNSc) program offers a research-intensive curriculum to prepare nurse-investigators who are ready to begin to conduct research on nursing problems, outcomes and health policy independently and as leaders of interdisciplinary teams. Graduates of the DNSc Program will have the investigative skills necessary to extend clinical nursing knowledge through innovation and discovery. They will be trained in health policy principles to work collaboratively with other professionals and advocacy groups to improve the health care system. Specifically, nurse-scientist graduates will be prepared to begin to:

DNSc courses are in three major clusters: 1) theoretical foundations of nursing science; 2) analytical foundations of nursing science and 3) elective and application courses closely mentored by faculty through which the student develops specialized research expertise.

NOTE: A faculty committee is developing a plan for a proposal to transition the DNSc program to a PhD program. Read about it HERE.

The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program offers a clinically focused curriculum to prepare expert practitioners. The degree represents the highest academic preparation in clinical nursing. Graduates of the DNP program will be advanced practice nurses with the knowledge and skills for fully accountable expert care to patients across all care settings. The clinical doctorate can be conferred in conjunction with any specialty in advanced nursing practice.

The DNP graduate has the critical decision-making knowledge and clinical skills for the:

DNP program includes: a) 30 credits of science underpinning practice and practica, b) a year of full-time residency (10 credits), and c) the completion of a scholarly portfolio of complex case studies, scholarly papers and published articles.

Similarities between DNP and DNSc

Graduates of the two different doctoral programs both participate in active scholarship, including the scholarship of discovery; the integration and application of new knowledge to clinical practice and health policy, and the scholarship of teaching. In both programs, there is emphasis on the development of skills necessary to provide leadership to the nursing profession and to the greater health sciences community as developers and translators of “evidence-based” practices. Students from both programs come together in coursework on ethical theory and decision-making, research methodologies, and translating research to practice and policy. Both types of graduates are prepared to perform as nursing educators in research-intensive universities or other academic settings with advanced degree programs.

Difference between DNP and DNSc

The DNSc degree is a research doctorate that requires a dissertation. Like the PhD, it prepares graduates to function as beginning nurse-investigators and scholars, with the goal of building a program of research as independent nurse-scientists involved in the discovery and refinement of nursing knowledge.

The DNP degree is a clinical doctorate that prepares the graduate to practice independently with the most complex patients, in any setting, utilizing complicated informatics and evidence-based decision-making skills. The degree requires a DNP portfolio that is of equal detail and compelling evidence as a research dissertation. The DNP is the highest degree for nurse-clinicians and prepares them to practice fully accountable care for patients across settings and over time.