Medical Education MPhil/PhD

PhD year by year

After receiving your application, we try to establish if we have the necessary expertise to supervise your project and we begin to form a supervisory team for you. This will normally consist of a Director of Studies (DoS), who will be your lead supervisor, and at least one other supervisor, who will offer you additional support and guidance throughout your studies. If, following a successful interview, you are offered a place as a full-time student, your programme of study will look something like this:

Part time students follow the same structure as full-time students but normally complete the PhD over a period of five to six years. Part-time students take two modules in each of their first two years, and will normally Transfer to PhD in their fourth year.

Supervisors

Professor Rachel Ashworth
Expertise: medical education research;  qualitative and sociological research methods, including interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA); the effectiveness of integrative approaches to teaching biological science in the clinical context.

Dr Leo Donnelly 
Expertise: medical education, especially the optimisation of anatomical knowledge acquisition and the uses of computer-aided learning and haptic modelling, as well as the use of imaging modalities such as ultrasound.

Professor Lisa Jones
Expertise: medical student wellbeing and achievement; quantitative research methods; the effectiveness of learning and teaching behavioural science in the clinical context, and learning and teaching about mental health and mental illness.

Professor Kay Mohanna
Expertise: medical education teaching and learning; conversation analysis of video recorded data, qualitative methods using a thematic analytical approach; identity formation, diversity and inclusion, leadership and the use of humanities in teaching and learning..

Professor Sandra Nicholson
Expertise: medical educational research and scholarship that enhances the experience of both students and tutors, improves the care and satisfaction of patients, and the field of medical sstudent selection and widening participation ; interdisciplinary approach to research including working with policy holders; quantitative and qualitative educational methodologies.

Dr Russell Peek
Expertise: quantitative and qualitative research in medical education, working across traditional disciplinary and professional boundaries; complexity and uncertainty within medicine, and the psychophysiology of stress, performance and thriving in clinical learners.

Professor Rebecca Stack
Expertise: medical education, particularly approaches to reducing biases in assessment, increasing consistency between assessors, promoting equality and diversity in assessment, and reaching inclusive forms of assessment; qualitative research and analysis, meta synthesis, survey-based research and statistical analysis of quantitative data; with a particular interest in PGR student projects exploring student perceptions of inclusive assessments and differential attainment on healthcare programmes.

Dr Erica Thomas
Expertise: self-compassion, resilience, and wellbeing amongst students in the medical professions.

Dr Elizabeth Walden 
Expertise: biochemistry; the role of training and teaching in understanding the basic cellular and genetic underpinnings of disease in modern day medical education and the role of scientists in medical education.

All students engage with our Researcher Development Programme (RDP). The RDP aims to develop and enhance the skills, both generic and specific, that you will need to complete your research degree but also to become an effective researcher. The RDP is organised around thematic clusters, consisting of modules, and workshops, delivered face-to-face by subject specialists from across the University and the dedicated Researcher Development Team, or online through our virtual learning environment.

As part of the RDP, you will complete a Postgraduate Certificate in Research Methods (PG Cert). All students must complete the PG Cert in order to progress on their MPhil/PhD Programme. The PG Cert is strongly focused on developing your programme of research, starting from establishing your development needs, and preparing you for the planning and subsequent delivery of your programme of research.

Full-time students will complete the PG Cert in 12 months and part-time students in 24 months.