Professional Doctorate Symposium

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Staff and students from the School of Health Sciences are looking forward to the inaugural research symposium for one of our postgraduate programmes.

The Professional Doctorate in Health (DProfHealth) programme was created in 2023 with its first cohort of students beginning their studies last September.

Designed to be an alternative to a PhD or more traditional research routes, the programme is offered on a flexible part-time basis which takes into account an applicant's professional context, prior learning, skills, work place priorities and experiences.

The programme lead, Dr Gina Holmes, has now invited School staff and students to attend the inaugural cohort's research symposium on 20th March which is taking place in room 305a in the Brodie Tower. 

Dr Holmes said: “There is often a reluctance amongst professionals to undertake doctoral-level study because they worry about the challenges that balancing work commitments with their studies could present.

"In reality, with senior professionals in mind, many modern professional doctorate programmes have been specifically designed to address the challenges of studying part-time whilst working full-time. These newer programmes are totally equal in academic value to a traditional route PhD, but they access those outcomes in more applied ways.

Running between 11am and 3pm, the event will comprise of a variety of roundtable workshops, followed by a keynote address from Professor Michelle Briggs. The focus of the sessions will be on making doctoral study accessible and interesting and showcasing what the ProfDoc is all about, from the teaching and learning methods to module details and research subjects.

Dr Holmes added: "This symposium will be a fun, interesting day in keeping with the values of the programme. The sessions will be thought provoking and accessible, allowing delegates to get an insight into studying with us whilst sparking their creative intellect around options for their own personal and professional development.”

The event should be of interest to anyone who would like to know more about the programme whilst it will also provide support to those who are currently enrolled on other Masters and PhD programmes.

Professor Michelle Briggs will be focusing her speech on the lessons she learnt from her career with particular emphasis on her experiences of balancing professional practice with academia.

For more information, you can contact Dr Holmes on: G.L.Holmes@liverpool.ac.uk