Mission

I would look at PhD programs where you would receive full funding. I didn't pay a dime for my PhD (nursing with an informatics specialty). I would focus first on finding and advisor that you want to work with and whose research you admire. Contact them and let them know you are interested and find out if they have funding for pre-doctoral trainees. The easy way to find out who may have funding is by reviewing conference proceedings to see who is presenting at academic (not HIMSS) conferences such as AMIA, MedInfo, and Nursing Informatics 2014 and at the same time you'll find out what research they are currently working on. You'll also be able to find out what they're students are doing by looking at presentations where they are the senior (last) author.

I thought the program was great. Nursing and public health go really well together of course. My friend did peds and pop fam and it took her 3 1/2 years to finish both masters. She also worked full-time at the hospital which I think is the best because she was able to get nursing experience and tuition reimbursement. Of course, this was before the economy tanked and we were all able to get jobs pretty quickly. So I did this 5 years ago so I know things have changed but the fastest way to finish both programs was to do the MSN part-time. That will give you some semesters the first year where you can take full time credits in the MPH program and a class here or there the second year. So you'd always be enrolled in school full time just splitting which schools you were taking classes in. What will make it harder is since your doing pop fam (rather than the general program which is really what the dual degree is designed for) you'll have more required classes to take, which makes the timing tougher. Basically, the nursing program is completely inflexible. All your classes are required, have to be taken in a certain order, and most are offered only once a year so you'll have no problem figuring out what to take. There's more flexibility with the MPH but the advising is pretty good there. On a personal note, I dropped the MSN because I decided I liked research more and switched to the PhD program.

I was in the joint degree MSN/MPH program though I ended up not finishing my MSN. How long it will take you depends on what your nursing specialty is, if you plan to go part-time or full-time and if you plan to do the general MPH program or one of the specialty tracks. I was in the part-time FNP program and general MPH. I would have finished both in 2 1/2 years.

Have you tried doing a mock interview with someone who can give you objective feedback?

So the most important factor in selecting a PhD program is finding a mentor whose research interests match yours. It's really better to go to a lower ranked school with a good mentor then to go to a good school with a bad match. I generally tell people to stay away from online programs because generally they are unfunded (an I don't think anyone should pay for an informatics or nursing PhD) and most seem to just be for people who want the credential to teach, not really do research, which I am gathering is what you want to do. Though I can understand your not wanting to move with kids. It's been a while since I applied so I'm not sure if there have been improvements in online offerings. Another thing you could do is attend the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA.org) in October. That will make it easy to identify people who are doing research that your interested in and possibly meet them (giving you a leg up in the admissions process). Also, almost all the biomedical informatics programs have booths there so you can find out about applying. If you want you can also PM and I can give you more detailed information about my particular program if you're interested.

I just finished a PhD in Nursing but my specialty was informatics and I will be starting a post-doc in biomedical informatics soon. I can try an answer your questions but first I need to know a few things. What type of research would you like to do? What kind of work do you want to do when you'll finish?

I agree with the previous posters. I am also a PhD student at a research intensive university, though the nursing school itself is quite small. All of the new faculty and post-docs we have coming in are from similarly research intensive schools. If you are interested in doing research than finding and adviser with similar research interests and funding for that research as just as critical as the other factors discussed.

To OP: I think this study sounds fascinating. Maybe also a preliminary study with GLBT parents about their perceptions of care they received? KUP on your findings. Mission

The role of nurses in informatics research and policy.

Am I? http://www.rushu.rush.edu/servlet/Satellite?c=RushUnivNews&cid=1266852230713&pagename=CollegeOfNursing%2FRushUnivNews%2FNews_Detail_Page "Students will be eligible for the Robert Wood Johnson GEM scholarships if they are African-American, Hispanic, American Indian, Asian or male (groups underrepresented in nursing) or from disadvantaged backgrounds." http://www.belmont.edu/nursing/accelerated_bsn/ncin.html ■Are from groups that are underrepresented in nursing (men and minorities) or from an economically-disadvantaged background http://www.malenursingscholarships.com/2010/12/kaiser-permanente-nursing-scholarships-in-california/ "*Underrepresented Groups in Nursing (minority and male students)"

Are you sure you didn't qualify for the minority scholarships? Males in nursing usually count as being underrepresented. Also try searching discovernursing.com.

Hi Morrio82, I am also second career nurse with a ba and ms from my previous field. I completed an accelerated BSN program in '06. 5 years later I can tell you I am very happy with my choice and the opportunities that becoming a nurse has given me.

That should say you can't teach without theory.

Future of nursing report: http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/The-Future-of-Nursing-Leading-Change-Advancing-Health.aspx I think your guess is probably wrong. Nursing is a science (and an art) and you can't teach science with theory. I think, like many other health sciences, the push is towards teaching interdisciplinary theories and methods. At least that is what my school had done.

Mostly 12 month with no teaching for the first 3 years. IMHO, doesn't make sense to accept a 9 month contract if you are doing research.