A Comparative Study of the PhD Curriculum of Nursing between Iran and University of Pittsburgh, USA

It is very important to evaluate and revise the curricula to improve their quality and ensure the education of competent students in the future. Also, this action in nursing PhD programs is vital because of its direct connection with the health of society. Therefore, the current study was conducted to compare the curriculum of nursing PhD in Iran and the University of Pittsburgh, USA.

This is a descriptive-comparative study that was conducted based on Bereday's model in 2022. After obtaining the educational programs of Iran and the University of Pittsburgh, the components of them were described and interpreted separately, and then by juxtaposing and classifying the information, were compared with each other, and conclusions were drawn.

The most important strengths of the educational program of the University of Pittsburgh were focusing on the up-to-date areas that are appropriate for the level of a specialized doctorate degree, such as the development of information technology in health management, cooperation with various healthcare institutions in the field of knowledge translation in health sciences, Student admission based on merit selection and not the entrance exam score as a criterion, Satisfied with a few specific and specialized competences and capabilities based on the mission and overall goals of the course, the anticipation of course units related to expected main competencies, including research mentoring, teaching mentoring, responsibilities and activities of scientists. Also, to obtain the defense permit, it is enough to send an article extracted from the thesis to a journal, and it is not mandatory to accept or publish the article.

Some of the most important strengths of the educational program of the University of Pittsburgh as a leading and excellent university were extracted in different sections such as focused areas, student admission requirements, expected competencies, course units, and thesis defense. It is necessary to pay attention to these strengths in the future revisions of Iran's nursing doctoral program.