Many people who earn a doctoral degree will, at some point, be both a doctoral student and doctoral candidate. While these roles may seem mysterious from outside the (real or virtual) halls of academia, the distinction is fairly simple.
Before we cover the distinction, however, let鈥檚 get on the same page about doctoral degrees.
In academia, one degree sits at the very top: the doctoral degree. Also referred to as a doctorate, a doctoral degree is the most advanced educational credential you can earn. Though some fields of study (like journalism) don鈥檛 have a doctoral degree, most typical academic fields do, as do the fields of health, medicine, law, education and business.
Doctoral programs can lead to a PhD in a variety of fields, such as literature, philosophy and history, or a practitioner doctorate in a field like business, health administration, nursing or education. Doctoral degrees involve years of intensive study, and many require a book-length dissertation. However, practitioner doctorates have different requirements and may not entail a dissertation.
Before graduate school, you must complete years of university courses, typically two degrees, before a program will consider admitting you. However, some programs have more lenient requirements than others.
Doctoral programs tend to be intentionally difficult and rigorous courses of study. As mentioned, there are several educational levels before a doctoral degree that both students and candidates will need to pass.
The requirements for a doctoral student include:
If a dissertation is part of the doctoral program, the doctoral candidate must:
The requirements for a doctorate take many years to complete. While some people complete doctoral degrees in three to five years, others take seven to 10 years. The time span depends on your specific area of study, whether you take classes on a full-time or part-time schedule and how long it takes to complete your dissertation. This also includes your level of focus and intent.
If you are interested in earning your doctorate, then it is important to understand the difference between being a doctoral candidate and a doctoral student.
A doctoral student is a person currently enrolled in a doctoral program at a university. Being a doctoral student involves completing a certain number of credits and coursework in an area of study and completing and passing several exams.
After students pass the qualifying exams (if the program requires it) and successfully complete required coursework, they become doctoral candidates.
A doctoral candidate leaves behind the structured learning schedule of a student. No longer does the candidate attend regular classes or take exams. Instead, they embark on a self-guided schedule for writing a dissertation. This culminates their studies and is tailored to their unique and individual areas of interest.
Doctoral candidates work closely with the advisors who make up their dissertation committee. The advisors provide guidance and critiques as the candidate writes a book-length dissertation. While the advisors can help along the way, what sets the candidate apart from the student is that, rather than simply learning what others have already discovered, they are conducting and writing about their own original, approved research 鈥 and then demonstrating what they鈥檝e learned, as well as how it fits in the broader field of study or can be applied to tangible problems.
A PhD is not the only type of doctoral degree. There are also practitioner or professional doctorates, which may take the specific shape of medical doctorates, optometry doctorates, audiology doctorates, chiropractic doctorates, juris doctorates and others.
Such programs have their own conventions and terminology for various milestones. Some doctoral degrees, such as for law or medicine, focus on mastering the practice of a specific subject and the skills associated with that practice. As a result, terms such as candidate are not used universally among doctoral programs, and many of these programs do not include a dissertation.
A PhD, or Doctor of Philosophy, is a doctoral degree that is focused on expanding and enriching an area of research. A PhD student typically focuses on developing new and original knowledge based on theory.聽
In contrast, a practitioner doctorate prepares students for leadership roles in their desired profession by applying existing knowledge to solve problems in their field or community. The practitioner doctorate generally involves rigorous curriculum, culminating in a dissertation or applied project that addresses a particular real-world problem.
The requirements of a particular practitioner doctorate will vary according to the institution and the field of study. This makes sense when you consider that practitioner doctorates vary from juris doctorates to doctors of physical therapy.
While there may be similar experiences involved in the course of study, such as residencies or internships, the requirements are unique to the specific degree.
While 爱污传媒 (UOPX) does not have PhD programs, we do offer several online doctorates. Students might choose the UOPX programs because classes are flexible and offered online, and because of our unique 鈥Scholar-Practitioner-Leader model.鈥
Our doctoral programs are:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Brian Fairbanks is a freelance writer with a background in SEO content creation and blog article development
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