Health-Professions Education

Professional Doctorate

The Professional Doctorate in Health-professions Education (DHPE) aims to prepare individuals for roles of leadership in research and senior management in the health-care professions. The programme is appropriate for Health-care professionals (doctors, dentists, nurses, scientists and veterinary practitioners and associated specialists), who are ambitious for an influential role, at a senior level, in the management and delivery of Education in either undergraduate or postgraduate phases.

This is most appropriate for early or mid-career practitioners who wish to significantly enhance their comprehension of Education within a professional context.

The core aims of the Professional Doctorate are:

-To establish excellence in the execution of teaching, assessment, curriculum development and evaluation, and to inculcate a comprehensive understanding of the nature of 'learning' in the Health-care professions.

-To prepare an individual who is effective in, and capable of, fulfilling the roles of leadership and management at a senior level, in undergraduate and postgraduate phases.

-To plan and execute high quality research, leading to publications and a significant contribution to Health-professions and Medical Education.  

The pathway to completion is as follows:

• Course 1: Teaching, learning, assessment, the curriculum.  
• Course 2 :Research, Education Management and leadership. 
• Course 3: The Dissertation (12000 - 15000 words).
• Course 4: The Thesis (50,000 words).

Regulations for completion of the Thesis

The candidate will undertake an original piece of research that will demonstrate a high level of scholarship at each stage of the research. The final document will be approximately 50,000 words (word count as suitable for the different types of research) based on an investigation, audit, case study or action research.  The subject area will be relevant to Health-professions Education (teaching, learning, assessment, curriculum development, or management issue), and will be an original investigation that makes a significant contribution, and extension, to what is already known in that field, of publishable quality.  The overall structure may include sections written as a portfolio (that have been agreed with the supervisor), on topics related to the investigation, but forming a coherent body of writing. This would include:

Background

The background, setting out the purpose of the study, and setting out a critical analysis of the field of study. This should include a description and justification of the methodologies chosen and reveal an area of originality in the selection or application of the research instruments. This may also include some reflective writing that analyses a relevant aspect of the candidate’s work, as an aid to understanding an hitherto unknown concept, or protocol, as agreed with the supervisor.  

Literature Review

A literature review, showing a critical appraisal of the literature and forming a critical review of the associated key issues and themes, leading to a meta-analysis of what is known. This will include available ‘grey literature’ and any relevant policy documents, and would lead to submission for publication.  The students will demonstrate originality of insight and understanding of the issues concepts, and demonstrate some creativity into the analysis of the literature, and the methods used by other authors.

Methodologies

A critical review of the philosophical nature of the subjective and objective methodologies adopted, together with a description of the research instruments (perhaps with pilot studies) to demonstrate how the propositional knowledge may be applied in the candidates own research area and location.  The student will demonstrate how to deal with an inquiry into complex issues, and be able to conceptualise the association of factors tested by the chosen instruments. 

Results

A critical and detailed account and analysis of the results obtained, using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The analysis should take a thorough and systematic process of analysis, taking into account factors such as reliability, validity, triangulation, association and limitations, in a creative and perceptive manner.

Discussion and Conclusions

A details and scholarly discussion should be completed, leading to conclusions drawn from the research, together with recommendations of actions that may be appropriate to bring about an improvement in some future or similar situation. These should take into account the generalisability and transferablity of what has been learned from the research.  The discussion should deal with complex issues in a creative and thoughtful way, such that scholars in the same area would be enlightened and taken to a new level of understanding

References

The work should be properly referenced and tested for plagiarism in accordance with the University’s policy.

Publications 

Papers will be prepared and submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals, and the abstracts about the topic will be submitted for presentation at national and international conferences.  This is a non-assessed element of the course.

During the thesis phase, students and supervisors will submit an interim and an annual progress report to the Higher Degrees Committee and Board of Studies. Progress is formally and regularly monitored by the Board of Studies.  The Board of Studies will include representatives from the Learning and Teaching Centre and Faculty of Education.

Assessment

The DHPE thesis is assessed following the pattern of the PhD, with an external and internal examiner (two external examiners for staff candidates).  The internal examiner, usually a member of staff from the Faculty of Medicine, will not have been closely involved with the student's work on the thesis.  The thesis will be examined during a viva, lasting no longer than 3 hours.  The appointment of the internal and external examiners for the thesis will be subject to the scrutiny and approval of the Faculty’s Higher Degrees Committee.  Each viva will be overseen by an impartial Convener for quality assurance purposes.

Please contact the Course Director, Phillip Evans, for further details