Hi all,

Thanks to everyone who replied for their kind advice. After a lot more thinking and some honest discussion with my supervisors, as well as talking to friends, family, and a couple of nurses, I have decided to write up for an MPhil and then starting a nurse course. A bit scary now that the decision has been made final and reality is setting in, but I think this is the right thing for me to do.

Good luck to everyone else with your PhD's

Thanks again!

Hi all,

I see there have been various posts on here from people considering quitting their PhDs but please bear with me! I started my PhD in Jan 2008 at a prestigious UK university. I was really excited about being offered the place and doing a PhD as this was something I'd wanted to do for a long time. However, from the start the excitement and enthusiasm I was expecting to feel was lacking. At the time I put this down to being tired from commuting. After moving closer to uni I felt more enthusiastic for a couple of weeks. During the last couple of months I've lost all interest in my PhD, in research generally and in pursuing a career in research. I've never really had a 'plan B' before but have recently begun to get really interested in training to be a nurse and have been to a couple of open days. I'm based at a hospital two days a week, really enjoy the environment and patient contact and feel that this could be a really rewarding career for me.My friends and family have offered mixed advice, I think because I'm currently taking anti-depressants after the breakdown of a long term relationship. I have told my first supervisor that I'm experiencing problems with motivation and he has been supportive and suggested some ways of making my PhD more interested but I really feel that my heart is not in it.

Basically, I'm thinking of seeing whether I can convert back to an MPhil student (where I study you have to submit the upgrade proposal at 9 months) and then apply to nursing courses to start Sept 2009. I'm not sure whether my supervisors would agree to this since I was taken on to do a PhD and they're funding me from their research accounts. I obviously want to stay on good terms with them in any case as I would need a reference should I apply to nursing courses.

Any advice would be much appreciated!! :-)