Entry Year
2019
Duration
Part time 48 Month(s)
Take an innovative approach to distance learning combining interactive lectures, webinars and online collaboration, group work and self-directed study.
Work with world-leading academics offering global perspectives in the field of palliative and end of life care.
Benefit from an international peer group of health workers, including clinicians, clinical service managers, researchers, educators, and policy developers.
Studying by blended learning
The PhD in Palliative Care is offered part-time via blended learning over four to five years (minimum four years), and begins with a five-day Induction Academy at the University. Each of the subsequent academic years start with an optional three-day Academy. The rest of the course is delivered via e-learning.
Blended learning refers to the methods of interaction between students and course tutors / supervisors on a programme. Teaching and research activities are carried out through a combination of face-to-face and online interaction. Face-to-face interactions include residential academies and work-based workshops while online interactions use our virtual learning environment and include discussion forums, collaborative digital spaces and video conferencing.
You will benefit from being part of a UK and internationally-based peer group of health workers, including those involved in: the delivery of clinical services, including managers and clinicians; those working in policy development relating to palliative care in government departments, NGOs, and private foundations; those responsible for educational programmes in hospices, colleges and universities; and those involved in palliative care research and development. Like you, your fellow students will share an interest in becoming tomorrow’s leaders in palliative care and will be undertaking formal study at the same time as they are working.
All students have access to a hub space that facilitates interaction with your cohort and with other programmes, creating a virtual information space that’s also sociable. An academic tutor and then two research supervisors will provide you with support for each step of your PhD. They will also encourage you to attend external workshops and conferences (using University funds, where available, to support this).
During each academy you will participate in lectures, workshops, group discussions and individual activities, while our distance learning approach combines live and interactive lectures, elements to be worked through autonomously, webinars and online collaboration, and group work.
Course structure
Years 1 and 2 provide you with training in research and in the theory and practice underpinning healthy organizations. Your specialist module in Year 1 is Palliative Care, which is studied alongside the Philosophy of Research, and, Research Design. In Year 2 you will undertake the following modules: Systematic Reviews; Data Analysis; and Advanced Research Planning.
The Palliative Care module examines the historical and comparative perspectives in palliative care policy and practice in different settings and cultures around the world. You will explore how hospice and palliative care have evolved in different resource settings; the models of care that have been adopted; and the issues involved in assessing the impact of these – individually, socially and societally. Through the course of this module you'll gain insight into the field of palliative and end of life care through perspectives and debates within the social sciences. You'll also explore issues associated with the specific concerns of palliative care research. Your studies will relate closely to the ongoing research programmes of the International Observatory on End of Life Care (IOELC), and you'll have access to a unique set of electronic and paper based archives as well as a major library collection of journals, books and grey literature.
The remaining five taught modules (10 weeks each) are taught across programme streams with peers from a range of other backgrounds, but you are encouraged to consider this teaching from the perspective of palliative and end of life care – applying it as you build towards the final module where you fire up your independent research proposal and ethics application.
Years 3 to 4/5 see you undertake a research project in Palliative Care, which will conclude with the submission of your 35,000 word thesis. The project will be supervised from the University but undertaken in your own location or workplace. Supervisions can be via telephone, e-mail or Skype, depending on preference. Face-to-face meetings with your supervisors will take place during the annual academy.
We aim to provide an opportunity for students - many of whom are working in hospice and palliative care services of various kinds - to develop a critical orientation and a portfolio of skills relating to research and evaluation in the field. We encourage the development of general skills that will be of use throughout the programme. These include critical engagement with reading materials, the ability to effectively synthesise materials, and to use research evidence critically in supporting your arguments.
Dr Lynn Bassett, PhD Palliative Care graduate
"Blended learning offered me an opportunity for doctoral study. However, distance learning has its challenges; it demands self-motivation and determination in a process that is conducted, mostly, alone. Autumn Academies provided bases for networking and peer support and I value greatly the firm friendships made across international and interdisciplinary boundaries. In the last year, I emerged with a new thirst for excellence, greater humility, clarity of thought and confidence in my thesis. The persistence and hard work paid off; I have achieved, I have grown, I am changed."
The Division of Health Research
The Division of Health Research have been offering blended learning postgraduate programmes since 2010. We have many successful graduates and currently around 200 continuing students on a range of programmes who have benefited in progressing their careers from the high quality postgraduate education we provide.
