At the conclusion of the Ph.D. program, the student will be able to:

• Demonstrate substantive expertise on health care systems or an aspect of prevention and/or management of chronic conditions as applied to: an age group, gender, ethnic group, population (families, individuals, communities) or human response to health or illness.
• Use conceptual models and theories about human responses to illness, health promotion, nursing systems and health policy that reflect synthesis of knowledge from nursing and other disciplines.
• Successfully communicate the theoretical perspectives of the discipline.
• Evaluate, critique and synthesize research conducted in nursing and related disciplines.
• Understand and utilize multiple modes of inquiry in the design and conduct of nursing research.
• Design and implement nursing studies using a theoretical perspective from nursing or related disciplines.
• Conduct research in a culturally competent manner, considering biobehavioral, social, community and health care contexts.
• Conduct research studies using appropriate design and analysis techniques.
• Demonstrate scientific integrity in the design, conduct and analysis of research studies and ethically interpret the results.
• Effectively write, present and disseminate research findings to contribute to improvements in the health care system.