- Nursing
- Occupational and physical therapy
- Counseling
- Education
Writing and then defending a dissertation may be the most challenging part of getting a PhD, but there's a lot of work that has to happen before you reach that stage. Most PhD programs include a coursework component and exams that set the stage for your dissertation years. Some also have project and certification requirements. You'll need to decide on, propose, and defend a thesis topic, and then do all the research necessary. After you submit your dissertation, you may be called upon to complete substantial rewrites before it is approved.
- Drive For Research: This is possibly the best reason of all. If you have experienced a sense of excitement while working on a project of your own during your undergraduate studies, chances are that you can enjoy the opportunity to focus on a problem of cutting-edge research. The rewards of contributing to advance knowledge in any given area can be amazing.
- Becoming An Expert In Your Area: This closely follows the previous point and it's almost an unavoidable consequence of working for three to four years exclusively on a specific topic. Whether you believe it or not, you'll become an expert in your area (possibly even more than your supervisor!).
- Enjoying The Academic Environment: If you suspect that you may enjoy the academic environment (intellectual stimulation, flexible working hours, mixture of lab and office work), chances are that you will. Of course, doing a PhD can be pretty tough, lonely, and frustrating at times (don’t panic, there will be plenty of advice and support even during the all-too-famous second-year blues!), But ultimately the freedom and challenges that come with working in an academic environment may just make up for everything else.
- Available Opportunity: Say you have been offered a studentship. What to do? Just go for it. Within the worst-case scenario, even if you decide that research is not for you, will still come out of your PhD with a nice dr title on your credit card and a set of useful skills that you can employ in your next job.
- Developing Important Transferrable Skills: Here are some of the foremost obvious ones: you will learn how to solve problems; how to find relevant information; how to work independently and as a member of a team; how to communicate (by writing, by giving oral and poster presentations, by speaking in public); how to meet deadlines; how to manage your time effectively and how to prioritize your activities. All of those, of course, in addition to very specific technical and computational skills. No doubt it will all be incredibly useful no matter what job you'll take up after your PhD.
Other Benefits to Getting a PhD:
There are a lot of other benefits to earning this advanced degree, like:
- Some interesting career pathways in disciplines like analytics, research, and publishing are open only to PhD holders (because they can prove that they can tackle a complex problem and summarize it in a massive paper).
- Jobs that are solely open to PhD holders tend to pay more.
- According to Payscale, PhD graduates report a very high level of job satisfaction.
- You'll make valuable professional connections during your PhD years whom you'll potentially tap once you're searching for new opportunities or putting together research teams.
- If you're fully funded, you'll get paid to do work you're passionate about (which may not necessarily have the kind of market value that leads to traditional employment).
- Getting a PhD can distinguish you as an expert in your field and empower you to create a lasting contribution to that field.
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