The Wake Forest University School of Medicine post-Master’s to Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree path is recognized regionally for preparing exemplary graduates, and the program is one of an elite minority housed in a school of medicine. The 24-month, 30-credit doctoral curriculum leads to conferral of the DNP degree with a focus in leadership. You will complete the leadership practicum in the final semester of the program to provide real-world experiential learning. Our goal is to prepare graduates who are ready to lead healthcare improvement for patients and communities.
The program is administered in a distance, asynchronous format with periodic synchronous sessions to build community across your doctoral cohort while maintaining maximal flexibility for working professionals.
Highlights
- Flexible learning to balance life and work while advancing your education.
- Emphasizes real-world application, leadership development, and interprofessional collaboration.
- Develop a DNP project that is practice-based, outcomes-driven, and system-informed, with real-time application in your setting.
- Coursework emphasizes strategic decision-making, systems thinking, patient safety, advocacy, and financial stewardship.
- Designed to elevate your impact at the organizational, regional, and national levels.
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Our Curriculum
The Post-Master’s to DNP program plan of study starts each fall and concludes two years later in the summer. The 30-credit degree path is described below.
| Year | Fall Course (Credits) |
Spring Course (Credits) |
Summer Course (Credits) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (3) | Applied Biostatistics for Evidence-Based Practice (4) | Epidemiology and Population Health (3) |
| Leadership and Ethics (2) | Healthcare Informatics and Technologies (2) | Evidence Translation and Implementation Science (2) | |
| DNP Project Proposal Seminar (1) | |||
| 2 | Healthcare Management and Finance (3) | Healthcare Policy, Advocacy, and Law (3) | DNP Project Evaluation and Dissemination (2) |
| DNP Project Planning (1) | DNP Project Implementation (1) |
Leadership Practicum (3) |
