Graduate Studies index
Graduate Studies
The Institute has an active PhD programme. We currently have 18 PhD and MD students from a wide range of disciplines including medicine, osteopathy, physiotherapy, nursing and statistics. Several of our past and present students have been awarded prestigious fellowships from outside organisations (including the Health Care Consortium and the NHS Executive) to study for their doctorates.
The Centre runs two groups for postgraduate students conducting qualitative research. Moira Kelly (m.j.kelly@qmul.ac.uk) runs a qualitative PhD data analysis group. Students bring along some data and discuss any issues with the group. These may include issues about quality, how to present the data, or different analysis methods. The group provides a forum for students to learn to talk with confidence about their analysis in a supportive environment. The group is open to any students from the medical college. Please contact Moira for further details.
There is also a student-run group which meets once a month and aims to provide support, help and advice for developing qualitative researchers. Participants are encouraged to interact and share knowledge, skills and experiences, and also to pose problems and questions and present anxieties and uncertainties so that they can be discussed in a friendly and nurturing environment. The tradition has been for members to continue discussions over a meal in a nearby eatery, although this is not formally arranged by the group. Please contact c.a.rivas@qmul.ac.uk for further information. The group has its own independent website which has useful information and links for budding qualitative researchers. http://www.juliabailey.co.uk/QRGroup.aspx
Resources from past meetings may also be obtained from the following link:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/pcps/research/qualres/index.html
For a timetable,map and schedule of the year's meetings click here: link to schedule
Current PhD and MD topics include:
Interpretation of outcome data in back pain trials - Robert Froud
Back Pain
Robert is investigating the face validity of different methods for reporting back pain trial outcomes. He undertook a large systematic review of methods that have been used to report past trials, and has been researching the clinimetric properties of instruments used to assess outcomes in back pain trials. Robert is currently conducting interviews with clinicians about how they would prefer back pain trials to be reported. This will inform a modified Delphi study, in which he hopes to facilitate agreement between experts on how future back pain trials should be reported. Clearer, more interpretable trial outcomes will aid doctors, patients and purchasers make better decisions about the treatment and management of back pain. Robert is expected to complete his PhD dissertation in September 2009. He is under the supervision of Professors Sandra Eldridge and Martin Underwood.
Social and cultural context and partner abuse - Carol Anne Rivas
Medical Sociology
Carol is undertaking an exploration of social and cultural contexts in the lives of white British, black Caribbean and black African heterosexual women suffering relationship conflict that fits definitions of partner abuse. She has been considering the way that context affects their lived experience of the abuse, their perceptions of and responses to the abuse (including help-seeking from informal support networks and from professionals), their expectations and their identities. Carol has interviewed 20 women using a semi-structured interview design, 12 of these women also completed a second interview six months later. The interview data have been analysed using a version of grounded theory based on Eave's synthesised constructivist approach. Carol expects to complete her PhD dissertation in 2009. She is supervised by Dr Moira Kelly and also by Professor Gene Feder (formerly at IHSE and now in the Department of Primary Health care, Bristol University).
Socioeconomic status and oral health; the role of psychological pathways - Vahid Ravaghi
Oral Health
Vahid obtained his undergraduate degree in dentistry from Iran in 2003. He worked as a general dental practitioner for two years from then. He also holds a Masters Degree in “Dental public health” from Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry (2006). He is currently completing his PhD thesis at the Centre for Health Sciences under the supervision of Professor Sandra Eldridge. His PhD thesis is titled “Socioeconomic status and oral health; the role of psychological pathways”. This study aims to investigate the mediation role of psychological factors in the (oral) health gradient using the “reserve capacity” model. He expects to complete his PhD dissertation in 2009.
The meaning and experience of asthma and asthma self-management for south Asians - Gill Foster
Gill is exploring asthma self-management by south Asian adults and parents of children with asthma. Gill is using semi-structured interviews with a grounded theory approach and has interviewed 17 people about their experiences, perceptions and understandings of asthma and self-management. This topic is linked to a cluster randomised trial evaluating a complex intervention aimed to reduce unscheduled care for south Asian people with asthma (the OEDIPUS trial). Part of the intervention included referral of participants from the intervention group to the Expert Patient Programme delivered by a local community group in Newham and Tower Hamlets. Participation in the self-management programme was disappointingly low and it is in this context that Gill is interviewing people from the intervention group in Newham. She has completed a Cochrane systematic review of the effectiveness of lay-led self management education which was published in October 2007. Gill was awarded a doctoral fellowship from the Health Consortium. She hopes to submit her thesis by March 2009. Gill is supervised by Professor Chris Griffiths and Dr Nicki Thorogood (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine).
The Institute postgraduate tutors are:
Sandra Eldridge (tutor)
Zoë Hudson (deputy)
Information for IHSE PhD and MD supervisors - PDF July 2009