Our education
Image: Marlene Lahti
Image: Marlene Lahti
The National Research School in General Practice offers a three-year programme. During this period, doctoral students take courses and attend workshops and residential activities. There is also the possibility of a predoctoral fellowship abroad.
The courses of the research school include physical meetings conducted as annual retreats and web-based seminars once a month during term time. The seminars are mostly held in English and cover various themes. They address important aspects of general medical research activities and are based on the active participation of the doctoral students.
The first course is called Advanced Scientific Communication in Primary Care, 3 ects. It includes an in-depth study of various forms of communication with a focus on the context of primary care. The main instructors are Dr. Stuart Spencer, former editor at The Lancet, and Professor Simon Griffin, MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge.
Online seminars are an important part of the programme that require active participation by doctoral students. While online seminars address various themes, scientific communication is the common thread. Areas of study include:
To a certain extent, the content of seminars is adapted to needs of the group of doctoral students in question.
As we engage the services of foreign teachers, the majority of seminars are held in English.
The second course is called Aspects of Advanced Research Design in Primary Care, 4 ects. It includes topics such as study design, register research, health economic assessment, complex interventions, screening, and prevention. The course also addresses ethical dimensions in general medical research.
The map shows the places visited by doctoral students on predoctoral exchanges.
ImageThe National Research School in General Practice offers a unique opportunity for doctoral students to gain international experience during their studies by conducting research abroad.
The research school primarily offers grants to work at a foreign institution that has specialist competence in the doctoral student's research field. The goal is for the doctoral student to participate actively in the host institution’s third-cycle activities while working on their own research or collaborative projects with the institution.
The main purpose of such visits is to deepen the doctoral student’s knowledge of and broaden their perspective on their own field of research. Exchanges should also provide opportunities for the doctoral student to establish personal contacts within the field at an early stage of their career that may lead to future collaborations after they have defended their thesis.
Each doctoral student is expected to present the fresh insights and experiences gained through international activities both in a brief written report and in conjunction with annual follow-up days.