Doctorate success for advanced practitioner

Award acknowledges dedication

Published: 15 January 2020 People

Enthusiastic and committed to his research topic from day one, Prince Gyimah, an accredited advanced practitioner and MSK reporting radiographer at Manchester Foundation Trust, has been awarded a Doctorate of Professional Studies from Sheffield Hallam University

“Working towards a professional doctorate was the right choice for me because as an international student I could work and self-fund my studies at the same time.”

His research, ‘Barriers to research utilisation amongst diagnostic radiographers in the UK,’ aims to help colleagues to become aware of research in practice and how it can be used to impact patient care.

“It is my hope that the research outcomes could be used to influence decision making regarding the Society and College’s research framework. I also hope that service managers allocate time for research in their department to raise awareness and improve knowledge of the workforce.”

He describes the programme as 'very challenging' and said, “The fact that it was not full-time made it even more demanding because I had to manage my time wisely."

Days off and annual leave were all dedicated to the programme. Since it is designed for working professionals, the university organises sessions, presentations and symposiums on Fridays and Saturdays only. Stringent time management was vital.

Prince says that Sheffield Hallam provided excellent support and his research supervisor was 'extremely helpful'.

Pauline Reeves, associate lecturer at Sheffield Hallam, who supervised Prince’s thesis with colleague Dr Rob Appleyard said, “Prince has done very well indeed to complete his doctorate in a timely manner, given his clinical commitments.

"When I met him he was a radiographer and he is now working as an advanced practitioner in radiographic reporting. I have no doubt that his doctoral studies played a large part in his appointment.”

Prince said, “The programme was not just about having a topic in mind and carrying it out from day one to the end. In addition to the research element of a doctoral study, there were  also integrated career and professional development elements. I would thoroughly recommend undertaking a doctorate to other radiographers. The experience is very impactful personally and it is essential that the profession expands its knowledge base in clinical settings.”