The P.G.D.S.C. Nurse Practitioner is designed to emphasize specific areas of competence, as well as to provide the theoretical base and foundational underpinnings necessary to the understanding and performance of the nurse practitioner model of practice. Graduates of the P.G.D.S.C. subset will not be restricted to employment in the province of Saskatchewan. This quality of certification will not only benefit the individual student but will attract and accommodate students from across Canada, allowing for a much wider pool of applicants.

Admission Requirements

  • 3 credit units in each a graduate research methods and a graduate statistics course
  • completion of Masters or Ph.D. in Nursing or in a related discipline (education, health administration, public health) from a recognized university with a 70% average within that degree
  • meet the requirements for admission to the M.N. Nurse Practitioner Option

Seat Allocation:

  1. The College of Nursing has allocated 5 equity seats for students of Indigenous ancestry annually. Admission assessment of applicants begins with those indicating on their application that they wish to be considered for an equity seat. Saskatchewan Indigenous applicants will be prioritized for these seats followed by out of province students for any unfilled equity seats. Equity seat allocation will involve a competitive process based on admission criteria evaluation.
  2. All remaining applicants applying to the program will be placed into a competitive pool.
  3. Saskatchewan applicants will be prioritized to fill seat funded by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Advanced Education. At present the funding envelop from the ministry support admission of 12 students. Saskatchewan applicant seat allocation will involve a competitive process based on admission criteria evaluation.
  4. All remaining applicants applying to the program will be placed into a competitive pool and seat allocation will involve a competitive process based on admission criteria evaluation.
  5. The program will maintain a wait list of 5 applicants to address an attrition in the admission process up to August 1st of each year.

Certificate Requirements

The certificate program could be completed in four terms of full time study. Part-time study is an option for all students with the exception of the periods of supervised clinical experience. Because all the courses are required, continuous registration may not be possible or required as part-time students may need to wait for a specific course to be offered. All courses are offered each year.

NOTE: Several courses in the M.N. Nurse Practitioner program require a passing grade of 70%. These courses are as follows: NURS 875.3, NURS 879.3, NURS 881.3, NURS 883.3, NURS 884.3, NURS 885.3, NURS 886.3, NURS 880.3, NURS 888.3, and NURS 878.3.

  • GPS 960.0
  • GPS 961.0, if research involves human subjects
  • GPS 962.0, if research involves animal subjects

A minimum 30 credit units, including:

  • NURS 875.3
  • NURS 878.3
  • NURS 879.3
  • NURS 880.3
  • NURS 881.3
  • NURS 883.3
  • NURS 884.3
  • NURS 885.3
  • NURS 886.3
  • NURS 888.3

Please note that students who are unsuccessful in completing any two courses within a graduate program in the College of Nursing will be recommended to be required to discontinue by the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.