Dual Specialties for Women's Health with Adult Primary Care, Oncology, or Nurse Midwifery
Program Description
The Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner (WHNP) program is designed to prepare nurses to provide primary care to women across the life span, from adolescence to older age. The WHNP specialty core provides a sound foundation for the provision of woman-focused care individually and within the context of her family and community as well as the ability to apply this knowledge in a variety of clinical settings. Students may elect to combine WHNP with adult primary care / nurse practitioner (ANP), oncology (ONC) or nurse midwifery (CNM). Students may also elect to add sub-specializations to their specialty core classes. These combined concentrations provide additional educational preparation to pursue leadership positions in clinical practice, education and management.
Graduates are eligible for certification as nurse practitioners in all states in which certification is required. Graduates are also eligible to take certification examinations offered by professional certification organizations such as the American Nurses Credentialing Center or the National Certification Corporation.
Admission
Please contact the Office of Admissions for details regarding admission and financial aid packages. Faculty review applications on a rolling basis so that students may apply to begin this program in the summer or fall semester. Please note, applications for the Women's Dual Specialty Program can only be submitted online.
Admission critieria include:
- Current New York State nursing license or eligibility
- Bachelor’s degree in nursing from an NLN or CCNE accredited program
- Minimum of one year experience in nursing preferred
- Satisfactory score on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
- An undergraduate course in statistics
- A physical assessment course
- Three references attesting to applicant’s academic ability and potential
- Personal goal statement that is congruent with program goals (two pages, double-spaced, 12 pt. font)
- Resume or Curriculum Vitae
*RN's with an associate degree and a non-nursing baccalaureate degree are required to complete 5 credits in community health in addition to the course requirement listed
Curriculum
| Core and Supporting Sciences | Credits |
| Assessing Clinical Evidence | 4 |
| Health Policy | 4 |
| Interpersonal Violence | 1 |
| Practice Management | 1 |
| Advanced Physiology | 3 |
| Pathophysiology Adult | 3 |
| Advanced Pharmacology | 3 |
| Incorporating Genetics | 3 |
| Maternal/Fetal/Newborn Physiology | 3 |
| *Prerequisite: Health Promotion and Disease Prevention or present evidence of equivalent. | |
| WHNP & CNM | |
| Students begin study in the nurse midwifery program
and follow the prescribed full time curriculum sequence for the first
three semesters. In the fourth semester, they add: |
|
| Primary Care of Women II | 3 |
| Advanced Practicum in Women's Health | 5-6 |
| Capstone Seminar | 1 |
| WHNP & ANP | |
| Students must complete the women’s health nurse practitioner program before beginning the adult nurse practitioner program. | |
| WHNP & ONC | |
| Students may begin study in either adult primary care or women’s health. Clinical experiences incorporate oncology settings. Additional oncology course work includes: | |
| Fundamentals of Oncology Nursing | 2* |
| Advanced Oncology Nursing | 2 |
| Symptom Management and Palliative Care | 2 |
| *OCN certified nurses may seek advanced standing | |
School of Nursing
The School of Nursing has paved the way for professional nursing since 1892 and continues to lead the field as the foremost institution for advanced practice nursing. The School of Nursing is a designated World Health Organization Collaborating Center for International Nursing Development in Advanced Practice. With urban clinical sites, expert faculty practitioners, cutting edge research, and the strength of the Columbia name and reputation, the School of Nursing produces graduates who possess the skills necessary to bring advanced practice nursing into the new millennium. As medical advances offer a cascade of new and useful therapies, the need for more health care providers will increase exponentially. Our country will face many health care challenges in the next 20 years, and nurse practitioners are essential to providing access to quality primary care.
Founded in 1892 as Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing, the School became part of Columbia University in 1937 and began offering the baccalaureate degree. It is one of the oldest schools of nursing in the US . In 1956, it became the first nursing program in the country to awards a master’s degree in a clinical nursing specialty. In 1999, the School granted its first doctoral degree. More than 9,000 nurses have graduated since the School opened.
The School shares the Columbia University Health Sciences Campus with the School of Public Health , the School of Dental and Oral Surgery, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Each of these schools adds to the richness and diversity of the educational experience of students and faculty.
School of Nursing faculty have substantial experience in curriculum, instructional design, and research. They maintain expertise in their areas of teaching responsibility through participation at local, regional, and national conferences, involvement in scholarly presentations and publications and faculty practice. Columbia University School of Nursing is distinguished by the clinical excellence of its programs and graduates. Columbia nurses are making crucial contributions and improving the health of individuals wherever they practice.
The above information is current as of 06/07 and is subject to change
at any time.