The views and experiences of candidates and graduates from a South African emergency medicine doctoral programme

INTRODUCTION: With the emergency medicine speciality in its nascency in Africa, EM doctoral programmes will need to be developed to facilitate the establishment of an evidence base that is responsive to the African populace. This study aimed to understand the thoughts, experiences, and opinions of current and past candidates of a South African EM PhD programme. METHODS: Descriptive, qualitative, semi-structured interviews were used to gather data on PhD EM candidates and graduates. FINDINGS: Four candidates, and four graduates were interviewed. Four categories emerged from the data 1) interviewees had various motivations for starting a PhD in EM, 2) candidate expectations and learning needs were not always aligned with reality, and the challenges and opportunities for success in the PhD programme are related both 3) intrinsically (candidate) and 4) extrinsically (system). DISCUSSION: Many of the barriers noted by the participants can be related to the nascency of the EM in Africa. Participants felt underprepared for their doctorate in terms of their baseline research literacy and skill. Candidates did not receive the level of student-supervisor engagement they desired. Candidates who are also clinicians faced both academic challenges and a resource-limited healthcare system. Pre-doctoral training may upskill prospective candidates in research literacy before they officially register. Distance-learning can be sub-optimal in terms of social interaction and collaboration. A well-curriculated, competency-based programme with clear outcomes, structured teaching-learning opportunities, intentional academic support throughout the programme, can mitigate the above. Protected academic time, promotion criteria which acknowledges academic contributions, financial incentives and more joint positions between universities and clinical services are potential solutions for clinician researcher challenges. An African PhD EM programme should produce graduates who are independent researchers, skilled in academic supervision and who are impactful to African needs when contributing to the African EM knowledge economy.