CSUB welcomes first doctoral nursing students

University leads way in region, CSU with new program designed to improve care in Kern

By California State University, Bakersfield

July 24^th, 2025

When thousands of students arrive at California State University, Bakersfield for the fall semester, 18 of them will launch a new era as the first Roadrunners in the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program, only the second doctoral program in the university’s 55-year history.

And it couldn’t come at a more critical time for the health of Kern County families, said founding DNP Program Director Dr. Heidi He, who sees firsthand the repercussions of the region’s poor access to primary care in her work as a clinician.

“Patients suffer because of the long wait times to see a provider or specialist,” said Dr. He, who specializes in pulmonology. "I’ve been a nurse practitioner for a long time. You get to know your patients over 20 years, see their children grow up and then see their children. When you have that relationship, you’re able to guide them to maximize their health care potential and to make sure their chronic disease is well-managed. And that’s what the nurse practitioner does best."

CSUB is offering two tracks toward the doctoral degree, which is becoming the industry standard in advanced practice nursing. The first reflects the conversion of the university’s longtime Family Nurse Practitioner curriculum to the doctoral program, only the second such conversion in the entire 23-campus CSU system, according to Dr. He. Thanks to a $1 million grant from Kern Health Systems, Dr. He and her colleagues have designed curriculum for an eight-semester program for registered nurses who have a bachelor's or master's degree in nursing and are not nurse practitioners.

“This is something we’re very proud of,” Dr. He said. “At a system level, we are the leader. The CSU is using our proposal to transition the program as a model for our sister campuses to follow.”

The second track is designed for master’s-prepared advanced practice registered nurses, including nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse anesthetists and nurse midwives, who are seeking the terminal degree in nursing discipline to advance their careers and provide the highest level of health care to their patients.

DeVaughn Bell, 49, received both his bachelor’s and graduate nursing degrees from CSUB, and, like 90% of his classmates, chose to stay in Kern County upon graduation to serve his community. He works with some of the region’s most vulnerable patient populations as a family nurse practitioner at Clinica Sierra Vista, a federally qualified community health center. Bell recently joined Clinica’s mobile health unit, seeing patients who can’t get to a clinic.

“We go to orchards, vineyards, homeless shelters and do a street medicine day, which might take us to the railroad tracks or anywhere we can help the underserved,” he said. “It just seems like there’s not enough primary care providers and then, of course, there’s the problem of access. A lot of preventable issues could be fixed if we can just get people screened.”

A focus of the doctoral program is to give students the tools to become leaders with the knowledge and autonomy to transform Kern County health care on a systemic level, according to Dr. He.

“A nurse practitioner can provide excellent care individually, but with a doctoral level of training, you look at higher level questions like how to improve workflow and efficiency and ensure that the care provided is meeting the best practice," she said. "Nurse practitioners also can diagnose, treat and manage conditions. It’s overall quality improvement that touches the lives of thousands of patients.”

In addition to his work as a clinician and student in the first cohort of the doctoral program, Bell also is a part-time lecturer and clinical instructor in CSUB’s top-ranked nursing program, which his daughter hopes to join following the completion of her prerequisite courses.

“Another reason for entering the program is I will be the first person in my family to earn a doctorate,” he said. “My education started from my aunt, who is a nurse. I looked up to her. Now that I am where I am, I have helped some of my family behind me who said they aspired to earn their college degree because they saw me do it.”