PhD in Medical Education – (Ph.D.)

Research proposal At the start of the distance PhD programme, the participant writes a research proposal , describing a central research question and a proposed series of empirical studies to investigate the question. Based on their research proposal, participants collect data within their own educational setting, analyse the data, write an outline of a manuscript, and report the results of the empirical work in four to seven articles, which are preferably published in peer reviewed international journals in the field of study.

Supervision During all steps of the process, supervision will be provided (e.g. feedback during the writing process, methodological advice), mainly from a distance via email, telephone, and fax. In many cases there is more than one supervisor, i.e. the promotor and one or two co-promotors, who jointly provide supervision. External supervisors, e.g. associated with the institute where the work is being conducted, are acceptable (minimum requirement for an external supervisor is a doctorate degree). In total, a maximum of three supervisors is allowed.

Assessment As a final step, the thesis has to be presented and publicly defended in a one-hour session in which members of the review committee, who approved the thesis before it could be admitted for defence, and one or two other examiners question the author of the thesis on various aspects of the research. The defence is an open session and may be attended by relatives, friends and colleagues of the candidate.
The approval procedure - starting with submission of the thesis to the review committee - takes at least 20 weeks.

The PhD thesis The PhD thesis consists of the articles preceded by an introduction defining the research questions and followed by a discussion in which the findings of the research are synthesised and conclusions drawn. The time needed to write the PhD thesis varies considerably. On average participants need four years. Participants are granted access to the library of Maastricht University, which enables them to consult electronic journals in the field of medical and health sciences for educational research at a distance.