Transition is at the heart of all Commencements, but this year's ceremony on Monday, May 25, will mark a major milestone for the School of Nursing, as it presents the first doctoral degrees in its 75-year history.
The Doctor of Nursing Science (D.N.Sc.) program is designed to advance nursing research and practice, according to Margaret Grey, associate dean for research and doctoral studies. Candidates devote two years to course work and two years to clinical research and dissertation work.
"Yale School of Nursing began this doctoral program four years ago as a logical extension of its tradition of practice-based scholarship," says Grey. "Our first group of doctoral students truly represents what is best in that tradition. They have advanced science while laying the groundwork for interventions that will have real benefits for patients, particularly for patients often underserved by the traditional health care system. These young scholars are a credit to this institution and to the discipline of nursing."
The school's first doctoral class includes three individuals:
Wantana Limkulpong, a native of Thailand, whose dissertation focused on factors that encourage or discourage safe-sex practices among commercial sex workers in southern Thailand. Limkulpong holds a B.S. in nursing and midwifery from Mahidol University in Bangkok and a M.S. in community health from the University of the Philippines in Manila.
Kerry Ann Milner, of Stratford, Connecticut, who studied the differences in the ways that men and women cardiac patients in emergency rooms describe their symptoms. Milner earned a B.S. in nursing from the University of Connecticut and a M.N. from Southern Connecticut State University.
Wenn Huey (Carol) Sheih, of Hamden, Connecticut, who explored fetal attachment in mothers who abused drugs during their pregnancies. She holds a B.A. in nursing from the University of Kaohsiung Medical College and a M.P.H. from the University of Minnesota.
Grey notes that it is particularly apt that these three individuals will receive their degrees this year, as this Commencement also marks the final graduation ceremony that will be presided over by Dean Judith B. Krauss. "The program opened under Judy's deanship, and I'm glad she will be on the podium handing out the degrees," says Grey.
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