Entry requirements
For admission to most of the Health Professional Doctorate programme routes, candidates must be registered health care professionals. However, there is also a generic route (DHealthSci) which does not necessitate this requirement and there may also be exceptions in the public health route (DPH) dependent on the subject of intended study. You should also be working either full or part-time in an appropriate organization where you are permitted to conduct work-based research and evaluation. In addition, candidates must normally:
- Have completed a post graduate master’s degree in a relevant subject (advice on alternates can be discussed with the route leads) or have relevant equivalent extended clinical practice.
- Worked a senior practitioner with evidence of an advanced practice role and/or evidence of experience of practice research or evaluation (e.g. post graduate certificate in research and evaluation, published papers), at the discretion of the programme lead*
Students for whom English is not their first language must pass the academic IELTS with a minimum of 7.0 in all sub-tests. The only exception being st7udent from a nursing background who can have a minimum of 6.5 in the written test but a minimum of 7 in all other sub tests. This is due to the NMC professional registration requirements (NMC, 2018) Please note that the IELTS exam must be no more than two years old at the start of the programme you have applied for.
*Candidates unable to provide evidence will normally be able to complete relevant research and advanced practice development modules to be eligible for entry if necessary. In any case, please contact the Programme Lead to discuss your options.
Accreditation of Prior Certificated Learning (APCL)
Consideration will be given to requests for APCL/RPL in relation to Part 1 by the programme lead in conjunction with the route lead, on application to the programme.
For students on the DPharm route, candidates who have achieved membership of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Faculty at a minimum of advanced stage II will be awarded 30 credits and will be exempt from studying the Advanced Practice Development 60 credit module. You will be required to complete the Advanced Practice Development 30 credit module instead.
Months of entry
October
Course content
Please note, all course information including entry requirements relates to the 2022/23 academic year.
The Health Professional Doctorate programme meets the needs of a range of health care professionals/educationalists wishing to attain the highest level of professional and academic achievement.
Routes available in pharmacy (DPharm), education (DEdHealth), nursing (DNursing), public health (DPH), social work (DSW), DHealthSci (physiotherapy) (DHealthSci (Physio)), counselling (DCouns) and a generic route (DHealthSci).
The programme of taught modules combined with the research component allows students to undertake study and research that is clearly relevant to their professional practice, will support them to contribute to professional knowledge in their field of practice and will enable their career development. A number of routes within the programme as a whole are available to capture the array of health professional backgrounds and ensure applicability to the professional practice and professional development.
A professional doctorate provides a rigorous programme of advanced study and research, equally rigorous to the purely research orientated PhD. The taught modules which occupy the first two years of the programme, provide opportunities to develop students’ skills and knowledge in key areas to facilitate career development, whilst the research component allows for development of skills in critical appraisal and the ability to develop the rationale, methodology and methods for research studies. The modules also allow development of other transferable skills such as project management, problem solving, information management and academic writing.
The Health Professional Doctorate utilizes the expertise of the academic team across the whole of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences as well as experts from the clinical field to support the student’s development, research and scholarship; many of whom may be nationally and internationally renowned researchers in their own field.
Within the Health Professional Doctorate, students may wish to exit at key points prior to completing the whole programme and in doing so may be awarded either postgraduate diploma or masters in health sciences. This design is intended to provide flexibility for professionals studying whilst working in high pressured health service roles.
