Doctor and academic having part in complex procedure (9)
I believe the answer is:
rigmarole
'complex procedure' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'doctor and academic having part' is the wordplay.
'doctor' becomes 'rig' (I've seen this in other clues).
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'academic' becomes 'ma'.
'having part' becomes 'role' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'rig'+'ma'+'role'='RIGMAROLE'
'in' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rigmarole that I've seen before include "red tape?" , "Performance" , "Long, complicated and confusing procedure" , "Long, rambling story" , "Tedious procedure" .)