Professional Doctorates: International Experience and Russian Context

The diversification of forms and types of doctoral programs is currently a global trend. Universities across the globe offer programs that differ in the modes of training, characteristics of the target audience, and possible labor markets after graduation. In Russia, doctoral education exists in a unified format, focusing primarily on the academic labor market. Recently, there have been discussions about the need to expand the range of programs and the types of academic degrees in Russia. In this article, we present the analysis of professional doctoral programs: in response to what challenges and needs they appeared, how they are implemented, in what forms they exist. In addition, we consider the Russian experience of implementing professional doctoral programs; analyze the existing opportunities and barriers for their development. Based on the analysis, we came to a conclusion about the relevance of the professional doctoral programs’ development in Russia, the expediency of simplifying the conditions for their implementation and legitimizing special requirements for the design of dissertations with an applied orientation.

Delivering professional doctorate education: challenges and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic

Professional Doctorates have similar attributes of a PhD, but are arguably not as universally known. Moreover, professional doctorates have an added level of complexity, as students become scholar-practitioners by ensuring that they make a significant contribution to professional practice. However, professional doctorate education is often challenging due to the lack of research preparedness of professional doctorate students, who typically have been away from higher education for a number of years. Although these students may have built astute business mind sets, it could be argued that their approach to scholarly research is less so. So to achieve engaged scholarship that enables professional doctorate students to become scholar practitioners, it is crucial to create the correct learning environment. Using the Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) at Liverpool Business School, UK, as a case study, the ability to deliver professional doctorate education is explored, and pertinently the challenge and experience of how the teaching and learning environment has transitioned since the COVID-10 pandemic is evaluated. Finally, key lessons are outlined as to how to design professional doctorate programmes that are resilient to disruptions to conventional teaching and learning practices.

Is There a Doctor in the House? Medical Ethics and the Doctoral Honorific

The proliferation of professional doctorates has reinvigorated debate over the use of the doctoral honorific. Doctorate holders are often addressed as “doctor” in academic contexts, but idiomatic American English associates “doctor” with physicians—licensed clinicians with doctoral degrees in medicine. The possibility of patient confusion has historically justified proscription of the doctoral honorific by others, including nurses, but recently such proscriptions have been withdrawn. An examination of history, language, and ethical reasoning leads us to conclude that, in the context of patient interaction, clinicians should eschew the doctoral honorific entirely. We think it appropriate for professionals to rely on training-pathway titles as part of their professional duty to inform. In particular, we argue that licensed clinicians with doctoral degrees in medicine should embrace the title of “physician.”

Preparing for PhD: exploring doctoral students’ preparation strategy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to give insight on the important preparation task needed to be considered by prospective PhD candidates prior to the start of their study. As pursuing and obtaining a higher degree qualification is becoming more eminent for those who want to advance their academic career, crucial preparation is needed before embarking on the doctoral quest. Design/methodology/approach A small-scale study of the PhD experience was carried out in a public university in Malaysia using semi-structured in-depth interviews with eight successful doctoral students representing three different faculties to assess respondents’ experiences concerning the preparation aspect, challenges faced and strategies used to overcome the problem. Findings From the interview data, three overarching themes emerged: motives, task and financial and health as important dominators that could influence a successful venture of a PhD journey. Research limitations/implications As the present research respondents were few, further research with bigger number of respondents may shed better light in identifying other important aspect in preparation for PhD. The authors are unable, in the space of this paper, to fully explore the implications of the data, and the work of others that it builds on, for the future of professional doctorates or other types of PhD awards. As professional doctorates are fully concentrated on their professional endeavour, i.e. nursing and education, the preparation needed may include different groundwork. In addition, this study was carried out in Malaysia, where the system may not necessarily share the same characteristics to other doctoral systems in other countries. Cultural differences, the impact of age, gender and race, were other variables that could be weighed by future research in the same area. Practical implications The university’s graduate office should line-up courses to inform future doctoral candidates on the aspect of preparation at personal level that the students need to carry out. Social implications The study provides new views where potential doctoral students should be helped and guided to become more consciously aware of their decision in pursuing a higher degree. This paper provides suggestions on the guidelines of the initial preparation needed before embarking on a PhD journey and managing their own learning. Originality/value The paper establishes the important aspect of the preparation phase needed to be considered by future doctoral students before pursuing their doctoral quest.

Professional Doctorates: Grasping A New Way

It is one thing to write a curriculum for a professional doctorate with a graduate profile that talks of practice-change and leadership development. Our experience of initiating the Doctor of Health Science in 2002 was that it was all too easy to fall back on the PhD mindset. It took inspiration from the literature, and pioneering candidates, to show us how this programme could be distinctively different from a PhD. We tell our story to reveal both challenges and possibilities. We see that all our candidates have a focus on bringing change to practice. Some do this through research ‘on’ practice, others by research ‘in’ practice, and then there are those caught up in the research/practice nexus. We believe a professional doctorate programme has potential to significantly grow the candidate into a leader of practice-change.