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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781546241812 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 05/14/2018 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 126 |
| File size: | 152 KB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Considering the Journey – One Doctor's Perspective is a book that reveals the experiences and perspectives from one doctor's viewpoints of what is referred to as the "Doctoral Journey". The idea for writing this book came from many conversations with students, friends, and perspective doctoral candidates that were considering pursuing a doctorate or PhD degree but had no idea of what to expect. What I have found out from these conversations is that there is a lot that is not commonly known about the process to attain this level of education. The majority of people that ask that question had no idea of what to expect. Many seemed very surprised when I told them what I had gone through to achieve this degree. I've also realized that many of the people in the doctoral or PhD program had no idea of what they were actually themselves getting into when they enrolled in a program.
For these and many similar reasons are why this book was written. It is to give a perspective doctoral candidate an idea of what to expect before signing on the dotted line and committing yourself to "The Doctoral Journey".
This book is written by one doctor that committed himself to this process, continued and finished and has continued to work with doctoral and PhD students in a doctoral support group to help them navigate their way through the doctoral journey.
The doctoral journey is like no other in academia. It is coined the "doctoral journey" in part because it is not like a formal education that you have experienced up to and through the master's level. It generally takes longer that you anticipated and is less regimented than other degrees. The doctoral journey has been known to add a unique form of stress to a student's life that they were not prepared for or expected when they started the program. The educational counselor conveniently left that out of the conversation when you inquired about the program. The classroom portion of the degree is similar to previous degree work with reading assignments, discussion and projects on a time line that are graded and returned. But the dissertation side can be long and unregimented and due to circumstances beyond your control can take longer than you anticipated. A common phrase that is used to describe this portion of the degree is commonly referred to as the "dissertation blues".
Despite all of the headaches that come up during this process, the achievement of being called "Doctor" at the end of the journey is a rewarding and well worth the work accomplishment in one's life.
The intent of this book is not to deter someone from pursuing their dreams of accomplishing a doctoral or PhD degree by talking negatively about the rigors of achieving this level of education, but to rather prepare them mentally for what to expect before they make the commitment to beginning the journey. The journey's end is not always guaranteed to be successful, nor is it always the journey that you anticipated from the beginning. However, the better prepared you are to make the journey the better your chances are for succeeding in the journey.
With that thought in mind, the degree completion rate for doctoral degrees is somewhat different than it is for lesser level degrees. Several studies have been done over the past decade in the United States which puts the completion rate somewhere between 50 and 60 percent. There are several factors that these studies have determined to be the reasons why certain degree programs were not completed. The intention here is not to examine these studies in depth but to point out that this is a factor to consider when deciding if this is a degree that you want to pursue. When examining the available literature about completion rates there seemed to be more articles about the doctoral and PhD level than there was for undergrad and master's degrees. I drew the assumption for this to be because the program is different in many ways from the traditional master's and undergrad degree programs. I also bring this up because I have encountered several people in doctoral programs that are "All But Dissertation" (ABD) and have not finished and seem to be stuck in a void. Some schools have the candidate work on the dissertation within the curriculum while some save the dissertation work for the end of the program. The dissertation is a long tedious process that takes time and has been known to be the main reason why many don't finish these programs.
Since the dissertation phase is at the least one half of the program I am focusing most of this book on that experience. It is a unique experience and one that should be known to the perspective doctoral candidate before the journey begins. The class study and dissertation phase are two totally different phases of the program. The more you know ahead of time the better prepared you will be when the time comes to start working on it. During the course work you will likely cover courses that deal with the components of the dissertation and will become very familiar with them over time. The program I went through did just that. Some of my earlier courses were about research and how to conduct it. The residencies reinforced that by working out problems and actually working on parts that will later be used on your dissertation.
These were invaluable classes because your best bet is to have a thorough understanding of the components before you begin and not try to play catch up as you go along. Trying to learn something and do it at the same time will only slow down your progress through the program.
With all of this in consideration it is almost pertinent that a perspective doctoral candidate have some insight into this process before beginning this program.
CHAPTER 2Why My Journey Began
The journey begins with an idea or a dream. A mentor or authority figure in your life has achieved this level of education and you begin to wonder how they did it. What does it take to accomplish a degree at this level? Sometimes the idea or dream begins with the expectations of parents and family members. They see some potential in you and they express their thoughts to get you thinking about it. Your occupational field can sometimes require that you attain this level of education in order to enter into the level that you have chosen to work at, or you just feel it is necessary to go this far with your education because you want to. There are many reasons why someone pursues this level of education and the reason is as unique and individual as the person that applies to a program.
Whatever the motivation is that gets you interested in pursuing this degree it must be strong enough to make the journey. It has to sustain your motivation to continue to work against what seems like all odds and against any and all adversity that obstructs your path. The journey is not easy and obstructions are intended to make you work hard and to persevere through what might seem like endless and meaningless hurdles. However meaningless it may seem there is a rhythm to the madness. There is a reason why it is designed this way. I'm not going to tell you the reasons for this, however this is where I will suggest that if you want to find out then you must complete a doctoral or Ph. D program. This is an exclusive club and the only way into it is to complete the journey. I leave you there for some motivation.
My journey started way back in the first grade. My sister (4 years older) was very good in school whereas I was just getting started but was being compared to her by my mother. My first report card was mostly B's and my mother asked me why was there all B's and not A's. She assumed that I was playing in school and not doing my work and scolded me for it. She was used to seeing all A's on my sister's report cards and assumed that mind would look the same. She hadn't experienced a B student in her family yet and really wasn't prepared to see one at the time. That incident stayed with me well into my adult years and is probably the main motivator as to why I considered the journey. The motivation for the journey started from the day when I was six years old in the first grade and continued until I finally started the doctoral journey when I was 52 years old, some 46 years later. Along the way I achieved an Associate's Degree in Environmental Health, a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management and a Master's Degree in Health Services Management. These three degrees spanned over some 16 years. I honestly didn't have a rock solid plan when setting my sights on these degrees other that the associates degree from a school where I was studying for my occupational field at the time. The bachelor's and master's degrees were requirements for the career path I had chosen while in the Navy. After attaining my Master's Degree in 1994 I honestly thought that was as far as I was planning to go educationally for the rest of my life. I was satisfied at that level and felt that there was no way that I would go back to school again. What I didn't know at the time was that the fire to keep going was still burning inside me.
Well the motivation wasn't gone yet. After 1994 I began coaching little league football and really loved it. I thought that this was my calling and that I had found something to satisfy my thirst to be doing something. I did this for several years before deploying to Iraq with the Marine Corps. For two summers I was unable to coach because of work commitments. In total I coached for 12 years before the bug for going back to school bit me again. A good friend kept talking to me about going back to school to pursue a doctorate or PhD. I disregarded this for several reasons. First and foremost, I said that I would never go back to school again. Secondly, I didn't want to devote the time after work studying again and lastly I wanted to keep on coaching. During the off season from football one day I received an email from the University of Phoenix about going back to school and for some reason didn't delete it, leaving it in my inbox. One of my sons came to me to talk about motivation and life in general. We took a trip about 60 miles away to a mall and had lunch and just generally talked about life and how to navigate it. When I got home that night at around 12:00 midnight I got on my computer and filled in the information on the University of Phoenix email and sent it in. The conversation ended up motivating me more than it did my son. Two days later the University of Phoenix contacted me and the journey began. I just jumped into it really not knowing what I was getting myself into. Financially, I still had some of the G.I. Bill available and was hoping that it would cover it. As far as what to expect from the course I had no idea. I wasn't pursuing a doctoral degree for my occupation or needing it for a job requirement, I was just doing it for myself to see if I could do it and subconsciously to show my mother (who was 83 years old at the time) that I can work hard in school and get good grades. That stayed with me for a long time and my goal was to finish my doctorate degree before my mother left God's green earth for greater pastures. I accomplished that goal when she was 90 years old, some seven years after I began.
So, you can see from this short story that my motivation was probably different from yours and most likely different from most. Whatever it is that motivates you it must be able to sustain you while on the journey. You must have something that keeps you going when your brain is telling you to give up. We all have a different perspective of what we perceive a doctoral program to be like.
Why?
The first question that should come to mind should be, why do I want to do this? Why do I want to devote so much time and effort to getting a doctorate or PhD? The reasons are numerous and as personal as the person you are asking. The number of answers to this question would probably fill up this book if I asked enough people. Could the reasoning process not have all of the information needed to process a desire like this idea? There's a good chance that this is a factor that has been considered unless you are the type that does their own in depth research on this before you decide to get into it.
I personally didn't do much research and I would be willing to bet that most that get into these programs haven't done the research as well. I've come to this conclusion based on my experiences and the conversations that I've had with doctoral candidates that were in my residencies and the cohort that I am a part of.
Another question you might ask yourself is, what is the importance or significance of having a doctoral degree or PhD? What's the difference in my life if I have one or not? Will it change my status on the job, in academia, in my community or just within myself? Is it something that I am willing to sacrifice my time and money to achieve if it isn't going to change much other than increase my student loan? Is it going to improve my status at work and put me in line for a considerable promotion? Will my employer take notice and improve my position at work and give me bigger oversight or more responsibility?
Will a doctoral or PhD open doors to opportunity for me that wouldn't necessarily be opened without it? Are these doors something that I can and want to live with? Some people gain more responsibility at work and then later realize that they were not cut out for something like this after the fact.
A doctorate degree or PhD can change your life probably more than a lesser degree can. A colleague once told me, while I was just starting out in the program, that if someone asks you a question as a doctor that they feel that whatever you say is correct. I understand the gest of this statement to mean that since you have "doctor" in front of your name that you are likely to have an educated answer to their question and they will abide by what you tell them. With this title comes an expectation that others will have of you. Some of us aren't used to that but might want to become familiar with this concept just in case this happens to you.
People have the picture in their mind that you have been through an extensive educational program to become a doctor and that you have to be smarter than the average to even get into the program. For me personally, I thought the same thing for a long time. Now having gone through the program I see it differently than I did before. There is an acceptance criteria that you have to go through to get into a program but I don't think they are just looking for the cream of the crop smart people. I think they are looking at your experience and how well you have been able to be successful in what you do. My program had to have a few letters of reference from people in your field along with the package for acceptance. They also considered my past transcripts as do all colleges before they will accept you. I had this idea in my head that my previous grades would not be high enough to get me accepted. My grades were good but not a straight 4.0 GPA
There are several other criteria that schools look at in order to consider you for their program. That was an eye opener for me because I've always thought that there was no way that I would get into a doctoral or PhD program because of my grades not being high enough. That is just something that I have always heard and never gave it much thought until I decided to try to get into a program.
Truth be known I had no idea what I was getting myself into, neither did I have any idea about the application process until I received a call from the university. Applying to a program for me was a complete shot in the dark. I wanted to get accepted but wasn't putting all my money in that one pot. If I got in, great, but if I didn't it wouldn't have been a big disappointment for me since I really didn't think I would. Taking the stress off of me to get in probably was a blessing in disguise since there was no pressure riding on the decision. There was no support unit that was pushing me to do it or not. Unlike the young 18 year old coming out of high school trying to get into a specific college I didn't have to worry about all of that.
After that first phone call from the school and the representative helped build my confidence that this was something that I could do I was off to the races. The application process wasn't as hard or scary as I thought it would be and with a little confidence from the beginning I came to expect that I would be accepted. After a few short weeks all the paperwork was in and I was cleared for my first class.
The first class was a short three week class with a million assignments designed to give you a taste of time management and how much time you will be spending on class and home work. Some people refer to this class as "boot camp" as it was getting you ready for the rigorous path ahead. I went through an online program that, in my opinion, you have to be more disciplined for. It was my first online schooling experience and I am so glad now that I chose to challenge this route. For me, it was easy for me to stay on track on my own rather than having an instructor telling me what to do in a classroom. Many of my colleagues at the residencies that I attended felt the same since many were working students and had jobs and families to tend to. The online class gave me the flexibility to snap in when I was ready to and to not be in a classroom at a specific time on a given day.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Considering the Journey"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Jeffrey T. Evans DHA.
Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Dedication, vii,
Preface, ix,
Chapter One – Introduction, 1,
Chapter Two – Why My Journey Began, 7,
Chapter Three – Considerations, 25,
Chapter Four – My Story, 54,
Chapter Five – Motivation and Advice, 74,
About the Author, 113,