Factors associated with the timely completion of doctoral research studies in clinical pharmacy: A mixed-methods study

Abstract

Introduction There is growing scientific evidence of mental and well-being issues that doctoral research students face as a result of not finishing their program on time. This study aims to explore the factors associated with the timely completion of doctoral research studies in the clinical pharmacy speciality. Methods This was a mixed-method study that combined surveys with in-depth interviews. Current doctoral research students and pharmacists who have recently completed their doctoral research program participated in the study. A validated questionnaire and an interview topic guide developed from the literature and pretesting were used to collect data. Data for this study were collected between February 2021 and September 2021. Quantitative data were analysed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) V.25 while interview data were subjected to reflexive thematic analysis. Results 47 students who are currently pursuing their doctoral research program in clinical pharmacy participated in the survey, while 8 pharmacists who had recently completed their doctoral research program in clinical pharmacy participated in the in-depth interviews. Five themes were identified: factors contributing to delay in the program, factors contributing to the timely completion of the program, ways to improve the program, advice to current students and advice to prospective students. Having more than one supervisor, supervisors’ commitment to the research work and support from the department were identified as facilitators of timely completion of doctoral research programs in clinical pharmacy. Conclusion Our study provides an understanding of the barriers and facilitators of timely completion of doctoral research programs in the clinical pharmacy specialist, and how these can be used to improve the postgraduate study programs in Nigeria.