Published by zheng October 20th, 2007
in Public Health.
Published by zheng August 25th, 2007
in Public Health.
From “Multidisciplinary Teamworking
Indicators of Good Practice” by Valerie Wilson and Anne Pirr
What does the term ‘multidisciplinary teamworking’ mean? At first glance, it may seem obvious that the definition is members of different professions working together. And yet it becomes only too apparent from the literature that it is far from a clear concept. The terms ‘multidisciplinary’ and ‘interdisciplinary’ are often used interchangeably. Leathard (1994) identifies the various prefixes (‘multi’ and ‘inter’) and adjectives (‘disciplinary’
and ‘professional’ ) which researchers and practitioners use. She refers to this as a ‘terminological quagmire’ (p6) and it is this which must be clarified before multidisciplinary
teamworking can be fully understood or implemented successfully. In our earlier research (Pirrie et al, 1997, 1998, 1999) we suggested that the distinction between ‘inter’ and
‘multi’ is based upon three dimensions. These are: numerical; territorial; and epistemological. It would be all too easy to dismiss these distinctions as academic and fail
to see the relevance to professionals who are attempting to work together to deliver a ‘client-focused’ service in different settings. For example, how many professions
must be present before a team is truly multiprofessional? this is a question which is central to understanding multidisciplinary teamworking. Many argue that the difference
between ‘inter’ and ‘multi’ is largely numerical. ‘Inter’ working appears to involve two professions only (Carpenter, 1995), but becomes ‘multi’ if more than two groups are involved. By way of illustration: the working relationship between a nursery teacher and nursery nurse would be interdisciplinary; whereas a primary school teacher, classroom assistant, nursery nurse, learning support teacher and parent volunteer could form a
multidisciplinary team.
Published by zheng April 29th, 2007
in Ph.D.
1. Care and maintenance your supervisor
- Meet regularly with your supervisor
- Discuss and negotiate your progress regularly
- Understand your different styles
- If it is not working out, so someting about it. Don’t just think it will get better or that you can do it on your own.
2. Write and show as you go: This is show and tell, not hide and seek
- Writing and showing your work focuses you to stay on rack and refine your thinking
- Set deadlines for your writing and handing in
- Generally it is good idea to write journal articles (on your exact thesis topic) as you go
- Practice writing with your peers, this can be very effective
3. Be realistic: It’s noe a Nobel Prize
- When you are doing a PhD you are learning how to do a PhD, you are not expected to know this in advance
- Original work does not mean a cure for cancer. In reality it means one small step in advancing existing knowledge
- Do not go off in tangents in the hope of answering ‘The question’, stay focused
4. Say no to distractions: Even the fun ones you think you must do
- Set priorities and be ealistic about what you can do
- Do the important rather than the immediately urgent
- The golden rule to avoid over-commitment is don’t let anything eat into your set study times, or as you would with a job, make the time up if interruption is unavoidable
5. It’s a job: That means working nine to five but you get holidays
- You may not work from nine to five, but you definitely need fixed hours
- Set up a proper workplace
- Like a job, if you take time off, make it up somewhere else
6. Get help: You are not owner-operator single person business
- This means you are allowed to get help
- Use any and all formal assistance in the University including tutors and graduate schools, skills development and faculty staff
7. You can do it: A PhD is about intelligence and persistence
- Persistence is at least as important ingredient; this comes from habits like meeting regularly with your supervisors, treating a PhD like a job
- So in fact the final habit of a highly effective PhD researcher is to know and believe that you can do it, and when the going gets tough, keep going!
Extraxts from “The Seven Secrets of Highly Successful PhD Students” by Hugh Kearns &Maria Gardiner, SDTU, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
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