Module manager: Dr Henry Wood
Email: h.m.wood@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2024/25
Identical to the entry requirements for MRes Medicine
This module is not approved as an Elective
This module is focussed on providing an understanding of different types of medicine-related research. Areas of focus will be on methodology development, clinical trial design and outcomes, commercial collaborations, meta-analyses, observational studies, case studies, interventional studies and ethics. The aims will be to provide an understanding of the background to publications, using peer-reviewed papers as worked examples. Tutors will draw from their own extensive experience in many of these areas.
1. Description of the processes behind the development of new technologies, such as next generation sequencing, which are used in clinical and research laboratories, often to determine patients treatments.
2. Classification of different types of studies which appear in clinical research journals.
3. Evaluation the clinical trial design, and unexpected findings.
4. Critical assessment of different types of study design.
5. Description and Evaluation of how novel technology is disseminated.
1. Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the principals behind a wide range of research studies.
2. Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of techniques used inwithin Medicine for analysis and enquiry.
3. Critically evaluate the field of clinical trials and associated medical research, and demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the concepts behind them.
4. Demonstrate the ability to be able to critically evaluate the benefits and limitations of commercial collaborations in conducting medical research.
5. Be able to critically evaluate and distil complex information to a peer-group audience, and demonstrate the ability to succinctly and expertly summarise techniques relevant to medical research.
The overarching theme of the module is to develop students’ understanding of how medical research is achieved and disseminated and the relationship between the published record and the actual scientific process. Students will gain an understanding of how the authors developed their ideas, using small group discussion sessions and lengthier seminars.
Methodologies: several different peer-reviewed papers will be collated to demonstrate just how authors in unexpectedly related fields, working on different problems, could be brought together to provide a solution for methodological development.
Clinical trials: several main clinical trial publications will be discussed in detail, to provide an understanding of the problem that these trials were set up to solve. Related to this are will be a review of secondary outcomes, negative trial findings and how clinical trial data can be used after the main trial ends. Tutors can draw on their own experiences of being involved in several national and international clinical trials.
Commercial collaborations: students will investigate several given examples of such collaborations, to determine the benefits to researchers versus the benefits to the commercial sector.
Ethics: students will learn about the processes involved in applying for and gaining ethical approvals.
Observational/Interventional studies and meta-analyses: students will be guided through these types of studies, using a series of publications as worked examples.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Practical | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Seminar | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Tutorial | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Private study hours | 135 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 15 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 150 | ||
Reading lecture and seminar material and preparing journal club presentation and rapid-fire presentation.
Seminars, tutorials and practical count for double academic time because students will be split into two groups.
Students will be encouraged to question and participate during seminars, allowing teaching staff to give feedback, and to informally monitor student levels and progress. Students will receive formative oral group feedback on material prepared and delivered in seminars and tutorial sessions, in order to help them improve their critical thinking and knowledge of the field. Students will be given a formative feedback in relation to their structured appraisal.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Structured appraisal of research - 1,000 words | 60 |
| Presentation | Rapid-fire methodological presentation - 5 minutes each + 5 min Q&A | 20 |
| Presentation | Journal club group presentation- 15 minutes total per group | 20 |
| Assignment | Formative structured appraisal - 1,000 words | 0 |
| Presentation | Rapid-fire methodological presentation - 5 minutes each + 5 minutes Q&A | 0 |
| Presentation | Formative journal club presentation - 15 min total per group | 0 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Compensation is permitted between the different assessed elements
There is no reading list for this module
Last updated: 29/04/2024
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