Appalachian State University will launch its first health sciences doctorate in 2026 designed, in part, to address a nursing shortage in rural areas.
The need for nurse practitioners is expected to increase by 45% in the next 10 years, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Appalachian State’s new program should help address the need in North Carolina, says Dr. Tammy Haley. She is a professor and chair of the nursing department at the university.
Haley says depending on the path students take, graduates can become educators or serve as primary care providers.
“Nurse practitioners can order diagnostic tests and provide diagnosis, treatment and planning for care of many common illnesses," she says. "A lot of nurse practitioners choose to work in rural places at higher levels than some of their other health care counterparts. So I think that’s going to help address those rural needs.”
Haley says some training will occur at the Hickory campus, where there will be clinical space and a simulation lab.
The program will begin in the fall of 2026.