How to Complete a PhD in the Medical and Clinical Sciences

Dr Ashton Barnett-Vanes, MB-PhD Candidate, St George's, University of London and Imperial College London, UK. Dr Rachel Allen, Reader in Immunology of Infection and Head of Graduate School, St George's, University of London, UK.

‘Intended as a step-by-step guide, the book is a good summary of the major steps, pitfalls along the way, and advice on how to be successful as a student … There are not many books that attempt to do what this one does, and there is not much written about this topic in general, so students should find this a useful resource. Doing a PhD is often fraught with uncertainty, and a written guide to the steps would be helpful for most students, especially as they begin the program.’ Doody’s, November 2017'How to Complete a PhD in the Medical and Clinical Sciences aims (and succeeds) in remaining concise, it examines every aspect of the PhD journey in a comprehensive and precise manner. I would strongly recommend the book to anyone doing or planning to do a PhD in Medical, Clinical, Biomedical or Life Sciences. As well as, frankly, any other subject.' Kristine Bagdassarian, FindAPhD.com

• List of Contributors xiAbout the editors xvForeword xviiPreface xixAcknowledgements xxiChapter 1: Introduction 1Ashton Barnett‐Vanes and Rachel AllenA PhD 1Perspective 2Why a book? How to use it 5References 6Chapter 2: Deciding on and finding a PhD 7Jonathan C.H. Lau and Ming HeBackground 7Routes of entry 8How to find one 11Choosing a project 13Making an application 16Interviews 17How to fund one 18Reference 22Further reading 22Chapter 3: Anatomy of a PhD: Where you fit in the academic world 23Laura Lambert and John TregoningBackground: Welcome to the new you 23You are here: PhD research versus undergraduate studies 24Lab types: A field guide 25It’s tricky: The student‐supervisor interaction 27Check out my massive organogram 28Other dull, but important stuff 29Conclusion 31Reference 32Chapter 4: Core techniques principles and statistics 33Andrew John Walley, Kyrillos N Adesina‐Georgiadis, Adel Benlahrech and Fiona ReidGenomics 33Metabolomics 38Flow cytometry 40Statistics 45References 49Further reading 49Chapter 5: Take off: Year 1 51Ashton Barnett‐Vanes and Rachel AllenBackground 51Understanding your team and project 52The literature 53The research proposal 55Starting experiments 56Data management and record keeping 57The ‘transfer’ 58Conclusion 59Common pitfalls 59Chapter 6: Dealing with problems 63Rachel Allen and David SalmanBackground 63General problems 64Academic problems 66Common PhD problems 69Conclusions 72References 73Further reading 73Chapter 7: Breaking ground: Year 2 75Ashton Barnett‐Vanes, and Rebecca IngramBackground 75Taking ownership of your project 75Shaping the research direction 76From preliminary to publishable data 77Supervising junior students 79The end of Year 2 review/assessment 80Conclusion 82Common pitfalls 82Chapter 8: Presenting and publishing as a PhD student 85Ashton Barnett‐Vanes and Henry D.I. De ’AthBackground 85Presentations 85How to present 87Publications 89Writing an original research article 90Writing a review article 93Narrative reviews 95Final steps 95Managing the process 96Other considerations 98Conclusion 98References 98Further reading 98Chapter 9: Landing and writing up: Year 3 99Manu Chhabra and E. Allison GreenBackground 99An exit strategy 99The X Factor results 100Before you start writing 101Writing your thesis: Part 1 102Writing your thesis: Part 2 105Conclusion 111Common pitfalls 111Further reading 112Chapter 10: The viva and moving on 113Rachel Allen and Kate GowersBackground 113An examiner’s perspective (Rachel) 113The viva 115Corrections 117Career routes 119Conclusion 123Further reading 123Chapter 11: PhDs in veterinary science and medicine 125Fiona Cunningham, Jonathan Elliott, Fiona Tomley and Kristien VerheyenBackground 125Is it for me? 126Your project 128Presenting and publishing your findings 130Post‐PhD what’s next for me? 131Conclusion 133Possible concerns 133Acknowledgements 134Reference 134Chapter 12: International perspectives on medical and clinical science PhDs 135Célia A. Soares and Paul LangfordBackground 135Choosing a country 135Finding a department 136‘Full’ PhDs versus ‘dual‐PhDs’ 137Interviewing in a lab abroad 139Funding 140Administrative issues 140Conclusion 143Common pitfalls 143Further reading 144Chapter 13: What I’m really thinking: The post‐doc 145Adel BenlahrechBackground 145It is great to be a post‐doc! 145Is it really that great? 146A post‐doc’s advice 146Conclusion 149Further reading 149Chapter 14: What I’m really thinking: The Professor 151Michael DustinIndex 153