201-Doctorate in Health Studies with Dr Ella Corrick

This week, Aebhric O’Kelly sits down with Dr Ella Corrick, Head of Postgraduate Studies at the College of Remote and Offshore Medicine (CoROM) and Director of the Doctor of Health Studies (DHS) programme. Ella discusses her work as a rural physician in the Scottish Highlands, her role in mountain rescue, and how CoROM is helping clinicians transform operational experience into meaningful doctoral research.

The conversation explores rural medicine, doctoral education, research methodology, healthcare systems in austere environments, and the future of research in remote and resource-limited settings.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and welcome back to the podcast

00:25 Working as a physician in the Scottish Highlands

01:00 Life after becoming a new parent

01:40 Mountain rescue and rural emergency medicine

02:00 Joining CoROM and taking over the DHS programme

03:00 Shared challenges in rural and austere medicine

04:20 Transforming operational experience into research

06:30 Who are CoROM doctoral students?

08:30 Future directions for doctoral research

11:00 Why CoROM focuses on applied rather than laboratory research

12:30 Understanding the Doctor of Health Studies (DHS)

16:00 How long does a doctorate really take?

17:50 Oxford, Nottingham, and Ella’s research journey

22:00 Research on prescribing quality in children

25:40 How doctoral study improves clinical practice

27:40 DHS versus a traditional PhD

29:20 Advice for prospective doctoral students

32:30 Ella’s current research interests

35:00 Mountain rescue, resilience, and rural healthcare

38:00 Books, science fiction, and lifelong curiosity

40:30 Advice for clinicians entering austere medicine

41:40 Closing thoughts

Topics Discussed

Rural and island medicine

Mountain rescue

Doctoral education

Research methodology

Telemedicine

Resource-limited healthcare

Prolonged casualty care

Clinical leadership

Research literacy

Volunteer emergency services

Healthcare resilience

Evidence-based medicine