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Research Degrees for
Health Professionals
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Research Degrees for
Health Professionals
Richard Hays MBBS PhD MD FRACGP FACRRM
Professor of Medical Education
School of Medicine
Keele University
United Kingdom
Boca Raton London New York
CRC Press is an imprint of the
Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
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First published 2007 by Radcliffe Publishing
Published 2016 by CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2007 Richard Hays
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
ISBN-13: 978-1-84619-127-5 (pbk)
Richard Hays has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1998 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. While all reasonable
efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, neither the author[s] nor the publisher can
accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publishers wish
to make clear that any views or opinions expressed in this book by individual editors, authors or contributors
are personal to them and do not necessarily reflect the views/opinions of the publishers. The information or
guidance contained in this book is intended for use by medical, scientific or health-care professionals and is
provided strictly as a supplement to the medical or other professional’s own judgement, their knowledge of
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mentioned in this book. This book does not indicate whether a particular treatment is appropriate or suitable
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her own professional judgements, so as to advise and treat patients appropriately. The authors and publishers
have also attempted to trace the copyright holders of all mate-rial reproduced in this publication and
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue
British record
Libraryfor this book isinavailable
Cataloguing fromData
Publication the British Library.
A catalogue
Typeset by Phoenixrecord for this Chatham,
Photosetting, book is available
Kent from the British Library.
ISBN-13: 978 1 84619 127 5
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Contents
Preface 7
About the author 9
Case studies 11
1 The relevance of research training 13
Why even consider research training? 15
Pathways to research training 17
2 Choosing from the variety of research training programmes 23
The spectrum of postgraduate research training opportunities 25
3 An overview of how to approach research tasks 35
From an idea to a plan 37
The structure of research degrees 41
4 Refining research themes and topics 47
Research triggers 49
5 Successful supervision 57
An important relationship 59
Supervision panels 62
The ideal research student 65
6 Surviving common pitfalls 69
An interesting life 71
7 Assessment of research performance 85
Introduction 87
Within training assessment 87
End of training assessment 91
8 Communicating research outcomes 105
Spreading the word 107
9 What next? 117
The end or the beginning? 119
Index 123
5
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Preface
A great part, I believe, of the Art is to be able to observe.
Hippocrates 460–357 BC
This book is for all those poor souls who feel an inclination to undertake further
education and is written in a way that answers questions relevant to their work.
By definition, this target audience is those with at least an undergraduate
coursework degree and with at least some work experience in their chosen
profession. While any postgraduate education can enhance career development,
the kind of education with the most potential to lead practitioners to the leading
edge of their professions is research training.
Research training does not need to be seen as daunting. There is a wide range
of research training available, from lower level coursework modules through to
higher level, research project-based programmes, many of them designed for
full-time study. Few practising health professionals have the time or the incli-
nation to suspend professional work and study full-time, and so embark on
complex pathways that combine research and professional practice. The choice
of pathways is potentially confusing and there are numerous challenges to
reaching a satisfactory outcome and maintaining sanity.
Unlike research student handbooks, most of which are written for full-time
students straight out of Bachelor level degrees, this book adopts the perspective
of busy professionals who balance part-time research within busy lives. It there-
fore assumes that research is not the only focus and describes how to survive,
perhaps even thrive, in a complex situation. The information provided is no less
relevant to full-time research students, particularly more mature students, who
also balance work and personal pressures.
With careful planning, prediction of potential pressure points, and early detec-
tion of challenges and intervention, research training even amidst complex lives,
can be very rewarding and even life-changing.
Richard Hays
July 2007
7
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About the author
Richard Hays began his medical career as a rural general practitioner in
Australia. After 10 years of full-time practice, he almost accidentally entered
academic life, spurred on by questions arising from his part-time teaching post
to which he could not easily find answers. Much to his surprise he gained a
research degree in education while running a general practice. He then contin-
ued to ask and answer questions as he followed opportunities in teaching and
education research at both postgraduate and undergraduate levels.
From 1999 to 2005 he guided the development of a new Australian School
of Medicine (James Cook University), where there is a focus on regional and
rural healthcare issues. He is now Head of the School of Medicine at Keele
University, with responsibility for guiding the development of a new curricu-
lum. He has a strong record of achievement in research and publishing, author-
ing about 100 research papers, and several books, covering his major interests
in faculty development, assessment methodology and quality of clinical and
education service delivery. One of his most enjoyable tasks is supervising others
choosing to conduct research in applied healthcare settings.
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Case studies
Throughout this book references will be made to progress on three evolving
case studies that demonstrate how health professionals with a varied range of
experience and interests approach research that is relevant to their professional
roles.
Case A
Jamie is a GP who completed postgraduate vocational training about five years
ago and is now established in a group practice that hosts both medical students
and GP registrars. When the partner with primary responsibility for teaching
wants to cut down hours, Jamie is asked to take over. He has always had some
interest in teaching and says yes. He attends ‘train the trainer’ sessions and
enrols in a ‘teacher training’ module at the local medical school, although this
is about an hour away by road and attendance is difficult. Jamie is soon manag-
ing both one-to-one teaching in the practice and a group of six medical students
in his ‘teaching hub’ practice. This is enjoyable, but Jamie is puzzled because
sometimes sessions work out really well, while others do not seem to work well
at all. Feedback from the students is collected regularly, but while generally
positive, this is rather non-specific. Jamie begins to wonder: ‘Why are these
sessions so variable in their quality? What can I do to improve things?’
Case B
Ahmed is a registered nurse who recently completed a postgraduate certificate
in emergency care nursing and now works only in a busy emergency depart-
ment. After a few months working there, Ahmed notices that managing patient
flows is often a major challenge to efficiency and quality of care provided.
Particularly over weekends, when the department accepts a lot of medium-level
urgency sporting injuries, mostly orthopaedic, but this impairs the capacity to
manage the injuries from frequent road accidents on the nearby motorway.
Ahmed begins to ask: ‘Can we develop a better system for managing these sport-
ing injuries in a timely way without affecting the capacity for managing serious
trauma?’
Case C
Susan is a speech language therapist with 15 years experience in general profes-
sional practice, who has deepening interest and expertise in language and learn-
ing disorders in children and teenagers. Susan has completed a coursework
masters level qualification in special education needs in childhood, and this
provided extensive knowledge of a broad range of approaches and assessment
tools. As a result, Susan is referred an increasing number of clients who pose
11
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12 Research degrees for health professionals
challenges, such as adolescents with less well defined language and learning
problems (e.g. dyslexia) and rather vague academic performance problems.
Susan finds that most available assessment tools are not appropriate for these
clients, as the tools were developed and standardised for younger, less academ-
ically able and less culturally diverse populations. Susan begins to ask: ‘How can
I provide a better, more culturally sensitive, evidence-based and more accurate
service?’
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Chapter 1
The relevance of research training
All the world is a laboratory to the inquiring mind.
Martin H Fischer 1944
13
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Why even consider research training?
Professional careers usually commence with an undergraduate coursework
degree. The increasing trend towards graduate entry professional degree
programmes means that many will have more than one undergraduate course-
work degree. These degrees are usually targeted at producing graduates who are
fit to commence professional practice, often under some form of supervision,
which may be formal and structured, leading to professional recognition and/or
registration. As a rule, undergraduate degrees are designed to produce gradu-
ates with certain core competencies that span both academic and professional
aspects. That is, there are generic academic skills that bachelor level degrees are
required to provide, and there are certain core competencies that professions
require. The former are more concerned with thinking and basic knowledge,
and the latter with application of knowledge and professional skills as a novice
professional. Neither sets of learning outcomes imply a post-basic level of
mastery.
Being a professional means a lifetime of continuing professional development.
Requirements for postgraduate education vary between professions, but at a
minimum all professionals are required to maintain currency of practice.
Currency of practice is a rather complex concept that combines maintenance of
previously acquired knowledge and skills, acquisition of necessary new know-
ledge and skills, and the judgement about how and when to apply both new
and old in a way that achieves high quality practice.
At this level, academic and professional education diverges, offering opportun-
ities and pathways that have strong differences, and yet often overlap.
Traditional continuing professional development either adds depth, as in
narrowing the scope to a specialty, or provides continuous updates for current
scope of practice. Some include research components, but the main focus is on
application of knowledge and skills within the professional context.
Postgraduate academic training really means further development of thinking
skills and builds towards research training. Masters level programmes used to
always include some research component, and doctoral level degrees always
meant a substantially or entirely research-based experience. This traditional
approach has changed, such that some higher level degrees no longer involve
research, and some university degrees include more professional, rather than
just academic, content. There are now many variations on what is offered, each
designed to meet a particular need or market (see Chapter 2). Most postgradu-
ate degrees are provided on a user pays basis, some with high fees.
15
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16 Research degrees for health professionals
So, back to the question. Given that all professionals must maintain currency
of practice, and therefore must participate in continuing professional develop-
ment, why would anyone consider research training?
What can research training add, and what can it not add?
Possible answers to these questions are listed in Box 1.1; each of these is a
potential outcome of embarking on a research pathway. Promotion may well
be an outcome of continuing professional development of any kind, but research
training is perhaps the least likely pathway for professionals to achieve promo-
tion quickly, as research training is at least initially a different career direction.
Similarly, income is unlikely to rise in a hurry, and may well fall, as profes-
sional activities are often better remunerated than academic pursuits. Fame is
possible, but probably only following a long and distinguished career, unless the
research training leads to truly ground-breaking research outcomes.
Box 1.1 Reasons for considering postgraduate education.
• Improve promotion prospects
• Increase personal satisfaction
• Increase income
• Increase recognition
• Facilitate career change
• Complement current career
Most tangible rewards are longer term, and unpredictable. Research training
may be more relevant to career change, as a combination of professional and
academic training can produce a different kind of person, who may develop a
broader set of skills to those who remain in narrower professional life. People
who successfully combine the two may be highly sought after for key leader-
ship roles within their profession, as they may demonstrate high level under-
standing of how to apply theory into professional practice. This is not a
guaranteed, or even necessarily a desirable, outcome for many. These issues are
discussed in more detail in the final chapter.
The most important reason to consider undertaking research training is
personal satisfaction. People who find themselves asking questions about ‘why’
and ‘how’ things are as they appear may well enjoy working out the answers.
Research training can improve the capacity to find answers to such questions.
Those of us who do this generally derive deep satisfaction from the problem
solving process. The level of interest and satisfaction is probably related to
personality. Readers of this book may already know deep down that they are
interested in answering at least ‘a’ question of relevance to their professional
life.
Those who want to better understand their own personality may learn
something from exercises such as a learning styles questionnaire, which can help
individuals understand how they prefer to learn (there are several)1, 2 or the
Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which can identify the preferred ways that
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The relevance of research training 17
individuals think and process information.3 While there is not any ‘better’
learning style or personality profile, and anybody can adapt and succeed in
whatever they choose to do, it is interesting that academics tend to have particu-
lar learning styles (enjoying theory, reflection and understanding) and are over-
represented in certain MBTI profiles (intuitive thinkers who draw strength from
reflection).
Pathways to research training
Broadly speaking, there are two pathways to research training. The most
common is where graduates from bachelor degrees proceed rapidly to masters
and doctoral level programmes with little or no ‘outside’ (of university) work
experience. This is the model that universities and academics understand and
support best. Bright minds are identified young and nurtured by academic role
models who place students in their research teams and mentor their progress.
Early research funding is almost guaranteed from the host team, as projects
usually form part of the broader research programme of the supervisors.
Publications are also almost guaranteed, as research students are included in
report writing teams, although usually not as the primary authors. Grant writing
skills will be learned as the team will be in a more or less constant state of grant
submission to sustain their research programme.
These ‘early’ research students tend to have simpler personal life arrange-
ments. As they are younger, they are less likely to have dependent partners and
children, or expensive mortgages. They may be more mobile, able to move
towns and universities to pursue research interests and supervisors. They will
not have had the chance to become accustomed to higher salaries. In many
ways this pathway is a continuation of the undergraduate life, relatively low
earning but very stimulating and enjoyable.
By their mid-twenties, these students may well have a PhD, successful
research grant applications, and several published papers. They are however,
unlikely to have professional training and life experience outside universities.
They rarely have any job security for several years, as they live from grant to
grant, and then post-doctoral fellowships – all so-called ‘soft’ money – as success
depends on high performance within a very competitive research world.
Depending on the level of success through this period, they may establish
themselves as ‘independent’ researchers, with a team of their own, and go on
to have very successful research careers. Because of the narrow and intense
focus on research built on basic sciences, the research is usually not particularly
relevant to applied professional research, although occasionally these early
researchers join more applied professional research teams from the beginning
of their research training.
The other model is more common in the health professions, and is less under-
stood by universities. Most health professional students choose their course with
more of a focus on their chosen vocation, and are keen to get to the point of
almost guaranteed employment and income generation. Further pressure comes
from the longer duration of professional courses, compared to other under-
graduate degrees, resulting in higher student debt at graduation. Finally, the
potential for research related directly to their chosen vocation is lower until
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18 Research degrees for health professionals
graduates have an opportunity to gain experience in the professional workplace.
Hence interest in research often comes later to health professionals.
Common characteristics of this group of research students are listed in Box
1.2.
Box 1.2 Characteristics of health professional research students.
• Usually more mature
• Usually more complex personal lives
• Usually greater financial problems
• Interests usually more applied than basic
• More likely to be seeking interesting career enhancement
The first group of characteristics relate to the greater maturity of these students.
They are more likely to have partners and dependent children, bigger debts, and
other family complications such as ill parents. If they have a mortgage, they will
also be less free to move for study, and so will explore local options. They will
find the fall in income that is almost inevitable when replacing professional
income generating time with research time, that may earn little or no income,
very difficult. However, maturity means not just older (on average), but also
having a different approach to learning. They are more likely to behave in the
manner described as adult learners, meaning that they will want to be more in
control of their learning,4 by choosing a research pathway that is more relevant
to their professional lives.
The second group of characteristics is that their research interests are usually
more applied than basic in nature. Applied research is that which builds on basic
sciences to research about more contextually and professionally relevant issues.
For example, while basic research might consider the possible neurotransmitter
imbalance in depression, applied research will look at the effectiveness of neuro-
transmitter therapy plus psychotherapy. Their potential research questions are
more likely to have come from professional practice, and even from personal
encounters and experiences. There may be a greater desire to produce evidence
that explains and/or informs professional practice. Depending on the stage of
their career, they are also more likely to be considering some form of change
in career direction, more likely building on and enhancing a somewhat diver-
sified career in the current profession, but in some cases a more dramatic
change, perhaps including being an academic in their professional discipline.
These differences have several implications for those wishing to undertake, and
those agreeing to supervise, more applied professional research degrees. The process
can be simpler, more complex, or a combination of both, depending on the partic-
ular circumstances. What is certain is that the process is different from that of the
usual research supervision model. Both students and supervisors need to be aware
of these differences, and their implications, which are listed in Table 1.1.
These implications are the basis of the following chapters, which guide readers
through the process of undertaking a research project based on a question that
emerges from professional practice. Issues are explored using three examples of
potential research questions that recur in each chapter as specific issues are dealt
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The relevance of research training 19
Table 1.1 Implications for health professional research degrees.
Student profile Supervisor skills
Part-time, maintaining professional practice Accommodate greater flexibility
Wanting control over research topic and Provide ‘softer touch’ guidance
process
Having large, diffuse research questions Guide refinement of answerable
questions
Having a weak methodology knowledge Focus on guiding learning of
methodology
Coming with no formal project funding Help identify potential research funding
Underestimating the importance of Promote and support dissemination
disseminating results
with. This approach allows readers to work through the issues with both
concrete examples and opportunities to consider in parallel their own research
ideas. This more ‘case based’ approach is common in health professional educa-
tion, and is equally relevant to postgraduate research training.
Case studies
Jamie, Ahmed and Susan are at the stage where they have identified reason-
ably broad professional development needs. In theory, all such needs could be
addressed through attending some kind of training course, and our three
colleagues make enquiries about what is available.
Case A: Variable quality of learning strategies
Jamie asks the people running the teacher training course and is told that they
do not have a module that specifically looks at his question. They also do not
know of any other courses that are likely to deal with such a broad question.
‘That may be a research question!’ is the smiling reply. They advise enrolling
in their Certificate of Medical Education course, as this may provide further
knowledge and skills that might help him build his experience. Jamie agrees,
as such a path fits relatively easily with his complex work requirements, but
deep down wonders if he should not find a way of satisfying his need to focus
on (to him) the specific question in his mind. He knows that the Certificate
course does not include research methods, but he did a small research project
as an undergraduate student and feels that he will be able to refresh and revise
that knowledge when he needs to, as he is interested in only a small and simple
project.
Case B: Effective triaging of sporting injuries
Ahmed asks his supervisor for advice, and is told that while the idea is inter-
esting, they are all much too busy to be able to do anything about it. He looks
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20 Research degrees for health professionals
outside the hospital for courses that might help, but a search of websites of
professional organisations and universities reveals nothing that appears to be
related. He next approaches one of the nurse tutors from the local university,
and is referred to one of the senior lecturers on the main campus. This person
is very helpful, and suggests that Ahmed enrol in the postgraduate academic
programme, such as their diploma/masters course, as this might provide some
ideas about how to answer the question, even if it does not directly answer it.
Ahmed has had very limited exposure to research so far in his training, and is
pleased that the diploma/masters course includes some research methodology
components.
Case C: A better, more culturally sensitive, evidence-based and more
accurate service
Susan is, in academic terms, perhaps the most advanced of the three. She has
already completed a masters level course, and that included modules on
research methods, although not necessarily the methods she might have to use
for her project. She recognises that her question could be framed as a research
question concerning standardising either current or newly developed assessment
tools for her target populations, and that might need some additional research
methodology expertise. Susan does a literature review on the topic and is not
surprised to discover that there is very little there. She contacts the masters
course director at her university and asks about the possibility of conducting
some kind of part-time research project.
Each of our three colleagues has to make a decision on where to go next. It is
quite possible for such questions to arise from time to time, depending on
current interests, and for interest to wane under the burden of professional and
personal demands; not every interesting idea from professional practice can be
followed up! Some might decide to follow that more individual, less formal
approach to research, and not worry too much about achieving a high quality
outcome; curiosity can be satisfied with less than that. On the other hand, the
decision may be to follow a more formal path that provides academic support,
a higher chance of a high quality outcome, and some form of qualification. If
the latter is decided, then the next step for Jamie, Ahmed and Susan is to seek
advice from an experienced researcher in an academic institution about how to
address the broad research questions each has identified.
Conclusion
Health professionals with research interests usually follow a career path that is
different from those in other academic disciplines and therefore often acquire
research training in different ways. Most commence research training with
professional clinical experience, choose to research topics of personal interest
that are related to their professional practice, and undertake the research part-
time. This requires a different approach to that of younger, full-time research
students and their supervisors. Following chapters explore through the three
case studies a model of research supervision that is more appropriate for health
professional research training, with the aim of making research training more
01-Hays-Text-ccp 27/7/07 06:27 Page 21
The relevance of research training 21
accessible to health professionals who wish to continue to provide professional
clinical services.
References
1 Mumford A, Honey P. Questions and answers on the Learning Styles Questionnaire.
Industrial and Commercial Training: 1992; 24 (see http://www.emeraldinsight.com/
Insight/ac_FullTextOptions.do?contentId=837961&contentType=Article).
2 Bligh J. The S-SDLRS: a short questionnaire about self-directed learning. Postgrad
Educ General Pract. 1993; 4: 121–5.
3 Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: see www.myersbriggs.org
4 Knowles M. The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species. 3rd ed. Houston Tx: Gulf Publishing
Company; 1984.
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Chapter 2
Choosing from the variety of research
training programmes
So-called original research is now regarded as a profession, adopted by
hundreds of men, and communicated by a system of training.
William Stanley Jevons 1835–82
23
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The spectrum of postgraduate research training
opportunities
One of the certainties of postgraduate education, including postgraduate
research training, is that there are many ways of reaching goals. In deciding
which pathway to choose, the most important question to ask, and answer, is:
Why am I doing this?
There are several possible answers to this question. If the answer is to dabble
and follow a rather unhurried, personal research journey, without achieving
any formal recognition, then it may be possible to simply follow a self-directed
journey of identifying questions, choosing a method, doing the research (often
self-funded) and then deciding what to do with the results. This is a style that
suits many independent professional people as it fits best into complex lives, but
it has major potential disadvantages. Novice researchers commonly have diffi-
culty refining an answerable research issue or question that has already been
addressed. They are unlikely to have any real background in research method-
ology, and so may either not apply the most appropriate methods to the issue
or question, or apply appropriate methods poorly. They may also not be
concerned about reporting interesting and relevant results in appropriate aca-
demic and/or professional outlets. A common result is that, while individuals
can have an enjoyable time on this pathway, they may well waste time and
personal funds by not producing a credible, reported outcome.
Should the answer be to receive at least some formal research advice and
support, then there are two choices. The first is to combine the self-directed
path described above with some informal contact with one or more profes-
sional researchers. This can add the academic rigour to provide a credible
outcome, without the pressure of institutional time-frames and requirements,
but has two disadvantages. The first is that it may be hard to find academics
who can provide the necessary degree of support, as this is an informal
arrangement that fits poorly into busy academic life, where there is generally
little ‘spare’ time. The only potential reward for academics providing informal
assistance is a name on resulting publications, and that requires a high quality
research project. This is of course possible, but is less likely. The second disad-
vantage is that there will be little or no formal reward for what might be very
useful and satisfying work.
The second choice is to seek formal research advice and training from experi-
enced academic researchers. This again carries several choices, linked to the level
25
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26 Research degrees for health professionals
of the degree programme; the usual broad academic categories are listed in Table
2.1. The choice may depend on the level of commitment to research training,
the time available, the balance of potentially competing pressures, and access
issues, such as geographic location of courses. If in doubt, it may be better to
commence with modest ambitions, to gain a more informed idea of what might
be involved. A sample experience is a reasonable basis for further planning and
involvement, and it is possible to ‘upgrade’ time commitment and the scale of
training.
Some brief explanation is necessary of the range of courses included in Table
2.1. There are two kinds of degree programmes, although the two models often
overlap. The first is coursework-based degree programmes. Most of these include
little or no research training up to diploma level, although most at masters and
doctoral levels do include at least some research training. A more recent devel-
opment is the professional doctorate, which is usually like a masters level
programme, only longer and to a deeper level. Most masters and doctoral level
coursework degrees include some component of research training, but less so
than research-based masters and PhD degrees. However, some more recent
Table 2.1 The range of postgraduate training courses.
Coursework-based Research project-based
Postgraduate certificate Masters degree
Postgraduate diploma Doctorate
Masters degree
Doctorate
Table 2.2 Postgraduate research programmes.
Duration Supervised Research component
(Full-time
equivalence)
Coursework masters 2 years Yes Nil to minor, probably limited to
proposal, literature review
Research masters 2 years Yes Moderate to substantial, not
necessarily a new topic
Professional doctorate 2–3 years Yes Nil to substantial, part of a portfolio
of diverse tasks
Doctor of Philosophy 2–4 years Yes Substantial, a new research topic
Higher doctorate N/A No A body of published research
indicating a major contribution
01-Hays-Text-ccp 27/7/07 06:27 Page 27
Choosing from the variety of research training programmes 27
masters and doctoral level programmes do not include any research training, so
if research training is the goal, read the programme information carefully. Those
wanting to move into formal academic career tracks need to be very careful
here, as non-research based masters and doctorate level degrees may not carry
the same academic respect as research-based doctorates. If in doubt, seek advice
from academic colleagues.
The second kind of degree programme is the traditional, research project-
based programme that at completion can lead to a change to a more academic
career, as they are regarded as the baseline academic qualifications for academic
health professionals. A summary of both coursework and research-based
programmes is provided in Table 2.2.
Coursework-based degree programmes
Many health professionals will have completed some form of research task
during their undergraduate course, and so most have some research training,
but this is far below that required of doctoral level research. Hence proceeding
directly to a doctoral research programme is not wise, unless further research
achievement has been gained through postgraduate research experience. Some
achieve this informally through applying good ideas with sound advice from
more experienced researchers, but for many the easiest entry point is via a
postgraduate coursework programme. Most of these are ‘tiered’ programmes,
such that an individual can exit with a postgraduate certificate, postgraduate
diploma, masters or doctoral level degree, depending on the duration of study
and the number of subjects studied. Entering students usually commence with
subjects that allow exploration of professional practice through a range of
conceptual frameworks, a process that provides a foundation for achieving better
understanding of their professional practice. This can be both personally and
professionally satisfying, and may be useful for thinking about becoming a
teacher of either undergraduate or postgraduate students within the profession.
At completion of either the certificate or diploma level, individuals may
continue with predominantly professional practice, or can progress to masters
degree level training.
At masters level, the focus usually narrows and the intensity increases, although
more optional subjects should be available to cater for a wide range of interests.
Formal research methods modules are usually included, and some programmes
will also include either small- or moderate-sized research tasks, or even a modest-
scale research project. Those who complete a coursework masters degree should
have demonstrated mastery of some quantitative and/or qualitative research
methods, and will be capable of making a significant contribution to academic
professional practice, even if they do not subsequently complete a doctoral level
programme. At completion of a coursework masters programme, graduates with
some research training should be eligible to enrol in a PhD programme.
Coursework doctorates are a relatively recent and controversial initiative that
is said to have first appeared in the USA. The academic title ‘doctor’ has trad-
itionally meant achievement in research training, and academic institutions are
wary of degrees that reward broader, rather than ‘higher’, academic achieve-
ment with that title. However, they are becoming more popular and more
widely available. In concept they are simply a longer, broader and perhaps
01-Hays-Text-ccp 27/7/07 06:27 Page 28
28 Research degrees for health professionals
deeper version of a coursework masters degree, and generally offer subjects that
build on professional practice, although may include research methodology
subjects. They may represent genuinely high achievement, but the quality is still
regarded as being variable across institutions. The best advice is to enrol in a
coursework professional doctorate at a reputable university.
Research project-based degree programmes
Research project-based programmes provide a more self-directed learning
experience to a deeper level, where students build research training around a
substantial research project that is supervised by one or more experienced
researchers. Research degrees require more commitment by students, as much
more is left to them to do personally. The degrees come in a variety of
programmes, each with different expectations, workloads and outcomes, as
summarised in Table 2.2. The lowest level of research project-based degree is
the masters level. A research masters degree involves research that is not neces-
sarily new, but might apply reported approaches in different contexts, and
should result in a publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Where the masters
programme is entirely research-based (i.e. no coursework, with a more substan-
tial research project), it is often regarded as an honours masters degree. This
higher masters level degree is now less popular, as while the standards and
status are lower than for a PhD, the workload is sometimes not much less. It
is therefore wise for an individual eligible for an entirely research-based degree
programme (usually with a prior coursework masters degree) to seek advice
about enrolling directly in PhD programmes, where for a modest increase in
workload, time-frame and standards, the rewards are higher.
A doctoral level degree usually requires a larger research project, and a higher
standard outcome/product. Doctorate level research degrees are often narrower
than masters level research degrees, because students learn in greater depth
about research methods relevant to only a particular research category. The
exception to this is the research-based professional doctorate, which is broader,
but is expected to achieve similar standards. PhD theses should achieve
something genuinely new, requiring more familiarity with the literature, greater
attention to research methods, greater care in reporting, longer theses, and
(ideally) several peer-reviewed papers.
Research-based professional doctorates are unusual in that they reflect more
than one research-based task, the results of which are submitted in a portfolio,
rather than a single thesis. The tasks include a substantial research-based thesis
component, perhaps comprising about half of the academic workload, but also
can include minor research products. These might include published papers or
conference presentations from other research projects, a monograph prepared
for professional practice, book chapters or even a whole book. Monographs
could include policy documents written for the workplace. All inclusions in the
portfolio should reflect an ability to access, synthesise and build on research
findings, as well as communicate academic material clearly via oral and written
presentations. This can clearly be of the same standard as the ‘usual’ PhD
outcomes, and offers the advantage of making the achievement more directly
relevant to professional practice. As with coursework doctorates, choose the
university carefully (see below).
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