UC Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certificate Program

• Meet the UC Davis requirements for graduate admissions.
• Current unencumbered registered nurse (R.N.) licensure.
• Per national and state standards of practice, be licensed as an APRN in the State of California. Nursing license must be recognized as valid and active for practice within the state of California during the complete course of study.
• A master’s of science in nursing (MSN) degree, or its equivalent, or a higher degree at the time of application, and have a foundation as a Nurse Practitioner, Certified Nurse Midwife, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, or Certified Nurse Specialist.
  • The School of Nursing will evaluate applications on a case by case basis, provided applicants have shown previous course completion of the required prerequisite courses required for admissions.
• Must be able to meet the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s (ANCC) national certification guidelines to successfully take the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) board certification examination.
  • The guidelines may be found on the ANCC website
• A minimum cumulative bachelor’s degree G.P.A. of 3.0.
• Completion of all prerequisite courses.*

Three separate, comprehensive graduate-level courses in:

• Advanced Physiology/Pathophysiology, including general principles that apply across the lifespan
• Advanced Physical/Health Assessment, which includes assessment of all human systems, advanced assessment techniques, concepts and approaches
• Advanced Pharmacology, which includes pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics and pharmacotherapeutics of all broad categories of agents

In addition, applicants must have completed content in:

• Health Promotion and/or Disease Prevention
• Differential Diagnosis and Disease Management

*All prerequisites are required at the college level from an accredited school and must be included on the submitted transcript during the application process. Each prerequisite is expected to be one full course, either a quarter or a semester, and a minimum of three units, depending on the location where it was completed. Completion of prerequisite coursework online is acceptable if it is from an accredited academic institution. Advanced Placement scores awarded in high school do NOT fulfill prerequisites. All prerequisites must be completed with a grade of C or better.

Prior coursework in the above areas is required by the American Nurses Credentialing Center to be eligible for the PMHNP board certification exam. Please visit the ANCC website for more information.

PLEASE NOTE: Students whose previous graduate programs did not include the courses specified above may be considered for admission but must complete those courses before applying to sit for PMHNP board certification. Students will be required to outline these courses within their application.

Online applications for summer 2025 incoming cohort in the UC PMHNP Certificate Program are available through UC Davis Graduate Studies (not UC Irvine).

A complete application includes and adheres to the following:

• Statement of purpose and personal history and diversity statement (maximum 4,000 characters each, including spaces).
• Three letters of recommendation.
• Official transcripts from each institution attended.
• Resume or CV.

Admissions decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. Meeting some or all of these criteria does not guarantee admission, but merely eligibility. Admission is competitive.

An offer of acceptance is based on the premise that all data submitted in application materials (including but not limited to UC Davis Graduate Studies and criminal background check applications) are true and accurate. Should there be misrepresentation in or a violation of any of the terms of the application process, the university reserves the right to rescind the offer of acceptance at any time, or, disqualify the student at any time during their education.

The School of Nursing welcomes international graduates to apply to any of the four degree programs. International graduates are required to satisfy all requirements for admissions, including the steps below, regardless of prior academic or professional backgrounds.

TOEFL or IELTS

International graduates must submit Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores to meet admissions requirements. Required scores must be congruent with UC Davis Graduate Studies minimum standards. Scores that are older than two years at the time of application submission are not be accepted by UC Davis.

Students who did not obtain a previous degree at an approved English-medium institution or demonstrated English-language proficiency through an appropriate exam (e.g. TOEFL) are required to complete appropriate English-language courses, as described in the policy Graduate Student Course Requirements – English as Second Language (GC2018-02). Courses taken in satisfaction of this requirement do not count towards the units required for graduation.

Transcript Evaluation Services

All programs require professional transcript evaluations by an independent educational evaluating service from any member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services or the Association of International Credential Evaluators, Inc. Contact the foreign transcript evaluation service as early as possible. The services may take several weeks to process foreign transcripts once received. The report must include a degree-equivalent evaluation and course-by-course equivalent evaluation.

• Physician assistant applicants: Original, sealed course-by-course reports or evaluations should be sent directly to the Central Application Service for Physician Assistants (CASPA) from the foreign transcript evaluation agency. Evaluations must be received and matched to your application by the deadline and must include copies of your original transcript by the application deadline.
• Master’s Entry Program in Nursing applicants: original, sealed course-by-course reports or evaluations should be sent directly to the Nursing’s Centralized Application Service (NursingCAS) from the foreign transcript evaluation agency. Evaluations must be received and matched to your application by the deadline and must include copies of your original transcript.
• Doctoral applicants (Ph.D. and D.N.P.-F.N.P.): After submitting applications, applicants are required to upload a PDF copy of their course-by-course evaluation. Evaluations must include copies of your original transcript. Please do not send transcripts or evaluations directly to the School of Nursing. If admitted, applicants are required to send a sealed evaluation to UC Davis Graduate Studies.

The following agencies provide foreign transcript evaluation services. The University of California does not endorse any of these agencies. This information is provided only as a resource.

World Education Services, Inc.
P.O. Box  5087
Bowling Green Station
New York, NY 10274-5087
Phone: 212-966-6311
http://www.wes.org/

International Education Research Foundation
P.O. Box 3665
Culver City, CA 90231-3665
Phone: 310-258-9451
http://www.ierf.org/

For more information about the UC PMHNP Certificate Program or if you are interested in applying, we welcome you to join one of our webinar information sessions. Please register for one of our webinars below, and learn more about the program from UC PMHNP Certificate Program faculty and staff, along with the UC Davis admissions team:

• Thursday, Sep. 26, 6:00-7:00 p.m. PDT – Register Now
• Thursday, Oct. 17, 6:00-7:00 p.m. PDT – Register Now

Still have questions? For additional assistance, please email the Admissions and Student Services team at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis at: HS-BettyIreneMooreSON@ucdavis.edu.

Program fees are posted on the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program (PMHNP) page on the Finance & Business website. Program fees for the UC PMHNP Certificate Program are set by the Regents of the University of California and can change without notice. Historical cost of the program at UCSF can be found on their UCSF Office of the Registrar under “Supplemental Studies in Advance Practice in Nursing – Distance” but as an important reminder, the program costs at UC Davis may DIFFER annually.

Graduate school can be challenging, particularly for students managing family, school, and financial responsibilities. The Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing is committed to supporting students with diverse life experiences and the potential to make a significant impact. We offer various financial aid options to ensure that the most qualified, diverse, and driven students can pursue their degrees.

All students are encouraged to seek multiple forms of financial support. Detailed financial aid information is provided to admitted students as part of their offer. Students are advised to apply as early as possible to maximize their opportunities.

PMHNP students are encouraged to apply for the California Department of Health Care Access and Information’s (HCAI) Behavioral Health Scholarship Program (BHSP).*

* “The Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) administers health workforce programs. These workforce programs build a health workforce that serves a diverse California. BHSP provides scholarships to behavioral health students seeking education or training to become behavioral health practitioners through a certificate, associate, bachelor, master and/or doctoral degree program in exchange for a 12-month service obligation practicing and providing direct patient care in an underserved community, eligible applicants may receive up to $25,000. The purpose of this program is to increase the number of appropriately trained behavioral health professionals providing direct patient care in an underserved area or qualified facility within California” (The Department of Health Care Access and Information, 2023).