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Doctor of Nursing Practice/Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing

DNP Advanced Practice/PhD Dual Degree Program

Why Hopkins?

Students in the DNP Advanced Practice/PhD Dual Degree program are motivated by clinical practice and research innovations that will produce practice transformations and improve care. This program is the first in the country where students can receive both degrees simultaneously from one school, and graduates will be prepared at the highest level to conduct clinical research, teach, mentor, and implement innovations to enhance patient outcomes.

Curriculum Highlights

The DNP Advanced Practice/PhD Dual Degree requires completion of both teaching and research residencies. Through the experiences, students will learn how to combine the roles of educator with clinician and scholar. Students will work with Hopkins faculty mentors to select courses and identify opportunities that align with their research and/or clinical training program.

The Best of Both Worlds

The DNP Advanced Practice/PhD Dual Degree program creates rigorously prepared clinical scholars that offer the nursing profession a ‘best of both worlds’ approach to creating innovative solutions for clinical curriculum development, faculty practice, and scientific inquiry. By combining the PhD goal of creating leaders in nursing science development with the DNP mission to prepare expert nurse clinicians into an integrated curriculum, students receive both outstanding research and clinical practice experience.

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DNP ADVANCED PRACTICE/PhD PROGRAM OUTCOMES

At the completion of the dual degree program, the graduate:

  • Possesses knowledge and skills in theoretical, methodological, and analytic approaches that will enable them to conduct and apply research to discover, apply, and advance knowledge in nursing science, health, and health care.
  • Functions at the highest level of nursing practice by integrating nursing, public health, and medical science with ethics and the biophysical, psychosocial, analytical, organizational, and public health sciences.
  • Demonstrates organizational and systems leadership for quality and safety.
  • Utilizes clinical scholarship and analytical methods for evidence-based practice.
  • Applies information systems and technology for the provision and/or transformation of health care.
  • Leverages transdisciplinary collaboration for the improvement of individual and population health outcomes.
  • Utilizes strategies of risk reduction/illness prevention, health promotion, and health maintenance for individuals and populations.
  • Develops, evaluates, advocates, and provides leadership for health care policy that shapes health care financing, regulation, access, and delivery.
  • Assumes a leadership role in nursing and in the broader arena of health care, both nationally and internationally.
  • Provides leadership to address health inequities through creative research and articulation of the value propositions guiding the research.

 

Additional Information

View the recording of the Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) and Doctor of Nursing Practice and Doctor of Philosophy (DNP/PHD) virtual information session.

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Doctor of Nursing Practice/Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing

DNP Advanced Practice

Within the DNP, students will select an Advance Practice Track. The options for this dual degree are:

Students in the DNP Advanced Practice/PhD Dual Degree program are required to be on campus. Some content will be delivered online.

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Priority Application Deadlines

Summer Entry
December 1

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Meet A Student

Take a glimpse into the life of a Hopkins Nursing doctoral student.

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Emerald Jenkins
MSN, RN
DNP Advanced Practice-PhD Candidate
I thought ‘this is it!’ It combined all the things I want to do: practice, conduct research, teach, affect policy—and I didn’t want to do any of those things less.

In the clinic and from the front of a classroom, Emerald Rivers has witnessed roadblocks to quality patient care. Rivers, a graduate of the MSN: Entry Into Nursing Program at Johns Hopkins, sees academic accomplishment, primary care practice, policy influence, and teaching/mentoring as the ways over, around, or through such obstacles.

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Requirements

Admission Criteria

  • Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree or an entry-level nursing master's degree from an ACEN or CCNE accredited college or university or an equivalent degree from a comparable foreign institution
  • Scholastic GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale
  • Proof of current nursing licensure. Students must have or obtain Maryland RN licensure for matriculation (or RN license from a compact state)
  • One year of full-time RN experience preferred*
  • Three letters of recommendation (two academic and one professional)**
  • Official transcripts (from all previous colleges/universities)
  • Current Resume/CV
  • A written statement of Advanced Practice role and research goals including reason for interest in Johns Hopkins
  • Writing sample (publication or graded paper)
  • GRE scores are accepted but not required
  • Research interests that match faculty expertise and School resources
  • Interview with faculty (if moved forward by admissions committee)
  • TOEFL or IELTS if English is not your native language

Information for applicants with international education

Admissions Application

*The DNP Adult-Gerontological Acute Care NP track requires one year of full-time RN experience engaged in the direct care of adults and older adults who are physiologically unstable, technologically dependent, and require frequent monitoring and intervention within an inpatient, acute care setting (intensive or critical care, intermediate care, progressive care, stepdown or telemetry unit) by the start of the program.

**References should be recent, written for the purpose of your application to this program and from professors who know you as a student or employers who know you as a professional in a job setting preferably in a supervisory role. Personal references from colleagues, friends, or family members do not meet the requirement. For PhD applicants, it is strongly preferred that a least one of your recommenders holds a PhD.

Prerequisites

No prerequisite courses.

STUDENT SPONSORSHIP

This program does not qualify for F-1 or J-1 student sponsorship. Legal Permanent Residents and non-immigrants who are otherwise physically present in the U.S. and in a status that allows for full or part-time study, may pursue this program.

Transfer of Credit

Transfer of credit is granted on an individual basis. Please see the transfer of credit policy and complete the form to make a request.

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Curriculum

The program is designed to be completed in a five-year, full-time plan of study. The program highlights both a structured teaching and research residency.

The plan below is a sample of the DNP Advanced Practice/PhD curriculum.

Year 1

  • Summer (7 credits)
    • Health Information Systems and Patient Care Technology (2)
    • Health Promotion and Risk Reduction Across the Lifespan (2)
    • Context of Health Care for Advanced Nursing Practice (3)
  • Fall (12 credits)
    • Quantitative Research Design and Methods (3)
    • Statistical Methods in Public Health I  (3)
    • Statistical Methods in Public Health II (3)
    • Philosophical Perspectives of Health (3)
  • Spring (12 credits)
    • Qualitative Research Designs and Methods (2)
    • Mixed Methods Research Designs  (2)
    • Statistical Methods in Public Health III (3)
    • Scientific Perspectives in Nursing (3)
    • Measurement in Healthcare Research (2)

Year 2

  • Summer (4 credits)
    • Health Finance (2)
    • Grant Writing (1)
    • Clinical Research Residency I (EBP Project) (1)
    • COMPREHENSIVE EXAMS (NC)
  • Fall (11 credits)
    • Nursing Inquiry for Evidence-Based Practice (3)
    • Dissertation Seminar & Dissertation (1 & 2)
    • Organization and Systems Leadership (2)
    • Elective Credit (4)
    • Research Residency (NC)
    • Teaching Residency (NC)
    • PRELIMINARY ORALS/NRSA Submission (NC)
  • Spring (10 credits)
    • Dissertation Seminar & Dissertation (1 & 2)
    • Responsibilities and Activities of Nurse Scientist  (2)
    • Translating Evidence into Practice (3)
    • Advanced Nursing Health Policy (2)
    • Research or Teaching Residency (NC)
    • PRELIMINARY ORALS/NRSA Submission (NC)

Year 3

  • Summer (9 credits)
    • Dissertation Seminar & Dissertation (1 & 2)
    • Clinical Pharmacology  (4)
    • Research Residency (NC)
    • IRB Submission (NC)
    • Elective Credits (2)
  • Fall (13 credits)
    • Advanced Health Assessment and Measurement (3)
    • Advanced Pathophysiology/ Physiology (4)
    • Dissertation Seminar & Dissertation (1 & 2)
    • Elective Credit (as needed) (3)
  • Spring (10 credits)
    • Elective Credit (as needed) (3)
    • Diagnostics Skills and Procedures for APN (2)
    • Clinical Reasoning I  (2)
    • Dissertation Seminar & Dissertation (1 & 2)

Year 4

  • Summer (7 credits)
    • Clinical Practicum I (2)
    • Clinical Reasoning II (2)
    • Dissertation Seminar & Dissertation (1 & 2)
    • Research or Teaching Residency (NC)
  • Fall (7 credits)
    • Clinical Practicum II (2)
    • Clinical Reasoning III (2)
    • Dissertation Seminar & Dissertation (1 & 2)
    • Research or Teaching Residency (NC)
  • Spring (8 credits)
    • Clinical Practicum III (2)
    • Clinical Reasoning IV (2)
    • Dissertation Seminar & Dissertation (1 & 2)
    • Clinical Research Residency II (EBP II) (1)

Year 5

  • Summer (7 credits)
    • Clinical Practicum IV (2)
    • Clinical Reasoning V (2)
    • Dissertation Seminar & Dissertation (1 & 2)
  • Fall (7 credits)
    • Dissertation Seminar & Dissertation (1 & 2)
    • Clinical Practicum V (4)
    • FINAL ORAL DEFENSE (NC)
    • Research or Teaching Residency (NC)
  • Spring (3 credits)
    • Dissertation Seminar & Dissertation (1 & 2)
    • Research or Teaching Residency (NC)
    • FINAL ORAL DEFENSE (as needed) (NC)

DNP Advanced Practice/PhD Total Number of Credits and Clinical Hours by Track

  • DNP Adult-Gerontological Acute Care NP (academic credits = 128, clinical hours = 784)
  • DNP Adult-Gerontological Primary Care NP (academic credits = 127, clinical hours = 672)
  • DNP Family Primary Care NP (academic credits = 132, clinical hours = 784)
  • DNP Pediatric Primary Care NP (academic credits = 130, clinical hours = 672)
  • DNP Clinical Nurse Specialist (academic credits = 124*, clinical hours = 672)

*125 Credit Hours for Pediatric Critical Care CNS

** Curriculum, credit hours, and sequencing are subject to change.

Note - A minimum of 1000 practice hours is required for the DNP. The Dissertation Seminar & Dissertation courses will provide additional practice hours to meet this requirement.
 

Course Schedules and Descriptions     Academic Catalog

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Tuition & Other Costs

View the costs for the DNP Advanced Practice/PhD Dual Degree Program.

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Funding Opportunities

DNP Advanced Practice/PhD Program Funding

Admitted students will receive 65% of tuition per the academic plan and stipend support for 3 years. Students may be able to receive other scholarships as well.

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Loans

Many students will avail themselves of loans to help finance their School of Nursing Education. If necessary, we encourage you to borrow only what is absolutely essential to cover your educational costs.

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