Doctor of Philosophy – PhD

Program Overview

The Bloomberg Nursing Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing (PhD) Degree is designed to prepare scientists with the analytical and research skills required for the study of clinical or administrative nursing problems. The completion of a thesis forms a major component of the program.

Graduates of the program will demonstrate:

• superior understanding of the theoretical foundations of nursing science;
• a broad appreciation of the relationship between nursing science and the scientific basis of other health disciplines;
• in-depth knowledge and specialization related to a selected aspect of nursing science;
• the ability to design and conduct research studies of relevance and importance to nursing science;
• commitment to ethical scholarship and collaboration in the furthering of knowledge, with a critical and objective perspective on research; and
• the ability to contribute to the education of undergraduate and graduate nursing students.

Program Learning Objectives

Degree Level Expectations	PhD Program Objectives
1. Depth and Breadth of Knowledge	PO #1 – Superior understanding of the theoretical foundations of nursing science.   PO #2 – A broad appreciation of the relationship between nursing science and the scientific basis of other health disciplines.
2. Research and Scholarship	PO#3 – In-depth knowledge and specialization related to a selected aspect of nursing science.
3. Level of Application of Knowledge	PO#4 – The ability to design and conduct research studies of relevance and importance to nursing science.
4. Professional Capacity/  Autonomy	PO#4 – The ability to design and conduct research studies of relevance and importance to nursing science.   PO#6 – Commitment to ethical scholarship and collaboration in furthering knowledge with a critical and objective perspective on research
5. Communication Skills	PO# 5 – The ability to contribute to the education of undergraduate and graduate nursing students.
6. Awareness of Limits of Knowledge	PO#6 – Commitment to ethical scholarship and collaboration in furthering knowledge with a critical and objective perspective on research

Program Structure

The PhD program is a full-time, in-person program that is structured around courses, the completion of a literature review paper, the successful defense of the thesis proposal and the production and defense of a final thesis. The program is designed for students to complete the degree in 4 years and all requirements for the degree must be completed within 6 calendar years from the date of the student’s enrolment in the program.

The PhD program is only offered full-time and in-person to ensure that students achieve timely completion rates and to provide a collegial cohort to successfully navigate the intricacies of the program.

Structure of the PhD Program

Program Structure
	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4
Courses*	NUR1081 Seminar NUR1079 Methods course 1 substantive elective	NUR1082 Seminar 1 methods or substantive elective
Literature review paper
Proposal writing & defence
Research Ethics Board approval
Data collection & analysis
Thesis writing
Final Oral Exam

* Note: Required courses changed for the 2023 cohort with the addition of the second-year seminar course, NUR1082. Students who began the program in 2022 or earlier, only completed NUR1081

Program Requirements

The PhD in Nursing is offered as a full-time program. Candidacy is achieved by successful completion of required courses, the literature review paper, and the proposal defence as described below.

Courses

Students must successfully complete a minimum of 3.0 full-course equivalents (FCEs) that include:

• PhD Seminar (1.0 FCE):
  • NUR1081H. Students attend the seminar biweekly for the Fall and Winter of Year 1.
  • NUR1082H. Students attend the seminar weekly for the Fall of Year 2.
  • Research methods course NUR1079Y Research Methods for Knowledge Discovery
  • one course (0.5 FCE) related to the substantive area of study and thesis plans
  • one course (0.5 FCE) may be either a method or substantive area course as determined by the student and the supervisory committee.

• Students must attain a minimum average standing at the B+ level for required courses.
• Students are normally expected to complete all required courses (3.0 FCEs) by the end of Year 2. If all required courses are not successfully completed (with a minimum average standing at the B+ level) by the end of Year 3, the Faculty of Nursing will normally make a recommendation to SGS for termination of registration.

Literature Review Paper

• The literature review paper topic and type should be discussed and approved by the student and supervisor (with documentation by the supervisor on the PhD Student Milestones Tracking Sheet) by March 1 of Year 1.
• The literature review paper must be submitted by September 30 of Year 2. The submitted literature review paper will be formally reviewed and evaluated by the supervisor and at least one additional thesis committee member. Written and verbal feedback about the submitted literature review paper will be provided to the student at a supervisory committee meeting. For the literature review paper to be considered a pass, both faculty members’ assessments of the literature review paper must be at the successful completion or pass level. If both assessments are considered pass, the student will receive a satisfactory rating at their supervisory committee meeting. If one or both paper reviews are rated failure or not pass, then the student receives an unsatisfactory rating at the supervisory committee meeting.
• If the student does not successfully complete the literature review paper first submitted, the student will have one additional opportunity to revise and rewrite the literature review paper, based on the feedback received at the supervisory committee meeting. The student must resubmit the revised literature review paper by December 1 of Year 2. This revised literature review paper must be formally evaluated by the supervisor and one other thesis committee member (normally the same committee member who completed the assessment of the original literature review paper). The student will receive feedback about the revised literature review paper at a supervisory committee meeting. For the literature review to be considered a pass, both faculty members’ assessments of the literature review must be at the pass level. If both assessments are considered pass, the student will receive a satisfactory rating at their supervisory committee meeting. If one or both paper reviews are rated failure or not pass, then the student receives an unsatisfactory rating at the supervisory committee meeting.
• If the student does not successfully complete the literature review paper on the second attempt, the Faculty of Nursing will normally recommend to SGS that the student’s registration in the PhD program be terminated.

Thesis Proposal

Successful defence of the thesis proposal is the final step in achieving candidacy and is normally completed by the end of year 2. Before the PhD thesis proposal exam can be held, all other candidacy requirements must be completed (i.e., course work and successful completion of literature review) and a full committee with a minimum of 2 members in addition to the supervisor must be in place.

The PhD Thesis Proposal Guidelines document specifies the required elements for the written proposal. The proposal normally goes through multiple rounds of feedback with the student and supervisor as well as with the larger committee before the student is deemed by the committee as ready to proceed to the oral proposal defence. An internal examiner is selected by the supervisory committee in consultation with the student. The examiner may be a member of the SGS faculty appointed to the Candidate’s graduate unit, or a member of the SGS faculty appointed to other graduate units of the University. The examiner must not have been closely involved in supervision of thesis development. The written proposal should be submitted to the supervisory committee and examiner at least 4 weeks in advance of the oral defence date. Student services will assist with arranging the oral exam including securing a chair. The exam may be held in person, hybrid, or fully online. Assessment of the thesis proposal consists of both the written proposal and the oral defence of the proposal. The oral exam consists of a 15-minute presentation of the proposal by the student, followed by multiple rounds of questions starting with the internal examiner. The oral exam is normally completed within 2 hours. Further information on procedures for conducting the exam can be found in the document  Record of the PhD/DN Proposal Examination.

Students are normally expected to defend their thesis proposal by the end of Year 2 of their program. Students must successfully defend their thesis proposal no later than the end of Year 3. Students who do not successfully defend the proposal after the first attempt may have one additional opportunity to successfully present and defend the written proposal, and this must be accomplished before the end of Year 3 of the program.

If the student does not successfully defend the thesis proposal by the end of Year 3 (including a second attempt, if required), the Faculty of Nursing will normally recommend to SGS that the student’s registration in the PhD program be terminated.

Students who have successfully defended their thesis proposal may refer themselves as “PhD candidates”, rather than “PhD students” and the achievement of candidacy is noted on the academic transcript.

Research Ethics Board Approval

While preparing their thesis proposal, students should identify the steps required for ethics review. These steps will be dependent on where the research will be conducted and how data will be collected. Normally, the ethics review board at the institution where the research will be conducted will review and approve the proposal first, then the proposal will be submitted to the University of Toronto for administrative review. In some cases, only the University of Toronto Research Ethics Board will review and approve the proposal. Students should work with their supervisor and reach out to the relevant research ethics boards for information and guidance on the process and access to any relevant documents (e.g., templates for consent forms).  

Students may prepare all documents relevant to the ethics review process prior to the oral defence, however, the actual submission for ethics review must not occur until successful defence of the thesis proposal. Students are encouraged to use the 4-week window before their oral defence to prepare all documents for ethics review, so they are ready to submit them soon after the successful defence. Once all approvals are in place, the student may proceed with their study.

Thesis

Student may complete either a traditional dissertation or a dissertation based on three separate papers – Thesis by Publication. Guidance on preparation of the thesis by publication is available on the Forms, Requests & Resources page on the Bloomberg Nursing website.

Similar to preparation of the thesis proposal, the thesis normally goes through multiple rounds of feedback with the student and supervisor as well as with the larger committee before the student is deemed by the committee as ready to proceed to the final oral defence.

Final Oral Exam

The final oral exam is normally conducted at the end of year 4 in accordance with the SGS Guidelines for the Doctoral Final Oral Examination. For more information about the preparation and processes around the conduct of the Final Oral Exam, please see the Final Oral Exam section under ‘Academic Policies, Procedures & Regulations’ in this handbook.

Length of Program

Normally, degree requirements are completed in four academic years of full-time study (five years for MN transfer students). All requirements for the degree must be completed within six calendar years (full-time study) and seven years (MN transfer students) from the date of the student’s enrolment in the program.