D’Oyly Carte PhD studentship in performance and medicine

Award details

The successful candidate will be based in the Centre for Education within the GKT School of Medical Education and supervised by the D’Oyly Carte Senior Lecturer in Arts and Health, Dr Alex Mermikides, whose expertise is in performance.

Scope

Your proposed research should aim to evidence how performance might be used to address urgent challenges and opportunities faced by future doctors and those who teach them. ‘Performance’ is defined broadly, to encompass staged or scripted performances (for example theatre, live art, popular forms), applied performance practices, or as a lens for analysing human behaviour and interaction. These pragmatic and conceptual perspectives promise fresh approaches at a time when the welcome diversification of the medical student population challenges models of medical authority and objectivity tainted by medicine’s colonial and patriarchal history; and when expectations and values set by professional frameworks (for example patient-centredness and empathy) are strained by the reality of working in a healthcare service rocked by challenging working conditions. As the NHS launches its Long Term Workforce Plan, your research should aim to investigate how performance might generate conceptual insights, educational innovation and/or methodological approaches to help us understand and support the upcoming cohorts of medical professionals. Suitable research topics include but are not limited to:

• generating performance-based educational innovations that aim to ‘future proof’ our medical students for a career within the NHS
• challenging and expanding perceptions of what it means to be a doctor through analysis of staged and ‘real world’ performances
• deepening understanding of medical school culture and medical professional identity formation through concepts of performativity
• creative approaches to accessing patient experiences of medical care, for example in relation to specific communities or health conditions

Application process

You may also address questions directly to Alexandra.Mermikides@kcl.ac.uk who will aim to respond within 3 working days.

Application deadline: 15 January 2025

Interviews: w/s 3 March 2025

Decisions by: 1 April 2025

Start date: 1 June 2025 or 1 October 2025

Apply through this online application form.

• Please select the programme name: Education Research in Medicine and the Life Sciences MPhil/PhD (Full-time) with the start date of June or October 2025 (applications for October 2025 can be submitted from 16 October 2024).
• In the research proposal section, please enter the title: D’Oyly Carte PhD studentship and write a proposal that falls within the scope outlined below.
• In the funding section of the application form, please tick box 5 (I am applying for a funding award or scholarship administered by King’s College London) and enter: D’Oyly Carte PhD Studentship

Selection process

The studentship is open to Home fee status applicants only.

All candidates need to meet the general eligibility criteria outlined here. This means applicants should have either an undergraduate degree at the equivalent of 2:1 level or a Master’s degree at Merit or above.

In addition, applications will be assessed on:

• interdisciplinary knowledge & understanding: suitable candidates are likely to have advanced knowledge of a relevant performance field and some training in creative, social science or related qualitative research methods (eg a Master’s qualification in theatre, performance or related subjects or equivalent professional experience). Your proposal should evidence basic understanding of relevant field of healthcare education or practice. Applicants with backgrounds in clinical practice, healthcare education, medical sociology, medical humanities or related fields are welcome, though your proposal should evidence at least basic knowledge and understanding of performance.
• supervisory fit: alignment with the research interests and expertise of Dr Mermikides (see https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/alexandra.mermikides and https://alexmermikides.com/) and your proposed second supervisors.
• impact: potential to engage with students and staff within the GKT School of Medical Education, leading to impact on healthcare education practice, research or policy at local, regional or national levels