Required Documents

Required Documents

All documents listed below are to be included in your online application form via the SGS portal

Curriculum Vitae

Use the categories listed below when you are developing your CV. If a particular heading does not apply, you may leave it out.

• Academic education (post-secondary degrees, diplomas, certificates)
• Continuing education & certification (including workshops, professional development)
• Awards and honours (e.g., practice awards from employing organization, bursaries, scholarships)
• Professional employment
• Peer-reviewed presentations / publications / research (e.g., workshops, conferences, journal references)
• Current membership in professional
• Committees (e.g., work-related, professional)
• Clinical / administrative / practice / teaching innovations (please provide brief descriptions or examples)
• Research involvement (please provide brief descriptions of projects and your role and/or your involvement and role in research-oriented organizations)
• Relevant volunteer activities

Academic and Career Plans Essay Questions

Text boxes are provided within the online application for responses to the items listed below (please note word limits). Responses can be created in a Word or other document then copy and pasted into the application form.

1. Describe a specific project/thesis area that interests you and why it needs to be studied. The description must include the identification and investigation of a practice problem and the application of theory and research. The project/thesis should focus on translating research into practice, applying research knowledge in decision-making, and/or developing and implementing clinical innovation to make an impact on the healthcare system, improving care delivery, and/or advancing nurse education and scholarship. (~1000 words)
2. Describe how your personal background and life experiences have contributed to your scholarship interests in this area and to your decision to pursue a Doctor of Nursing degree at the University of Toronto (~250 words)
3. Outline your career plans and discuss how the Doctor of Nursing degree is relevant to your professional goals (~250 words)
4. Applicants to the Doctor of Nursing degree must have a minimum of two years relevant healthcare leadership experience or advanced nursing education teaching experience. Describe your experiences in either healthcare leadership or advanced nursing education teaching to demonstrate you have fulfilled admission criteria (~500 words)
5. Describe your plan to balance the demands of the full time DN program (course work, thesis/research, TAships) with personal and work commitments (~250 words)

A Sample of Your Scholarly Work

Upload to your application a sample of your written work. Ideally this should be a research article or scholarly report on which you are the first author. If this is not available, then you should submit a sample of a graded paper from your last degree (master’s level) written within the last 5 years.

Three Letters of Reference

As part of our application process, we require all DN applicants to submit three references: one academic and two professional/employer. Letters of reference are submitted electronically through the SGS on-line application. You will need to provide the referees’ email addresses. Please communicate with your referees in advance to confirm their contact information. After you pay the application fee, we will contact your referees by email and ask them to submit their recommendation electronically.

1. Academic Reference (One required). Ideally your academic reference will be from a faculty member who taught you and graded your written work during your master’s degree and who can speak to your academic abilities. If you are unable to obtain an academic reference from a previous professor, you can provide an alternate academic reference. An alternate academic reference might come from someone who has taught you in a continuing education course or someone you know professionally who can speak to your academic abilities (e.g., ability to carry out scholarship and analysis, ability to express ideas in writing and orally, potential to master complex theories and ideas). You might approach someone like a Chief Nursing Executive or a senior figure in the nursing community whom you know through committee work or research work, etc.
2. Employer/Professional References (Two required). Ideally your employer/professional references will come from a supervisor or manager who is familiar with your professional competencies and/or accomplishments. A colleague is not an appropriate professional reference. If you are unable to obtain a professional reference from supervisor/manager, you can provide a reference from someone you know professionally who can speak to your professional accomplishments. You might approach someone like a Chief Nursing Executive or a Chief Nursing Officer or a senior figure in the nursing community whom you know through committee work, research work, conferences, etc.

You can login to your application to check the status of your references. Once your referee submits his/her recommendation, you will be able to see that it has been received. It is up to you to ensure that you submit the correct contact information for your referee. It is also up to you to ensure your referee submits his/her recommendation by the application deadline.

Electronic and Scanned Transcripts(s)

Submit both an electronic copy of your transcript as well as an official transcript (either a hard copy by mail or an electronic copy by email to connect.nursing@utoronto.ca).

You are required to upload one electronic or scanned transcript from each post-secondary institution you have attended to the on-line application so that we may assess your file immediately. Scanned copies of transcripts must be up to date and must include the transcript “legend” which is usually printed on the back of the paper transcript.

Technical Requirements

• Please scan your transcript in grayscale at the lowest dots per inch (dpi) setting that results in a legible document. We recommend 72 dpi whenever possible.
• The file must be in .PDF format. Image files, such as those in .jpg or .bmp formats, must be converted to .PDF before uploading.
• The file size of each scanned transcript file to be uploaded must not exceed 3 megabytes (Mb).
• If your transcript is double-sided, please be sure to scan the front and back of each page.
• The transcript legend (usually printed on the back of a paper transcript) must appear at least once for every scanned transcript submitted.
• Scanned documents must be clearly legible and print on standard CDN/U.S. 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper.
• Do not upload a document that is password-protected or that contains macros.
• University of Toronto students may submit a screen capture of their academic history from the Student Web Service of ACORN in place of a transcript. However, if you have attended multiple institutions, the other universities’ transcripts (with legend) must still be included in the file in chronological order.

Official Transcripts(s)

In addition to uploading a copy of your transcript, you should also order your transcript(s) from each university you have attended. Transcripts must be received by the Faculty of Nursing either directly from the issuing institution by email to connect.nursing@utoronto.ca or in an official envelope that is sealed and signed by the issuing institution across the seal. You may include a one-page cover letter to support your application if you believe the marks you received do not reflect your performance due to extenuating circumstances.

English Proficiency Test Results

International applicants must submit a copy of their English proficiency test scores. Applications with unsatisfactory test scores will not be assessed. This requirement should be met at the time you submit your application.

DN Supervisor Agreement Form

Review and complete the DN Supervisor Agreement form [PDF] with the assistance of your proposed supervisor.  Please note that completing the form and securing a supervisor does not guarantee acceptance into the DN program.