Alternate entry nursing Phd

[sewmatt]

Hi,

I am a UK pharmacist, working in the UK's National Health service as an HIV specialist Pharmacist. As well as my UK Pharmacy degree I have an MPH in Global Health from the University of South Florida.

I am very interested in branching out into nursing and am seriously thinking of applying for the Alternate Entry Phd at UT Austin for enrolment Summer 2019.

If there Is there anyone out there who is considering or is going through or completed a nursing Phd after coming from a non-nursing background I'd love to hear about your experiences.

Also if anyone is currently doing a Phd at UT I'd love to hear from you. One of the biggest holes in my knowledge is the level of fellowships/scholarships or other funding opportunities, which as an international student paying non resident rates would be most helpful!

[runawayface]

Hi Matt. I completed a similar program at Penn, applying to a BSN/PhD program without a prior nursing/healthcare background. To be perfectly honest, my experience was negative and many of my colleagues would agree.

Obviously, Penn isn't UT Austin and the programs differ, but the advice I would give to anyone considering any program is to fill in the knowledge gaps regarding fellowships/scholarships and funding opportunities. Definitely talk to current students, not just financial aid offices nor recruiters, because the latter will try to lure you with vague talk of financial support which may or may not actually exist. Rather than be lured by the thousands of dollars you may have a chance of getting, you'd want to prepare financially for the worst case scenario (i.e. footing the whole bill).

In the US, residency requirements for in-state tuition differ from state to state, so check specifically with UT. Also, you could still receive funding through federal support (say through the National Institutes of Health), but it depends on your immigration status (e.g permanent resident or not).

Also, there's nothing wrong with completing a bachelor's program first and then deciding whether you would want to do a PhD program later! Especially since there are a loads of differences between PhD programs in the US and graduate degrees in commonwealth countries, even nursing/alternate entry details aside.