Comparative study of Nursing Ph.D. Curriculum in Iran and Carolina

Quality assurance of higher education, especially PhD education, is one of the concerns and priorities of higher education planning planners. Matching, comparing and analyzing different dimensions of educational programs with other countries is very effective in solving this concern. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of comparing the descriptive-comparative study of nursing Ph.D Curriculum in Iran and the American University of North Carolina.

This is a descriptive study with a comparative approach in which the Iranian nursing education system was compared with elements of the doctoral curriculum of the University of North Carolina. Data were collected by searching the internet with using of databases Persian and English. The data were analyzed using four-step Bereday model including description, interpretation,, juxta position and comparison.

The content of the courses in North Carolina is highly specialized, focusing on student needs, in keeping with the philosophy and goals of the program, and the needs of the community are included in the student courses. North Carolina's Ph.D. Nursing Curriculum is full-time and part-time with a 3.5 year teaching period and student recruitment is independently by the university, but in Iran, this is only full-time and student admission is concentrated. The trends of this university for this section include PhD, DNP, Post Doc, DNS, DNAP, but in Iran it is only offered with a PhD trends. Admission to Ph.D. in Carolina is also possible from a bachelor's degree while this is not possible in Iran.

Given the comparisons and curriculum advantages of the University of North Carolina, it is appropriate for Iranian nursing education planners to make fundamental changes to the curriculum of this section in terms of philosophy, goals, duration, courses, and so on, to solve problems of health care system and the community.