PhD Musculoskeletal Practice

Program Overview

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Within our multidisciplinary School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences , we offer research supervision in a broad range of areas related to the musculoskeletal speciality. As a research student at Essex, you’ll work at the heart of our internationally acknowledged and well-connected research community. Our School offers an environment with an excellent reputation for research and teaching. A unique feature is that many of our staff work with local National Health Service (NHS) Trusts and other local health agencies, which enhances our grasp of the contemporary links between academic research, the major issues of the day and practice. Our facilities include a wide range of ergometers and treadmills, force plates, isokinetic dynamometers, a Vicon motion capture system, electronic timing gates, and a variety of EMG systems. Equipment includes ultrasound systems that enable high quality musculoskeletal imaging. We also offer an MPhil in this subject. Both full- and part-time study can be supported, and we offer entry points in October, January and April.

Sport scholarships

Our Performance Sport Scholarship programme has been created for talented athletes playing at regional, national or international level, and offers a range of benefits. We want students competing in our focus sports (basketball, volleyball, tennis, football and rugby 7s), as well as other team sports and individual athletes, to contribute to our performance sport programme. Our scholarships can include fee discounts of up to 100%, offered to athletes who demonstrate sporting excellence. Athletes who are awarded the scholarship will receive a host of other benefits, including free kit, access to state-of-the-art facilities, performance coaching, the option to live in our Athlete Village (accommodation fees may vary) and a support package valued up to £1,500. These benefits are designed to help athletes focus on their training, and development, and to enable them to reach their full potential alongside their studies. Why we're great.

• Our School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences offers a multidisciplinary environment with an excellent reputation for research and teaching
• Our degree is responsive to the needs of a range of professionals and clinicians. Specialised physiotherapists, medics including rheumatologists and general practitioners, hand therapists including occupational therapists, therapy service managers and other clinicians in the musculoskeletal specialism are supported with their research
• Our staff work with local NHS Trusts and other local agencies, which enhances our grasp of the contemporary links between academic research, the major issues of the day and practice

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Our expert staff

Our staff are multi-professional, and include clinically-qualified lecturers, sociologists and social policy and management specialists, so they have clinical and academic credibility. Our School has a proven track record of excellence in teaching, research and applied sports science. We are 23rd in UK for research power in sport and exercise sciences (Times Higher Education research power measure, Research Excellence Framework 2021). Our research is not just about academic excellence. It has wide ranging professional societal impact in areas as diverse as professional governance, sports performance, cardiac health and childhood wellbeing. Within our School you will be allocated a supervisor whose role it is to guide you through the different stages of your research degree. In some cases, you may have joint supervision by two members of our staff. The support provided by your supervisor is a key feature of your research student experience and you will have regular one-to-one meetings to discuss progress on your research. Initially, your supervisor will help you develop your research topic and plan. Twice a year, you will have a supervisory board meeting, which provides a more formal opportunity to discuss your progress and agree your plans for the next six months.

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Specialist facilities

Our School is housed within the Essex Sport Arena . This state-of-the-art development brings together education, rehabilitation, exercise and research, with facilities including a sports hall the size of three basketball courts, dedicated labs for physiotherapy and sports therapy training and a sports therapy clinic. Key to the success of all research and teaching within a university is sufficient resources. Our School is well equipped, centrally resourced by technical staff who provide a service to all our staff and students. Our successful Human Performance Unit (HPU) provides educational and coaching services, health-related exercise programmes and athlete testing, as well as unique opportunities for you to further your studies and research in these areas. We have a study room for our postgraduate research students. This has been designed in collaboration with our postgraduates, and allows our PhD students to have office space. This provides a focal point for our postgraduates, facilitating good communication and a strong sense of community.

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Your future

Following completion of our course, our students’ career development opportunities are enhanced considerably. Some choose to retain a clinical focus and integrate their research skills into the professional roles, others decide to follow careers that are research based contributing to health care policy, efficiency and delivery.

Program Outline

Course structure

A research degree doesn't have a taught structure, giving you the chance to investigate your chosen topic in real depth and reach a profound understanding. In communicating that understanding, through a thesis or other means, you have a rare opportunity to generate knowledge. A research degree allows you to develop new high-level skills, enhance your professional development and build new networks. It can open doors to many careers. We understand that deciding where and what to study is a very important decision for you. We’ll make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the courses, services and facilities as described on our website. However, if we need to make material changes, for example due to significant disruption, or in response to COVID-19, we’ll let our applicants and students know as soon as possible.

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Components

Components are the blocks of study that make up your course. A component may have a set module which you must study, or a number of modules from which you can choose. Each component has a status and carries a certain number of credits towards your qualification.

Status	What this means
Core	You must take the set module for this component and you must pass. No failure can be permitted.
Core with Options	You can choose which module to study from the available options for this component but you must pass. No failure can be permitted.
Compulsory	You must take the set module for this component. There may be limited opportunities to continue on the course/be eligible for the qualification if you fail.
Compulsory with Options	You can choose which module to study from the available options for this component. There may be limited opportunities to continue on the course/be eligible for the qualification if you fail.
Optional	You can choose which module to study from the available options for this component. There may be limited opportunities to continue on the course/be eligible for the qualification if you fail.

The modules that are available for you to choose for each component will depend on several factors, including which modules you have chosen for other components, which modules you have completed in previous years of your course, and which term the module is taught in.

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Modules

Modules are the individual units of study for your course. Each module has its own set of learning outcomes and assessment criteria and also carries a certain number of credits. In most cases you will study one module per component, but in some cases you may need to study more than one module. For example, a 30-credit component may comprise of either one 30-credit module, or two 15-credit modules, depending on the options available. Modules may be taught at different times of the year and by a different department or school to the one your course is primarily based in. You can find this information from the module code . For example, the module code HR100-4-FY means:

HR	100	4	FY
The department or school the module will be taught by. In this example, the module would be taught by the Department of History.	The module number.	The UK academic level of the module. A standard undergraduate course will comprise of level 4, 5 and 6 modules - increasing as you progress through the course. A standard postgraduate taught course will comprise of level 7 modules. A postgraduate research degree is a level 8 qualification.	The term the module will be taught in. AU : Autumn term SP : Spring term SU : Summer term FY : Full year AP : Autumn and Spring terms PS: Spring and Summer terms AS: Autumn and Summer terms

Year 1 This module is for PhD students who are completing the research portions of their theses. View Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Science - Research on our Module Directory

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Assessment

The aim of undertaking your PhD is to train as an independent researcher who can critically assess other research work, and have a comprehensive knowledge of at least one area. Our PhD course is usually three to four years duration and all our students are initially registered as MPhil/PhD students, then transferred to the PhD in the first half of their second year of study if they have made satisfactory progress. In your second and third years, you work towards your PhD.

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Dissertation

You must attend two formal supervisory board meetings each year where you submit literature reviews and research reports to the Board members prior to the meeting. At these meetings, such documents are discussed with you and your progress is assessed. Your PhD thesis is generally completed within three to four years and has a maximum length of 80,000 words. Great importance is given to the completion of PhDs within a four-year period from the time of initial registration.