MSc students at the start of the course– a second degree

The MSc students had chosen to take this programme to qualify them as a health profession as a second degree. They had previously experienced being a student on their first

degrees, and the strong motivation and focus was evident in their focus at the start of this degree. As explained in the introduction no qualitative research had been carried out with the MSc students and this was an exciting opportunity to hear their perspectives.

The students who were on the MSc programmes had completed a first degree, which some said they had originally chosen because of their interest in the subject of their degree, which Houston, Lebeau and Watkins (2009) had identified as an important factor of undergraduate choice.

In their early interviews at the start of their new degree, or in finalists interviews reflecting on how they felt at the start of their degree, the participants appeared to be fully focused on their future professional career, not just on their identity of being a student, again. Mark and Melvyn had both originally wanted to do physiotherapy as their first degree, but had not achieved the results to enable them do it and they subsequently studied their first degrees in Sports Science and a Science subject respectively. They had subsequently found out about the MSc accelerated programme to qualification and were attracted to it, meaning a further two years of study rather than three.

3.6.1 MSc - a second degree and a different level

The MSc students appeared to be fully aware that they were expected to “hit the ground running” on the accelerated programme, and Maisie expressed some of her feelings which she implied was consistent with the cohort:

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I think with this, with this cohort, coming in at the MSc level and maybe the age difference as well, you know, we’re all here, we know we want to be here, and also it’s a little bit more, I think it’s a bit more of a risk for us, because obviously we’re taking time out of earning, whereas your first degree you do get sort of a bit more help and stuff. (Maisie,A:429-33)

There was an awareness conveyed by Maisie that learning will be at Masters level:

I suppose we are all used to the style of, doing a degree I suppose, so, obviously we’re expecting a different level now. (Maisie,A:531-2)

Megan too reflected on the contrast with her undergraduate experience and, as with Maisie, she implied the cohort felt the same and all appeared very motivated to question and learn. She appeared to attribute this to being a Masters student, although in a later question she also said she felt could have been because the course was leading to a job and into a profession:

I think it is quite a different experience being a Masters student to being an

undergraduate student, I think it’s a different kind of mind set, I think everybody on this course is, they’re here because they want to do the job and they’re here because they, or because they want to, really because they really want study, and they really want to learn about the subject and in our lectures everybody’s, well, quite often people ask a lot of questions and I didn’t find that so much on my undergrad course. (Megan,B:665-71)

Mark appeared to really value the opportunity he had been given, having found out about the MSc accelerated route to qualification, and realised that although he had not had as much practical experience as most of his peers he really appreciated being given a place on the course with just his undergraduate Sports Science experience:

I imagine for the majority of people here, and for myself included the ability to take on a preregistration course, or something that obviously now should reflect a

professional qualification is also about undergraduate for people who don’t

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option, that it does make you think I’m here to work, and they’re obviously, they’re taking, not taking a chance, but they think I’m capable of doing this, so I need to, sort of pay back that respect. (Mark,A:520-7)

Mark had recognised that there was a strong purpose to this programme, following his first degree experience, “we’re not here to enjoy the novelty of university to start with, we are here to gain this professional qualification and an MSc at the end of it,” (A:1102-4) and he was also motivated because of having to take a further two years to qualify.

The students on the MSc were aware of the difference between their first degree experiences and the expectations on the higher level award leading to a professional qualification and their perceptions were helpful to be able to identify and contrast their experiences as the students themselves had recently been undergraduates. There was evidence of strong motivation to enter the programme with a positive attitude to get on with the work and start working towards their identified future careers and from their comments they seemed grateful to have this opportunity to take the accelerated course.

3.6.2 An investment for a future career – a sense of responsibility

Mark reflected on the first degree experience in Sports Science, having a “big social aspect” for the first two years, but then had to buckle down “a bit” in his final year, which he

compared to doing a health profession as a second degree: This conveyed the seriousness and motivation with which he was approaching his physiotherapy course having not reached the entry requirements to do physiotherapy as his first degree.

That’s the thing, it’s, not only the time, but just the mentality of the students on an undergraduate course, it is a lot of sort of gimmicky, I’m away from home, I’ve got my own rules if you like, whereas everyone here is, or are more sort of settled, with their life and everyone has sort of got their head down and wanting to work which is quite refreshing compared to my last course. (Mark,B:965-9)

On entry to the accelerated two year course for the profession at Masters level, Mark was stating how seriously he was taking this opportunity, and giving a stronger commitment to his studies. His earlier quote illustrated how he was willing to prioritise his two years of study as

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an investment in his future lifelong professional career. He also indicated that he wanted this career to offer him challenges:

It’s great if you can help people get better but you need, I mean, you need some sort of mental stimulation, and I think really that is going to be the, the sort of, I suppose you would call it like a little buzz, from helping people get better but you are

constantly solving these problems and that, that’s really appealing to me. (Mark,B:653-7)

Melvyn too had not achieved the grades to get onto the undergraduate physiotherapy degree and had taken an undergraduate science degree, and he described his contrasting attitude from his first degree:

Comparing it to my last degree, there is just, and obviously that was an

undergraduate course, and where first year, obviously, a lot of undergrads, myself included kind of took their time settling in and didn’t necessarily see, their course as the main reason to be in uni. (Melvyn,C537-40)

There was no compulsory attendance on his UG course, and if students had fallen behind it was “their problem”, even though there were support services. He contrasted this with the MSc expectation of compulsory attendance:

Obviously the NHS are funding it so, that’s why it’s partly it, and also, you can’t be an effective therapist if you haven’t had the education, or you haven’t done the work and I mean, it’s the responsibility, there’s basically a greater responsibility on you to do it because you will be, you’ll be looking after people and if you do something, you do something wrong, it won’t be just you affected. (Melvyn,C549-54)

Melvyn mentioning NHS funding appeared to convey a sense of responsibility for the outcome, and this appeared to have added to his motivation to complete and qualify:

People who do our course are very serious about what they do but, I really don’t know, I think maybe a little bit more is expected of you, but maybe that’s the

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difference between an undergrad and a Masters, I can’t really tell because my only other experience is my undergrad. (Melvyn,C556-60)

Melvyn appeared to find it hard to unpick what was causing his more serious attitude to qualification on the MSc in PT, to what extent it was because it was a professional degree, or because it was a higher level Masters degree – or combination of both.