Doctoral study at FMHS

Once you’ve applied for a doctoral programme, you will need to get the necessary approval to begin your study with FMHS.

How to apply

The Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences offers three doctoral programmes, the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), the Doctor of Medicine (MD), and the Doctor of Health Sciences (DHSc).

In order to apply for a doctoral programme, you will need to follow the University’s step-by-step guide for doctoral applications, admission and enrolment.

Faculty-specific requirements

If your application meets the University’s entry criteria for doctoral study, your application will be sent to the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences for processing. Once the faculty has nominated a supervisor, you will be asked to provide the following documents to complete your application so that the approvals process can begin.

Thesis proposal form

Using the template below, the preliminary thesis proposal should:

  • Provide clear evidence that the project involves original research and has the potential to generate a coherent body of work of doctoral quality
  • For qualitative research, there should be a clear explanation of the issues that inform the work and the methods by which the study will be progressed and the information processed
  • For hypothetico-deductive research, the proposal should clarify the hypothesis or hypotheses to be tested and the methods by which this will be done
  • Abbreviations must be defined

Note: Thesis proposal form must be converted to a pdf before it can be uploaded into the AfA system.

Approval of the Application for Admission (AfA)

Once the application is complete, the AfA is then ready for the approvals process. The AfA is sent to the Head of Department for Departmental or School approval. It is during this time that the application may undergo a further review process whereby an external person will review the thesis proposal. You may then be required to make amendments to the proposal, after which the Department or School will then approve the application.

Faculty approval is then required from the Associate Dean (Postgraduate). The application is automatically sent to the Associate Dean (Postgraduate) once the Head of Department or School approves it.

The Associate Dean (Postgraduate) will review the application and, if all is well, will approve it on behalf of the Faculty whereupon the AfA is sent to the Board of Graduate Studies for the final review and approval. If all is in order, the Board of Graduate Studies will make an offer to you by email.