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Master's and Post-master's Programs

Postdoctoral Fellowships

Ph.D. Program

What are U-M School of Nursing Alumni saying about the program?

I feel privileged to have graduated from the University of Michigan School of Nursing's doctoral program. I am confident that I had the best preparation for my academic career as an educator, researcher, and practitioner. The U of M program allowed me to pursue my research passion of stress and cardiovascular disease in Black Americans with excellence and expertise. Further, Michigan graduates are in high demand. Due to Michigan's reputation for preparing excellent doctoral graduates, many schools of nursing pursued me for employment. I was then able to select a school that fit my professional, personal and family goals. I accepted a position as an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I am proud to say that I am a Michigan grad---a school that carries such prestige and prepares excellent nurses at all levels.

Debra Brown, PhD, RN, CFNP, CANP
Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"My PhD program was one of the highlights of my professional career. Joining together with my classmates and the faculty to tackle the rigors of graduate study, we formed bonds which continue today. At the time, we called it 'Brigadoon' because we knew it was an exceptional opportunity to immerse ourselves in academia, become scholars, and experience a special time in our lives. With encouragement from a faculty mentor, I learned to think differently, more critically. Blending economics and nursing, at that time an unusual combination, has prepared me well for my career. My Michigan connections have provided a network which I use routinely. Visiting campus recently, making the obligatory tour of the school, Rackham and the Union, reminded me yet again of how influential the experience at Michigan has been in shaping who I am and what I do today."

Joanne M. Disch, PhD, RN, FAAN
Professor and Director, Katharine J Densford International Center
for Nursing Leadership
Katherine R and C Walton Lillehei Chair in Nursing Leadership
University of Minnesota School of Nursing
Minneapolis, MN 55455

"My motives for entering doctoral study in nursing at the University of Michigan in 1991 included a desire to immerse myself in the study of nursing and health care delivery with some of the leaders of these fields. I had been active in a variety of areas of nursing, and in health policy, for many years, and I felt the need to pursue my interests in a more scholarly way. The University of Michigan, with its excellent doctoral program in Nursing, and its first class School of Public Health, seemed like a perfect place to pursue my interests.

While my study of health policy related issues was enlightening and satisfying, my chosen career direction took a somewhat different path. During the program, I began to consider the decision-making challenges patients and their families face, and the few mechanisms to support these decisions. I then designed an entrepreneurial venture which weds my nursing background and experience with my advanced knowledge in research, decision-making and ethics. My PhD in nursing is invaluable to me for several reasons. I feel confident in my abilities to interpret research relevant to my client's health problems, I understand from my coursework and research the challenges patients face in making treatment decisions, and I am able to help clients make decisions with greater ease and more confidence. I can help my clients identify the merits of various alternative therapies that they may want to pursue. In addition, I have a highly respected credential from a well-respected University, which gives me credibility both in the business world and with my clients.

My doctoral education in nursing at the University of Michigan taught me the values of contemplation, creativity, scholarship, critique, and persistence. While I see my education as ongoing, and my career as evolving, I feel confident and prepared to contribute to health care delivery in a way that is both satisfying to me and valuable to others."

Denise Jacob, PhD, RN
President, Health Decision Resources

"My educational experience in the School of Nursing has been inspiring and rewarding. Not only has the doctoral program prepared me to meet the challenges in healthcare, I have had the opportunity to exchange ideas, establish professional networks, and collaborate with renown nurse scientists. I believe that these relationships, established as a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, will be invaluable in both my professional and personal endeavors."

Linda Scott, PhD, MSN
Associate Professor, Kirkhof School of Nursing
Grand Valley State University, Allendale, Michigan

"My UM/SON doctoral education equipped me to pursue an interdisciplinary program of research on traumatic stress and childbearing. The research training I received prepared me to integrate psychosocial and biological measures, and to use both quantitative and qualitative approaches to study the richness of the phenomenon and maximally influence future research and clinical practice in women's health."

Julia S. Seng, PhD, CNM, RN
Assistant Research Scientist, School of Nursing
Research Intestigator, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan