Clinical Education PhD

The University of Edinburgh

Research profile

This new PhD in clinical education builds on our world-renowned expertise in the field of clinical education, and our well-established and respected Masters in Clinical Education programme.

It is an ideal programme for those wishing to further their career in academic clinical or medical education, who already have experience of delivering education for healthcare professionals, whether students, doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, dental or veterinary practitioners. It will particularly appeal to those seeking leadership positions or to undertake independent high-quality research in clinical education.

Some of our current research focuses on: Faculty development; Assessment and feedback in medical education; Psychometrics; Learning outcome development and mapping; Students learning to teach and Peer Assisted Learning (PAL); Preparation for practice; International medical education; Clinical skills

The Centre for Medical Education has 25 members of academic staff (including fixed-term Fellows), 5 administrators, approximately 100 distance-learning MSc students, and typically 5-7 doctoral students.

We have good collaboration between university faculty, clinicians, NHS Education for Scotland and other institutions.

Training and support

The Centre has an excellent track record in providing training within clinical education to MSc students, undergraduate medical students and fixed-term clinical Fellows.

Doctoral students receive direct support from at least two academic supervisors during their studies, and a dedicated thesis committee provides guidance throughout the programme of research.

Research training is tailored to each doctoral student, but typically includes material from the well-established MSc ‘Research in Clinical Education’ and ‘Dissertation’ courses, an extensive programme of university PhD training workshops and meetings, and fortnightly ‘Medical Education Forum’ and ‘CME Research Meeting’ events for presentation of completed research and work-in-progress.