About the Book
How to Complete a PhD in the Medical and Clinical Sciences provides fresh insight into the PhD process and a concise framework to aid current and prospective students undertaking research in the medical and clinical sciences.
Filled with useful hints, tips, and practical guidance, the book covers key topics relevant to a PhD researcher such as publishing and presenting, core principles and techniques in medical science, dealing with common pitfalls, and how to write up and move on.
Featuring contributions from authors with experience across the PhD research career spectrum, How to Complete a PhD in the Medical and Clinical Sciences is an invaluable resource for those undertaking their doctoral studies.
Table of Contents:
List of contributors, xi
About the editors, xv
Foreword, xvii
Preface, xix
Acknowledgements, xxi
Chapter 1: Introduction, 1
Ashton Barnett?-Vanes and Rachel Allen
A PhD, 1
Perspective, 2
Why a book? How to use it, 5
References, 6
Chapter 2: Deciding on and finding a PhD, 7
Jonathan C.H. Lau and Ming He
Background, 7
Routes of entry, 8
How to find one, 11
Choosing a project, 13
Making an application, 16
Interviews, 17
How to fund one, 18
Reference, 22
Further reading, 22
Chapter 3: Anatomy of a PhD: Where you fit in the academic world, 23
Laura Lambert and John Tregoning
Background: Welcome to the new you, 23
You are here: PhD research versus undergraduate studies, 24
Lab types: A field guide, 25
It’s tricky: The student?]supervisor interaction, 27
Check out my massive organogram, 28
Other dull, but important stuff, 29
Conclusion, 31
Reference, 32
Chapter 4: Core techniques, principles and statistics, 33
Andrew John Walley, Kyrillos N Adesina? Georgiadis, Adel Benlahrech and Fiona Reid
Genomics, 33
Metabolomics, 38
Flow cytometry, 40
Statistics, 45
References, 49
Further reading, 49
Chapter 5: Take off: Year 1, 51
Ashton Barnett? Vanes and Rachel Allen
Background, 51
Understanding your team and project, 52
The literature, 53
The research proposal, 55
Starting experiments, 56
Data management and record keeping, 57
The ‘transfer’, 58
Conclusion, 59
Common pitfalls, 59
Chapter 6: Dealing with problems, 63
Rachel Allen and David Salman
Background, 63
General problems, 64
Academic problems, 66
Common PhD problems, 69
Conclusions, 72
References, 73
Further reading, 73
Chapter 7: Breaking ground: Year 2, 75
Ashton Barnett-Vanes and Rebecca Ingram
Background, 75
Taking ownership of your project, 75
Shaping the research direction, 76
From preliminary to publishable data, 77
Supervising junior students, 79
The end of Year 2 review/assessment, 80
Conclusion, 82
Common pitfalls, 82
Chapter 8: Presenting and publishing as a PhD student, 85
Ashton Barnett-Vanes and Henry D.I. De ’Ath
Background, 85
Presentations, 85
How to present, 87
Publications, 89
Writing an original research article, 90
Writing a review article, 93
Narrative reviews, 95
Final steps, 95
Managing the process, 96
Other considerations, 98
Conclusion, 98
References, 98
Further reading, 98
Chapter 9: Landing and writing up: Year 3, 99
Manu Chhabra and E. Allison Green
Background, 99
An exit strategy, 99
The X Factor results, 100
Before you start writing, 101
Writing your thesis: Part 1, 102
Writing your thesis: Part 2, 105
Conclusion, 111
Common pitfalls, 111
Further reading, 112
Chapter 10: The viva and moving on, 113
Rachel Allen and Kate Gowers
Background, 113
An examiner’s perspective (Rachel), 113
The viva, 115
Corrections, 117
Career routes, 119
Conclusion, 123
Further reading, 123
Chapter 11: PhDs in veterinary science and medicine, 125
Fiona Cunningham, Jonathan Elliott, Fiona Tomley and Kristien Verheyen
Background, 125
Is it for me?, 126
Your project, 128
Presenting and publishing your findings, 130
Post?]PhD, what’s next for me?, 131
Conclusion, 133
Possible concerns, 133
Acknowledgements, 134
Reference, 134
Chapter 12: International perspectives on medical and clinical science PhDs, 135
Celia A. Soares and Paul Langford
Background, 135
Choosing a country, 135
Finding a department, 136
‘Full’ PhDs versus ‘dual?]PhDs’, 137
Interviewing in a lab abroad, 139
Funding, 140
Administrative issues, 140
Conclusion, 143
Common pitfalls, 143
Further reading, 144
Chapter 13: What I’m really thinking: The post?]doc, 145
Adel Benlahrech
Background, 145
It is great to be a post?]doc!, 145
Is it really that great?, 146
A post?]doc’s advice, 146
Conclusion, 149
Further reading, 149
Chapter 14: What I’m really thinking: The Professor, 151
Michael Dustin
Index, 153
About the Author :
Dr Ashton Barnett-Vanes, MB-PhD Candidate, St George's, University of London and Imperial College London, UK.
Dr Rachel Allen, Reader in Immunology of Infection and Head of Graduate School, St George's, University of London, UK.
Review :
‘Intended as a step-by-step guide, the book is a good summary of the major steps, pitfalls along the way, and advice on how to be successful as a student … There are not many books that attempt to do what this one does, and there is not much written about this topic in general, so students should find this a useful resource. Doing a PhD is often fraught with uncertainty, and a written guide to the steps would be helpful for most students, especially as they begin the program.’ Doody’s, November 2017
'How to Complete a PhD in the Medical and Clinical Sciences aims (and succeeds) in remaining concise, it examines every aspect of the PhD journey in a comprehensive and precise manner. I would strongly recommend the book to anyone doing or planning to do a PhD in Medical, Clinical, Biomedical or Life Sciences. As well as, frankly, any other subject.' Kristine Bagdassarian, FindAPhD.com
