ProfDoc
Professional Doctorate in Health and Social Care
Research to reflect on and contribute to professional practice
Course Overview
Why take this course?
The University of Portsmouth was one of the first institutions to respond to the rapid changes within the healthcare professions by offering a Professional Doctorate in Health and Social Care Disciplines programme. This programme started in October 2000, and has been highly successful in its delivery to health and social care professionals.
The Professional Doctorate is an alternative pathway to a doctorate qualification. It is a rigorous programme of advanced study and research, designed specifically to meet the needs of industry and professional groups and is the professionally oriented counterpart to the more theoretical PhD. It enables students to study a specific subject to the same depth as PhD students, but also allows them to apply learning to their professional practice.
What will I experience?
The Faculty of Science offers seven healthcare routes at doctorate level:
- Doctorate in Biomedical Science (DBMS)
- Doctorate in Chiropractic (DChiro)
- Doctorate in Health Science (DHealthSci)
- Doctorate in Medical Imaging (DMedImg)
- Doctorate in Nursing (DNursing)
- Doctorate in Pharmacy (DPharm)
- Doctorate in Social Work (DSW)
These routes are taught together and this enables students in each cohort to benefit from the experience of others and provides a unique inter-professional learning environment. An alternative to a doctorate qualification.
Is it for me?
The Professional Doctorate is open to a wide range of health and social care professionals, who have an active interest in practice-based research and professional practice issues, wish to attain the highest level of professional and academic achievement and develop their career within the health and social care arena. Relevance and application of the research to the professional environment will be a pivotal feature of the programme and reflection on practice will be integral to the learning process.
Internationally recognised
This course is recognised internationally as a qualification granted to those who have reached the highest level of professional and academic achievement in their field of endeavour.
What opportunities might it lead to?
On a personal level, the Professional Doctorate will offer personal fulfilment, professional development, career enhancement and encourage reflective practice.
The programme aims to enhance personal development planning for continuing professional development and encourage an advanced level of critical, analytical, debating and publishing skills, plus knowledge of the range of different research methods encountered in professional practice.
Within the National Health Service (NHS) a Professional Doctorate is now being seen as an essential academic qualification for attaining Advanced Practitioner and Consultant grade posts within the NHS Agenda for Change career framework.
Find out more detail about the Professional Doctorate in Health and Social Care on the School of Health Science and Social Care website.
I think I became a different kind of person whilst doing the course, no longer suited to the demands of operational management but better at working on strategic developments where there is more time to reflect on the impact of change on both patients and staff.
Dr Barbara Lloyd, Prof Doc in Health and Social Care graduate
Key Facts
- Duration
- 3-5 years part time
- Entry
To apply for the course you need to have a good MSc/MA/MPhil or equivalent qualification in an area relevant to your practice, and ideally be employed in an establishment that will permit appropriate professional and research practice. All students are expected to attend an informal interview with a member of the course team, which will include a discussion of the research and professional development project that you wish to undertake in Part 2 of the course. English language proficiency at a minimum of IELTS band 7.0 with no component score below 5.5.
- Fees
UK/EU students: £2,380 p/a*
International students: £2,380* p/a
*Please note that all fees are subject to annual increase.
If you are applying for Accreditation of Prior (Experiential) Learning (AP(E)L), the following charges will apply.
AP(E)L fee for "Advanced Research Techniques" unit - £310.00
AP(E)L fee for "Publication and Dissemination" unit - £210.00
For the Extension of Registration to Part 1 and/or Part 2 a completion fee (of dissertation/project) of £160.00 will apply to each Part.
- Contact
- sci-pgrad@port.ac.uk
+44 (0)23 9284 2994 - Department
- School of Health Sciences and Social Work
Structure & Teaching
This is a part-time course, which has been specifically designed so that it can be available to health and social care professionals from all over the country, to fit with the demands of fulltime employment. The course structure is only offered in a part-time mode and is divided into two parts.
Attendance for Part 1 will average one/two days per month depending on the unit being studied. Typically, students will be required to attend the University for up to 25 days for the whole of Part 1. Attendance for Part 2 will only be required for tutorials, seminars and oral presentations.
Part 1
This is the 'taught' component of the programme, which will equip students with the skills that they will need in preparation for Part 2. Part 1 consists of four units, namely:
Professional Review and Development
Advanced Research Techniques*
Publication and Dissemination
Proposal for Professional Research and Development
* Those with significant experience of research techniques will be offered the alternative opportunity of undertaking the Application of Research to Professional Practice Unit.
Part 2
This is the research and professional development component and comprises one or two pieces of practice-based research, linked with a commentary demonstrating the relevance of the research to both practice and the practitioner. The nature of this study may include pure basic research or applied research related, for example, to a management or educational setting. This should normally take between 18 and 36 months to complete.
Assessment will be by a thesis or portfolio of research, an oral presentation and a viva voce examination.
The University offers Accreditation for Prior Learning (APL), for applicants with previous learning experience and other academic achievement which could be taken into account for some of the units of study. Claims will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Teaching and Assessment
Each student will be assigned one or more University supervisors, depending on the area of research and professional development. Access to specialist advisors in the workplace will be required for Part 2 of the programme and will vary according to the area of investigation. We have excellent support systems for our Professional Doctorate students. All students are assigned a Personal Tutor for Part 1 as well as an additional Director of Studies for Part 2 of the course.
There are opportunities to attend Research Seminars and Workshops organised by the University as well as access to the Centre for Simulation in Healthcare, which is designed to support the professional development of students in the health-related sciences. It provides opportunities for research using up-to-date technologies (e.g. laboratory and human patient simulation, computer aided and e-learning) and innovative approaches to teaching and learning.
How are you assessed?
The Professional Doctorate usually consists of coursework and research and is credit based. The coursework component is designed to help build on professional expertise by exposing students to challenging and innovative ideas in their field.
Assessment is by coursework (including preparation of an article for publication and a research proposal) and oral presentations. This should normally take between 18 and 24 months to complete.
Facilities & Features
Centre for Simulation in Healthcare
Offering a wide range of clinical facilities
Graduate School
Providing professional training and high-quality supervision
University Library
Our library offers a wealth of information
Centre for Simulation in Healthcare
Our simulation centre can offer access to the following facilities:
- fully equipped Operating Theatre
- METI and Laerdal human patient simulators
- ward/observation area
- Wet Laboratory
- eye tracking equipment
- a state-of-the-art imaging suite, similar to those used in clinical practice
- a comprehensive electronic film library
- two emergency ultrasound scanners and a high resolution colour portable ultrasound system
- a three-dimensional virtual environment radiotherapy unit (VERT)
Graduate School
The University of Portsmouth Graduate School supports, administers and coordinates training for the MPhil, PhD, and Professional Doctorate programmes. We aim to involve you fully in our research programmes by providing professional training, offering high-quality supervision, and giving you the opportunity to develop your knowledge and to equip you for your future career or further research.
University Library
Modern, comfortable and a great learning environment, our library offers a wealth of information including 400,000 books, DVDs, maps and thousands of online ejournals and newspapers. Many electronic resources are available anywhere, 24/7 and our friendly staff are always on hand to help.
As well as full electronic access to the University's Library and Computing Services, you will also have access to a dedicated Professional Doctorate Student Resource Area, which holds a range of examples of student assignments, portfolios, publications, theses and viva presentation material to be used as reference material and guidance.
Careers & Opportunities
Career prospects
Those students completing the MRes Science course will have moved to the next level of qualifications with the advantages that this offers in terms of learning and employability. They will also be in an excellent position to apply for any related doctoral training programme, research assistant positions, graduate teaching positions, or general research related roles.
Benefits to the workplace
The programme is predominantly work-based and the activities should benefit the practitioner's workplace. The decision to support an individual on this programme recognises their importance to the organisation. Through the projects undertaken it allows organisations to develop new processes and procedures that will be of benefit to the workplace.
Examples of recent and successfully defended Research and Professional Development Unit Projects include:
- A model for the implementation of point of care testing facilities within an acute hospital environment.
- An illuminative evaluation of an older person’s outreach and support team in an acute general hospital.
- The gatekeeping role of general practice nurses in accessing primary care for patients requesting unscheduled consultations.
- Optimisation of the diagnostic potential of coagulation assays for the laboratory diagnosis of lupus anticoagulants.
Career planning
6.04 minutes
Finding a job is a competitive business, but the statistics show that 89 per cent of our 2011graduates went into employment, further study or training within six months of finishing their degrees.
To make sure you take the right steps on your career path, we’re here to give you help, support and advice throughout your study. Even after you’ve graduated, we continue to give you support for up to five years.
Employers tell us that they want graduates to be able to demonstrate certain skills when they come out of university. Our courses take account of this. We make sure we prepare you for employment through work-related learning, projects, placements and working in simulated environments that are designed to prepare you for the working world.
This course has helped me in many ways. I began to feel I really was an expert in my field and had reached the top of clinical pharmacy. I gained confidence in dealing with a specialist area where, without projects like mine getting written up and disseminated, knowledge about the topic came from making clinical decisions one patient at a time.
Dr Vanessa Marvin, Prof Doc in Health and Social Care graduate