Clinical Doctorates

• Doctor of Midwifery
• Doctor of Nursing
• Doctor of Professional Health Studies (Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech & Language Therapy, Dietetics and Genetic Counselling)
  

Programme Objectives

These doctoral programmes are specifically designed for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals who wish to remain in clinical practice. These Doctorates equip you to integrate practice experience, research and project management to enhance clinical effectiveness. They permit you to develop a full range of research skills and related roles with focus maintained on clinical practice.

Entrance requirements

Candidates should: hold a good honours degree and/or a Master’s degree or equivalent of a university or college recognised by the University of Stirling; hold an appropriate nursing, midwifery or allied health professional registration; have at least five years’ post-registration experience. Selection follows consideration of written application and interview.

English language requirements

If English is not your first language, you must provide evidence of your proficiency such as a minimum IELTS score of 6.5 (minimum 6 in each skill) or TOEFL 577/233/90 (Paper/Computer/Internet).

Funding

information on possible sources of funding

Programme start date

Students usually begin the programme at the start of a new academic year, in September or October.

Structure and content

The programme is designed to change the way you think. You are expected to make a significant difference to your clinical environment from the very beginning of the programme. Ideas and methods from other academic disciplines are applied to your own fields of expertise.

The programme can be studied over three years full-time or, more commonly, over four and eight years part-time. It consists of three taught modules, an expert practice module and a research-based thesis. Taught components are clustered into two three-day sessions over the first three semesters.

Each taught module is studied over one semester.

• The first module initially brings you up to date with the latest ideas, findings and methods, challenging assumptions and changing how nurses, midwives and allied health professionals think about the relationship between research, scholarship and expertise.
• The second module moves on to look at new ideas about systems, how decisions are made and how to design the clinical environment so that nurses, midwives and allied health professionals can see, understand, evaluate, plan and take action with maximum speed and efficiency.
• The third module develops your ability to conduct significant health care research, including research design, experiments, sampling methods, measurement, computer systems, statistics and qualitative methods. It forms the basis for the thesis proposal.
• The fourth module assesses your expert practice, utilising observations, viva voce examination and, where possible, patient input.

Following two years of taught modules, you progress to the empirical research stage and ultimately construct a thesis of approximately 40,000 words on a topic that will enhance the knowledge base in your field of practice.

Delivery and assessment

Assessment includes coursework, expert practice examination and the thesis itself. Two active researchers supervise your research project and the programme is supported by face-to-face contact, video-conferencing, email and internet facilities. On-campus attendance is kept to a minimum.

Postgraduate Diploma and Master’s exit points are available.

Timetable

Contact the School for information on your timetable and reading lists.

RAE rating

In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), 20 percent of Nursing & Midwifery’s research was described as ‘World-leading’ and a further 65 percent as of ‘International Significance’, placing us firmly as the leading nursing and midwifery department in Scotland and one of the top ten in the UK.

Career Opportunities

93% of Stirling graduates are in employment or further study six months after graduation.