PhD THE FACULTY OF MEDICINE AALBORG UNIVERSITY The PhD degree as a career path What does PhD stand for? A PhD degree is valuable to an academic career in he- alth care in Denmark or abroad. The PhD program en- PhD is an abbreviation of the title Doctor of sures strong academic competence and the ability to Philosophy (philosophiae doctor in Latin). The create new knowledge in health science which can PhD is an internationally recognized acade- translate into better treatment options for patients. mic degree that in Denmark is awarded follo- The PhD degree can also provide access to conducting wing postgraduate research training and suc- research and teaching in universities and other profes- cessful defense of a PhD thesis. sional institutions What is a PhD program? The PhD program is a three-year research trai- ning program where the student completes independent research work and writes a PhD thesis under the supervision of an experienced researcher. During the program, the student is part of a research environment collaborating with Danish and international researchers in the field, and has the opportunity to do a re- search stay abroad. As part of the PhD program, the student also attends PhD courses and disseminates re- search findings through teaching and in recog- nized journals. || 2 || Increased focus and strong supervision Thomas Graven-Nielsen, Head of the Doctoral School, PhD, Dr. Med. The Doctoral School in Medicine, Biomedical Science Today, we have over 100 PhD students enrolled and we and Technology at the Faculty of Medicine has its roots expect to see further growth in the coming years. in a research training program that was established in 1997 and funded by the Danish National Research Fou- The collaboration on Aalborg University Hospital opens ndation. The research program, then known as Biome- up interesting opportunities for new health-related re- dical Science and Engineering, was originally created as search training programs. We are increasing the focus a model for an international research training program on the medical doctoral courses, and we are estab- in Denmark, and was affiliated with the Center for lishing a new strong team of PhD supervisors to sup- Sensory-Motor Interaction (SMI) at Aalborg University. port the existing expertise at the Faculty of Medicine. With the establishment of the Faculty of Medicine in Clinical PhD projects are not a new phenomenon at the 2010, the research training program became the docto- doctoral school. For many years now, approximately 10 ral school at the Faculty of Medicine. Since 1997, 165 to 15 percent of our PhD projects have had a clinical PhD degrees have been awarded within health science. angle. || 3 || Knowledge spurs professional development Lars Hvilsted Rasmussen, Director of Research at Aalborg University Hospital In order to ensure the development and improvement that patients are ensured the best quality treatment. of health care, it is important that Danish physicians With the establishment of Aalborg University Hospital and other healthcare professionals understand condu- we are strengthening health-related research in North cting research. Health professionals who have research Jutland. Aalborg University Hospital will be a highly training are professionally sharp, and through their specialized university hospital that puts research, in- education they have learned to be critical of their own novation and the development of new work methods and their colleagues’ health practices. With research and health technology equipment first. A strong re- training, health personnel acquire the competences to search environment will be created in an entirely new be able to continuously evaluate whether preventive framework, one that embraces health professionals, measures, examination, diagnosis, treatment, care or professors and PhD students with the common goal of rehabilitation of patients is the best quality. For it is improving health science and practice nationally as the best quality we want in Danish health care – and well as internationally. we achieve the best quality through knowledge. Over the next five years, we want to increase the num- A research training program generates knowledge that ber of professorships from the current 15 to 50 and at can propel the development of the profession. Resear- the same time create more post-doctoral positions. chers take a methodologically critical approach in prac- This means that we can increase the number of PhD tice and have an intuitive desire and the ability to students and improve PhD supervision while fostering translate unresolved clinical problems into scientific career opportunities in the research environment at problems, producing new knowledge in the field so the university hospital. || 4 || A PhD at the Faculty of Medicine The Faculty of Medicine at AAU was established in The Doctoral School 2010, but can trace its roots back to 1978 when interdi- The doctoral school at the Faculty of Medicine consists sciplinary research between engineering and medicine of a head of school, PhD board, program coordinator was introduced at the university. So although the fa- and secretariat. The secretariat handles administrati- culty is new, the medical research has existed for many on and enrollment of the PhD students, the program years. coordinator is responsible for the programs, and the head of school, in conjunction with the PhD board, en- The Faculty of Medicine is a rapidly growing faculty. In sures the development of the research training pro- 2013, the Department of Clinical Medicine will be grams and other development of various initiatives. established at the new Aalborg University Hospital. In an entirely new framework, PhD students will work clo- The doctoral school offers three research training sely on patients in conjunction with researchers and programs in health science: the hospital’s healthcare personnel. PhD students, re- 1) Clinical Science and Biomedicine searchers and healthcare professionals will jointly con- 2) Biomedical Science and Engineering tribute to a new clinical research environment. 3) Health Education, Organization and Ethics Research training programs Clinical Science and Biomedicine Biomedical Science and Engineering Health Educations, This program deals with clinical studies The program covers medical research on Organizations and Ethics and basic medical research. The program basic science and engineering issues. This research program provides a paves the way for research projects in The program combines knowledge from framework for students to conduct clinical settings such as in hospitals or a large number of complementary disci- research on key issues within three biomedical laboratories. plines such as biomedical engineering, health areas: The program covers all aspects of medi- physics, mathematics, IT, anatomy and 1. Education and learning cal research. Current PhD projects are physiology. 2. Knowledge production, manage- dealing with issues in areas such as ort- This interdisciplinary research program ment and innovation processes hopedic surgery, cardiology, pharmacolo- focuses on applications in neuroscience in healthcare organizations gical screening studies, pain mecha- and clinical systems. 3. Ethics, philosophy and health nisms, stem cells and neurobiology. The program includes theoretical and science experimental aspects involving, for example, electrophysiology, biomecha- nics, psycho-physics, bio-signal proces- sing, physiological models and image Learn more about the analysis. research training programs at www.phd.medicine.aau.dk || 5 || Why did you decide to get a PhD? ans, engineers, doctors and nurses. We learn an Before I was employed as a PhD student, I worked enormous amount from each other, and the interdi- for some years as a doctor in various anesthesiology sciplinary collaboration strengthens my PhD project. departments. I was happy with my work with pa- In conjunction with the group, I conduct various inve- tients, where I also had time to do a bit of research stigations including pain studies of healthy volunte- on the side. However, I wanted to improve myself er test subjects. The results of these studies are academically and become a better researcher, so I used to develop models that classify pain for a parti- contacted my current supervisor to see if it was cular type of treatment in a given patient group. possible to become a PhD student in his research field. I also considered that I would have better car- High points ds in my hand as an anesthesiologist in the future if It is definitely a high point to be part of a publicati- I had a PhD on top of my medical training. on. In addition, it is absolutely fantastic when the models I’ve helped produce based on a number of Research on pain experimental tests can be used in reality. And it’s I am investigating how the body and brain perceive also a high point when I get positive feedback from and process pain. In my project, I measure pain sig- national and international partners for the work I’ve nals in both the spinal cord and the brain in order to done with the models. find the best measurement methods for pain and particularly pain treatment. The measurement met- Challenges hods are used for developing models that in the best It can sometimes feel like a long haul when the mo- case are used to describe and diagnose pain conditi- dels don’t work as planned. The models have to be ons and hopefully help evaluate new methods of tre- revised or developed from the beginning, and