PhD educator, not just researcher!

[maewelland]

So, I want to teach at the university level. I have always wanted to teach (I have current lactation and childbirth educator certifications) and I do quite a bit of teaching in my current position as PMHNP, both with patients and with outside agencies/providers, but I want to teach as my career now. I want to teach students, not just patients, not just their families or other agencies. I want to develop curriculum and implement my lesson plans. I know that PhD is the terminal degree in every academic field and veritable requirement for those wishing to exist in academia for the long-term, so I'm on that path now (I'm applying to PhD programs even as we speak...pray for me please!)

But the kicker is, I don't have much interest in research. At least not nursing science research. My research interests have always tended towards program and policy development. My masters thesis was a meta-analysis of current mother/child attachment treatment modalities, and the nature and specifics of successful programs to promote healthy dyad bonding and how they could be expanded to meet the need for services. And I'd like to continue this line of research in my doctoral studies.

I don't wish to teach at a big research university, that's not important to me. I have attended two prestige universities in the course of my nursing education, and while I loved my experiences at both, they left me with a lot of student loans, and a feeling that my professors were perhaps quite spectacular researchers, but also maybe were not quite spectacular educators. And I want to be an educator.

So does this sound crazy? Obtaining a research degree to, ultimately, not research? Right now I am applying to four nursing PhD programs and one public health/mental health PhD program, but should I be looking at more public health programs? If my research interests are not necessarily specific to nursing, which they are not, should I be looking outside the field? Would I find more luck, or more of what I'm looking for, in public health programs? Or should I stick with nursing across the board? I'm open to suggestions, advice, counsel, jokes, anything you guys have got! Thanks!

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

Why would you not consider a DNP program? They're NOT just for advance practice nurses, you know. I am in a DNP program designed specifically for educators at Touro University Nevada right now. There are DNP programs for leadership, informatics and more.

[maewelland]

Thanks for the suggestion! I did a lot of thinking about a DNP, there's just a lot of conflicting information out there and it's difficult to porifice through it all. I've heard that DNP's are accepted in most teaching positions, but PhD's are preferred for tenured positions. I've also heard that there's no difference between DNP and PhD in terms of tenured positions! I've heard that policy positions-should I ever want to expand my career into healthcare policy, which is a possibility I would like to leave open-very nearly require a PhD, and might even prefer a public health PhD over a nursing PhD. And I also know that education administrators at various universities have both DNP's and PhD's, depending on the individual, and that some even have DrPH's, if they went to school a long time ago.

There are just so many options out there, and I'm just barely young enough to have them all seem viable to me and my career at this point! Hence my confusion...

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

The choice is obviously yours, but here's a little nugget to consider: There are currently 12 graduating DNPs for every graduating PhD. In my program, there are overwhelmingly non-PhD doctorates (DNP, EdD, HScD) in tenured positions.

I had a really strong research focus in my MSN program, so I feel confident in my research abilities. (I've had two of my studies published so far) I chose the DNP specifically because I don't want to spend 4-7 years getting a PhD. As the internet meme says "Ain't nobody got time for that!"

[llg, PhD, RN]

There are a lot of colleges that are not R1's. Not every school is research intensive. Some schools are more focused on teaching than research. With a PhD, you'll have plenty of opportunities to teach at such schools. You don't have to get a faculty job at a research-focued university.

I have a PhD and do Staff Development at a hospital -- no big research required. I teach ... do program development ... policy development ... coordinate student placements ... a little research if I want to ... a few evidenced-based practice projects ... and make more money than most faculty members. I know a lot of faculty members at local schools (many with PhD's) who focus a lot more on teaching than on research.

[maewelland]

Thanks for the responses! I'm glad to hear that there are options for the PhD outside of research heavy endeavors. Makes me feel more secure about my current plans. Out of curiosity, how did you get into staff and policy development?