20: ENHANCING THE DOCTOR OF NURSING PRACTICE DEGREE ■ 445■ THE DREXEL DrNP PROGRAM’S INTERNATIONAL
STUDY- ABROAD PROGRAM
WHY WAS IT CREATED?
The initial idea for the program began with the doctoral nursing department chair who
became aware that the LeBow College of Business sent their master of business admin-
istration (MBA) students abroad for 1 week as part of the standard curriculum. With a
new provost on campus seriously interested in promoting the Drexel brand more inter-
nationally, and with a renewed focus on encouraging international programs for both
undergraduate and graduate students, it seemed plausible that the new doctoral pro-
gram could also embed a study- abroad program in the curriculum. Further, if master’s
students were spending 1 week abroad, it seemed logical that doctoral students should
stay longer.
The Drexel DrNP^1 program’s international study- abroad program was thus
first conceived in early 2006, and the first doctoral nursing students and faculty par-
ticipated in the inaugural program in London in April 2007. The DrNP International
Study Abroad Program is a 2- week intensive program that is offered in the second
year of study. It takes place during the student’s last quarter of study (spring quarter)
before completing all the formal doctoral coursework and beginning with the clinical
dissertation seminar in the subsequent summer quarter. Because the DrNP program
was designed for the working adult, with classes 1 day a week, a 2- week program was
deemed the most feasible. Although a 2- week study- abroad program may not seem like
a long time, indeed short- term study- abroad programs (2– 8 weeks in duration) pre-
dominate, attracting 57% of all study- abroad students in 2011 (Chow & Villarreal, 2011),
and the standards for short- term study- abroad programs are now being published
in the literature (Kurt, Olitsky, & Gels, 2013; Redden, 2009b). In retrospect, the new
DrNP curriculum was well positioned to both integrate and accommodate a short- term
study- abroad program. The first course in the 3- year part- time doctoral program was
the Politics of Health: Implications for Nursing Practice, and there was a desire by the
course chair and the doctoral faculty to include the content on how doctoral- prepared
nurses should and could participate more fully in a dialogue and in the activism regard-
ing international health issues (Dreher, Lachman, Smith Glasgow, & Ward, 2008). This
idea of a 2- week program seemed ideal and feasible, and in consultation with the MBA
program, the chair and teaching faculty had a precedent campus- based graduate pro-
gram model that provided with the design guidance.
WHY IS THE PROGRAM “MANDATORY”?
One of the very first decisions the faculty made was that if it was decided to truly im-
plement the program, it would be mandatory, not optional. This view was rooted in
fairly egalitarian ideals. At the undergraduate level, too often study abroad becomes an
“elite” activity for privileged students. This is widely recognized and has been perpetu-
ated by the international standards for study abroad, which carry a high social prestige
(Fry, 1984). The current data from NAFSA still indicate that “Although the diversity
of study abroad participation has increased in recent years, minority students are still
greatly underrepresented in study abroad” (NAFSA, 2016, p. 1). Though the first 11 doc-
toral students all worked full time; they certainly had financial obligations beyond the