ACTA SCIENTIFIC CLINICAL CASE REPORTS Volume 5 Issue 1 January 2024 Is a PhD Viva Voca Oral Examination “Really” that Daunting? Reflections from a PhD “Survivor” Manfred Mortell RN* Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing and Allied Health Professions, University of the Bahamas, Nassau, Bahamas *Corresponding Author: Manfred Mortell RN, Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing and Allied Health Professions, University of the Bahamas, Nassau, Bahamas. Review Article Received: November 29, 2023 Published: December 13, 2023 © All rights are reserved by Manfred Mortell RN. Abstract Getting a PhD is the pinnacle of an education qualification, which only a small proportion of people may achieve in their lifetime. As a PhD candidate, it was often stated that the most important facet of a PhD was the “Dr” that you will have in front of your name. However, from my perspective, the award of a PhD is the academic acknowledgement that validates a PhD candidate to merge with a privileged group of professionals who advocate for the generation and sharing of evidence-based knowledge which contributes to the global body of knowledge. A PhD thesis is central to achieving self-actualization as proposed by Abraham Maslow’s needs hierarchy. But it isn’t the only requirement for the awarding of a PhD degree. The award also requires a successful PhD viva voca oral examina- tion universally. In this article, as a PhD “survivor” I will describe and explain a PhD viva voca within the context of my journey, what kind of questions a candidate may expect from the examiners and will offer advice for other questions that may arise during a PhD viva voca oral examination. I will also be transparent in respect to my motivation and how I passed my PhD viva voca, providing in- sights into the examination process, the expectations and requirements, the generic potential outcomes, and the importance of viva voca simulation practice. I will also suggest an agenda, as a checklist, which I generated for my defense preparation, as it will prepare the reader with valuable groundwork for this often-daunting event. Keywords: Candidate; Defense; PhD; Survivor; Viva Voca Introduction As a critical care nurse with 40 years of clinical experience, I had often contemplated attempting to acquire a PhD in nursing or a Doctor of Nursing practice (DNP), after graduating with a master’s degree in nursing. Why? Because it is the ultimate edu- cational accomplishment in an academic discipline [1]. However, the overwhelming challenge to achieve it was often daunting and seemed unattainable to me. Was I capable? Could it do it? Am I good enough? It was not until a colleague, who was also a men- tor, and a friend, that reminded me of the importance of Abraham Maslow’s humanistic need, a need for self-actualization [2]. Nurs- ing is a profession, and nurses are healthcare professionals (HCP), and as such are aware that a PhD or a DNP is a major undertaking and requires considerable commitment, passion, and determina- tion, in order to advance the understanding of phenomena, which create our reality, and therefore our world. My PhD study in a nursing context was situated in Riyadh, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which was a unique setting for the phenomenon of patient advocacy, which I was going to investigate. However, I elected to enroll and undertake my doctorate at the MA- SHA University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as my home was now in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. The PhD education system at the Ma- laysian universities is in general fashioned after western interna- tional universities. Therefore, universities from Southeast Asia have a propensity to embrace and follow academic models and global superlative organizations [3]. The MAHSA University in Kuala Lum- pur, Malaysia is one such example as its genre of study and the PhD requirements are similar to those offered in the universities in the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA). For example, there are two approaches for a PhD, which are offered at the MAHSA University in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Those being PhD by coursework and minor thesis and a PhD by research. Candidates, such as I, who enrolled for a pure research PhD in nursing are given a minimum time of 6 semesters or 3 years to complete their dis- sertation. Supplementary obligations for doctoral students such as myself, who elect and commit to a PhD by research, must provide a proposal defense to validate the proposed research study, produce a thesis with a specified word limit, meet with primary and second- ary supervisors in and at a predetermined timeframe, in addition to providing and passing the Viva voca, which is an oral defense of their research study. DOI: 10.31080/ASCR.2024.05.0499 Citation: Manfred Mortell RN. “Is a PhD Viva Voca Oral Examination “Really” that Daunting? Reflections from a PhD “Survivor”". Acta Scientific Clinical Case Reports 5.1 (2024): 24-31.