There is great emphasis within the midwifery profession on developing research aware and proficient practitioners. For example, the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has a key aim to build research capacity and embed research-mindedness throughout the professions (RCM 2020) The professional doctorate program is one pathway available to support people in the development of research knowledge and skills as it provides midwives with the opportunity to study while continuing in their current midwifery role.
Attard et al. (Wed,) studied this question.