The Student-Discussant Role in Doctoral Education

Marie Ngetiko Fongwa, PhD, MPH, MSN, RN, is professor in the doctoral programs (Doctor of Nursing Practice, DNP and Doctor of Philosophy, PhD), Graduate Programs, School of Nursing, Azusa Pacific University (APU), California, USA. Dr. Fongwa has taught at the APU School of Nursing since 2010. Born and raised in Cameroon, she trained initially as a nurse-midwife in her native Cameroon and then proceeded to obtain a bachelor's degree in Health Science and a Master's in Public Health, focusing on health education from San Jose State University in 1983 and 1985 respectively. Dr. Fongwa later earned another master's and PhD degrees in nursing at the University of California San Francisco in 1994 and 1998 respectively. Her dissertation focused on the quality of care from African Americans' perspectives. She completed a two-year National Institute on Aging (NIA) funded postdoctoral research program in 2000 during which she developed a patient satisfaction instrument (in the public domain), sensitive to African Americans and Whites along with replicating her dissertation research with Latinx Americans. She taught at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), School of Nursing from 2001 through 2009. Cultural sensitivity and competence are crucial concepts in Dr. Fongwa's research on quality of care and patient satisfaction. Her recent studies focus on increasing adherence to treatment recommendations for hypertension in African American women. A second instrument in her tool development endeavor measures adherence to treatment factors in African American women with hypertension. Dr. Fongwa has published as primary and co-author in several peer-reviewed journals. She enjoys working with and mentoring students to achieve their academic goals.