First year of PhD Recap…My Relationship with Statistics…And All The Juice

On my way to the clinic

My second semester, I wasn’t so lost. Literally, I stopped getting lost in school and parking lots. My classes were not difficult, but the work…..hmmmmm was work. I kept hours that I didn’t even think was possible; like wake up at 7 am and go to bed at 2 am (you see why I’m always preaching sleep, Winie is sleep-deprived). I took two method classes (quantitative and qualitative). This was my first time hearing about qualitative method of research. Now, I’m a born story-teller, it was really love at first sight for me and my darling Qual (Qualitative Method). I’m seriously considering using a qualitative method for my dissertation (fingers crossed). The highlight of my second semester was a concept analysis paper from my Epistemology class. That paper really really really whipped my behind. I started out being very confused about my concept and when I finally figured it out, synthesizing the literature wasn’t as easy as I hoped. Too many conflicting evidence and just this lack of clarity. But I pulled through, and when I clicked that ‘submit’ button, I was floating in the cloud.

Bella Naija. If you had seen me, you would have thought I was interviewing with the President. I kept on refreshing my email and pacing around my apartment. When I got that email that my article was published, wow…there were no words to describe the feeling. I know it might not be a big deal to a lot of people, but in that moment, I really felt like I had given birth to something.

Check out my first article “Tolerating Mr. Phil” . My second semester will always be memorable.

My third semester, was when I started blogging and I was in a relationship with ‘Statistics’. I shared three lessons statistics taught me, a few weeks ago.

My people, it was not a small matter. Prior to this time, I considered myself a ”mathematician”. Well, turns out that this class blew that out of water. It was a rough start for me, but I was able to pull through with the help of my God, my professor, and my colleagues. During this semester, I also took classes on scientific writing and crafting a dissertation proposal. The scientific writing class was my first systematic review paper. A lot of people confuse a literature review with a systematic review; while that deserves a special post, a major difference is that a systematic review is more detailed and captures the length and breath of the scientific literature better than a literature review. I will talk more about this in another post. In my crafting a dissertation proposal class, I wrote a draft  of the three chapters of my dissertation. There are no words to summarize the benefits of that class. This class put some of my fears about a dissertation to rest and put so much confidence in my journey to a PhD.

A lot people have asked why the doctoral program at University of Miami is only 3 years. I hope this brief recap answers some of the questions. The highlights of my program are:

a) Immediate pairing with faculty members who have the same or similar research interests

b) Immersion with your population of interest which helps you clarify your own interest or informs your decision for adjustment or complete change

c) Classes that assist you to produce publishable papers that will beef up your resume

d) Starting your dissertation process VERY EARLY.

I hope you enjoyed my recap. I’m grateful to God for everything.

 If you are considering a PhD in Nursing and/or you have more questions, you can contact me.

I’ll be happy to assist in any possible way. I’m looking forward to your comments. Until the next post…..

Have a Winning-Day

Winie