Critical care nurses generally work in places such as intensive care units or burn centers. They provide assistance to patients with life-threatening illnesses or conditions such as surgery or serious infections. Students interested in critical care might take courses such as physiology, chemistry, and microbiology.

The PhD is a doctoral degree, specifically called a "doctor of philosophy" degree. This is misleading because PhD holders are not necessarily philosophers (unless they earned their degree in philosophy!). That said, PhD recipients are able to engage in thought experiments, reason about problems, and solve problems in sophisticated ways.