Importance and benefits of the doctoral thesis for medical graduates
Introduction: The majority of medical graduates in Germany complete a doctorate, even though a doctoral degree is not necessary for the practice of medicine. So far, little is known about doctoral candidates’ view on the individual benefit a doctoral thesis has for them. Consequently, this is the su...
Main Authors: | , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | deu |
Published: |
German Medical Science GMS Publishing House
2016-02-01
|
Series: | GMS Journal for Medical Education |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.egms.de/static/en/journals/zma/2016-33/zma001007.shtml |
id |
doaj-03be603360a14509bbd3f70ea0c4b18d |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-03be603360a14509bbd3f70ea0c4b18d2020-11-25T02:52:58ZdeuGerman Medical Science GMS Publishing HouseGMS Journal for Medical Education2366-50172016-02-01331Doc810.3205/zma001007Importance and benefits of the doctoral thesis for medical graduatesGiesler, Marianne0Boeker, Martin1Fabry, Götz2Biller, Silke3University of Freiburg, Medical Faculty, Office of Student Affairs, Centre for Evaluation of Teaching in Medicine Baden-Württemberg, Freiburg, GermanyUniversity of Freiburg, Medical Faculty, Department for Medical Biometry and Medical Informatics, Freiburg, GermanyUniversity of Freiburg, Medical Faculty, Department for Medical Psychology and Sociology, Freiburg, GermanyUniversity Basel, Medical Faculty, Office of Student Affairs, Basel, SwitzerlandIntroduction: The majority of medical graduates in Germany complete a doctorate, even though a doctoral degree is not necessary for the practice of medicine. So far, little is known about doctoral candidates’ view on the individual benefit a doctoral thesis has for them. Consequently, this is the subject of the present investigation.Method: Data from surveys with graduates of the five medical faculties of Baden-Württemberg from the graduation years 2007/2008 (N=514) and 2010/2011 (N=598) were analysed.Results: One and a half years after graduating 53% of those interviewed had completed their doctorate. When asked about their motivation for writing a doctoral thesis, participants answered most frequently “a doctorate is usual” (85%) and “improvement of job opportunities” (75%), 36% said that an academic career has been their primary motive. Less than 10% responded that they used their doctoral thesis as a means to apply for a job. The proportion of graduates working in health care is equally large among those who have completed a thesis and those who have not. Graduates who pursued a thesis due to scientific interest are also currently more interested in an academic career and recognise more opportunities for research. An implicit benefit of a medical thesis emerged with regard to the self-assessment of scientific competences as those who completed a doctorate rated their scientific competencies higher than those who have not.Discussion: Although for the majority of physicians research interest is not the primary motivation for completing a doctorate, they might nevertheless achieve some academic competencies. For graduates pursuing an academic career the benefit of completing a medical thesis is more obvious.http://www.egms.de/static/en/journals/zma/2016-33/zma001007.shtmlDoctorate, medicalMethods, academicGraduate surveyMotivationEvaluation |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
deu |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Giesler, Marianne Boeker, Martin Fabry, Götz Biller, Silke |
spellingShingle |
Giesler, Marianne Boeker, Martin Fabry, Götz Biller, Silke Importance and benefits of the doctoral thesis for medical graduates GMS Journal for Medical Education Doctorate, medical Methods, academic Graduate survey Motivation Evaluation |
author_facet |
Giesler, Marianne Boeker, Martin Fabry, Götz Biller, Silke |
author_sort |
Giesler, Marianne |
title |
Importance and benefits of the doctoral thesis for medical graduates |
title_short |
Importance and benefits of the doctoral thesis for medical graduates |
title_full |
Importance and benefits of the doctoral thesis for medical graduates |
title_fullStr |
Importance and benefits of the doctoral thesis for medical graduates |
title_full_unstemmed |
Importance and benefits of the doctoral thesis for medical graduates |
title_sort |
importance and benefits of the doctoral thesis for medical graduates |
publisher |
German Medical Science GMS Publishing House |
series |
GMS Journal for Medical Education |
issn |
2366-5017 |
publishDate |
2016-02-01 |
description |
Introduction: The majority of medical graduates in Germany complete a doctorate, even though a doctoral degree is not necessary for the practice of medicine. So far, little is known about doctoral candidates’ view on the individual benefit a doctoral thesis has for them. Consequently, this is the subject of the present investigation.Method: Data from surveys with graduates of the five medical faculties of Baden-Württemberg from the graduation years 2007/2008 (N=514) and 2010/2011 (N=598) were analysed.Results: One and a half years after graduating 53% of those interviewed had completed their doctorate. When asked about their motivation for writing a doctoral thesis, participants answered most frequently “a doctorate is usual” (85%) and “improvement of job opportunities” (75%), 36% said that an academic career has been their primary motive. Less than 10% responded that they used their doctoral thesis as a means to apply for a job. The proportion of graduates working in health care is equally large among those who have completed a thesis and those who have not. Graduates who pursued a thesis due to scientific interest are also currently more interested in an academic career and recognise more opportunities for research. An implicit benefit of a medical thesis emerged with regard to the self-assessment of scientific competences as those who completed a doctorate rated their scientific competencies higher than those who have not.Discussion: Although for the majority of physicians research interest is not the primary motivation for completing a doctorate, they might nevertheless achieve some academic competencies. For graduates pursuing an academic career the benefit of completing a medical thesis is more obvious. |
topic |
Doctorate, medical Methods, academic Graduate survey Motivation Evaluation |
url |
http://www.egms.de/static/en/journals/zma/2016-33/zma001007.shtml |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT gieslermarianne importanceandbenefitsofthedoctoralthesisformedicalgraduates AT boekermartin importanceandbenefitsofthedoctoralthesisformedicalgraduates AT fabrygotz importanceandbenefitsofthedoctoralthesisformedicalgraduates AT billersilke importanceandbenefitsofthedoctoralthesisformedicalgraduates |
_version_ |
1724727535574450176 |