Introduction:
It is important to prepare PhD students in nursing with scientific knowledge in this profession based on correct and applicable curricula. The doctoral program has traditionally been considered the focus of nursing research; therefore, evaluating the quality of nursing doctoral education and comparing it with robust educational programs in the world is essential. The University Of Pennsylvania School Of Nursing, of the United States, is ranked No. 1 in the world in 2019. The purpose of this study was to compare the PhD Nursing curriculum of Iran and the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Nursing.
Materials and Methods:
This study is a descriptive-comparative study. Information on the latest Nursing Doctoral Program is obtained through a computer search on the Internet and an overview of the Iranian Nursing Doctoral Curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania Web site. The model used in the research is the Beredy method, which comprises four main stages of description, interpretation, neighborhood, and comparison.
Results:
The program structure of the University of Pennsylvania consists of focused courses and a dissertation that are structurally similar to the mandatory and optional specialty courses of the nursing PhD program in Iran. The overall goal of nursing PhD program in Iran is to train students in the fields of education, research, technology, management and nursing services. The University of Pennsylvania's goal is to specialize in the research, development of nursing scholars to build a research program and advance nursing knowledge. Expectations for these graduates are leadership in universities, health care, government centers and related fields in addition to the research dimension.
Conclusion:
It seems that Nursing PhD program in Iran, due to the combination of the two practical and research coursces, does not fully define the expectations of our Nursing PhD graduates and needs to be specialized according to its goals.