It is important to discuss ideas with the faculty advisor. The advisor suggests other faculty members with expertise relevant to the student’s area of interest who will assist in the development of the Final Document Project’s focus. Assignments in each semester’s courses offer the opportunity to develop a portion of the final document proposal or build the literature review if the topic is identified early.
The earlier the student identifies the project topic, the easier it is to complete the project and graduate on time. This is particularly critical students selecting the full-time study option who will need to develop a project proposal by the end of the first year of study. Students must have committee approval of the proposal prior to submitting IRB materials during the summer term, or session in which the DNE professional examination is taken, if the student aims to graduate in the spring semester of the academic year ahead.
Students should access the Preliminary Checklist for DNE Professional Exam and work with their advisor as they are identifying a topic and moving forward. This checklist was designed to guide students in their topic selection and site location to be sure they are able to move forward with the topic and their selected site.
Students also should use the DNE Project Flowsheet to guide them through the entire DNE project from identification of clinical problem or topic to seeking all approvals including human subject protection, and all site-specific approvals.