Overview

The Professional Doctorate in Transforming Health and Social Care is a part-time, practice-based doctoral programme designed for professionals who want to lead change and improve services through applied research.

It combines advanced research, leadership development, and real-world application, enabling you to investigate challenges within your own workplace and deliver meaningful improvements to health and social care practice.

You will design and carry out a major research or quality improvement project, supported by academic supervisors and workplace mentors, and produce a doctoral thesis based on your work.

The programme is ideal for those aiming for senior leadership, strategic, clinical academic, or policy roles, offering a flexible alternative to a traditional PhD while remaining in professional practice.

Why the Professional Doctorate in Transforming Health and Social Care at UEA?

Designed to tackle complex, real challenges in health and social care, this programme has an emphasis on leading change, innovation and service transformation. This is not just academic research but an opportunity to make a real impact on practice.

A Practical Alternative to a Traditional PhD
Combine doctoral-level research with professional development focused on real-world application. Flexible entry routes and recognition of prior learning value your existing experience, helping you progress more quickly.
Make an Immediate Impact
Bridge the gap between research and practice by applying your learning directly to your workplace. Develop practical solutions to real-world challenges and deliver measurable benefits for patients, colleagues and organisations.
Built Around the Four Pillars of Practice
Strengthen your expertise in leadership, education, research and clinical practice. Develop the skills to lead change, drive quality improvement and translate evidence into action.
Shaped by Employers, Focused on Workforce Needs
Developed in partnership with employers, the programme addresses today's most pressing priorities, including workforce sustainability, integrated care and reducing health inequalities, ensuring your learning remains relevant and impactful

What is the Professional Doctorate in Transforming Health and Social Care?

This is a part-time, practice-based doctoral programme (Level 8) designed for experienced professionals working in health and social care who want to lead change, improve services, and advance their careers.

Careers

The Professional Doctorate is an ideal qualification to underpin consultant level practice, senior leadership positions and clinical academic careers. Embedding a critical and evaluative evidence-based approach at an advanced level, professionals with this qualification have the potential to significantly improve service delivery and make a meaningful difference to patient experience and outcomes. As a result, completion of the professional doctorate programme allows the practitioner to make an active contribution to advancing professional knowledge and practice in their specialist field and in some cases can directly lead to promotion to a more senior role.

Course Structure

The programme builds on prior Master’s-level study, with up to the first 180 Level 7 credits recognised through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). This means you can progress directly to developing your doctoral research, applying learning to your professional context from the outset and complete your studies in three years.

The independent project involves the design and delivery of an independent research, policy or improvement-focused project, which advances wider professional knowledge, leadership capability, research and/or evaluation expertise, all closely aligned with your scope and area of professional practice.

During this stage of the Programme, you will be supported through a structured and responsive supervisory model (Student and Supervisory Handbook and the Research Degree Policy: Guide to Good Supervisory Practice), which prioritises accessibility, continuity, and personalised guidance. Supervisory meetings are tailored to the nature and stage of the project.

If you do not have prior Level 7 learning you can apply for one of our aligned MSc programmes in Research and Quality Improvement in Health and Care or Management and Leadership in Health and Social Care which provide a clear pathway into the doctorate, supporting the development of a strong research or quality improvement proposal for your independent study (Stage 1 entry).

Teaching and Learning, and Assessment

Teaching and Learning

The learning environment is supported by researchers with expertise in their specialist field and in educational pedagogy, to intellectually stimulate and stretch you.

Workshops and action learning sets are delivered face to face in the university campus environment to allow each cohort of learners to form their own identity as researching professionals learning from and with each other.

Peer support groups provide new ways of learning and developing, with exciting opportunities to present and shape ideas and work in progress in a supportive and nurturing environment.

The expert researchers in the school and faculty are familiar with the challenges of facilitating and implementing change in real world settings and will guide you through your research journey.

Importantly, throughout the programme, you will be supported by a team of advisors and supervisors, who will provide guidance and mentoring throughout the professional doctorate journey.

You can also a draw on a wide range of student support services to promote success as a student at UEA.

Assessment

Final assessment will consist of the submission of a 70,000-word thesis that demonstrates originality, critical insight, and applied impact, followed by a thesis examination and viva voce, conducted in accordance with institutional PGR assessment regulations

Course related costs

Please see Additional Course Fees for details of course-related costs.

Professional Doctorate in Transforming Health and Social Care (ProfD THaSC)

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