How to get involved Medical research

Hi

I'm currently studying medicine and am really keen on learning how to carry out audits and clinical research so that i can get the exposure to research before my intercalation.

How do I go about getting this Experiance?
I have asked tutors and they have said go up to doctors and ask them if I could help them with an audit. But I feel that is way too intrusive.

Could anyone help me ?

Reply 1

nexttime

22

Its not too intrusive. With audits especially, often there are rather boring ones being forced on juniors and your help (offered to either the juniors or consultants) would be appreciated.

Hospitals generally have an audit department which monitors all the audits going on. I've not heard of people getting audits by directly asking them but... maybe?

Alternatively you can try to come up with your own ideas, but that's difficult if you aren't on the wards as much as the doctors/other staff are.

Reply 2

notespad

14

Email doctors directly asking if they have any projects that you could get involved in (find their emails online/hospital websites/university websites)! Look at researchgate/google to see if they publish a lot - those who publish a lot are more likely to be engaged in research.

Email more than one person, as many will ignore your emails too! The keen ones/those active in research will reply if they need extra help.

It has worked quite well for me.

Reply 3

Beska

21

Original post by Vashappeninkira

Hi

I'm currently studying medicine and am really keen on learning how to carry out audits and clinical research so that i can get the exposure to research before my intercalation.

How do I go about getting this Experiance?
I have asked tutors and they have said go up to doctors and ask them if I could help them with an audit. But I feel that is way too intrusive.

Could anyone help me ?

Contact your INSPIRE grant lead (find them here) and tell them you're interested in getting involved in clinical research - they will put you in touch with people that should fit your bill. If you're interested in a particular thing, find supervisors by looking at the university website and emailing them.

Reply 4

erasmus

7

Original post by Vashappeninkira

Hi

I'm currently studying medicine and am really keen on learning how to carry out audits and clinical research so that i can get the exposure to research before my intercalation.

How do I go about getting this Experiance?
I have asked tutors and they have said go up to doctors and ask them if I could help them with an audit. But I feel that is way too intrusive.

Could anyone help me ?

Two routes you can go down. The first depends on where your medical school is; you can approach senior professors who are undertaking research at your university. This is more a long-term move, needs time and commitment. They will take time to trust you with research, slowly providing you with more opportunities. But if it works out, you're sorted.
The second method is much easier and while you aren't getting that top level research you're getting good projects in. Approach senior registrars to see if they have any projects you can help with. They are nearing the point of applying to consultant jobs and need the research on their CV. This idea atleast works for surgery, but the beauty of surgery is that you can put any twist on it you want (to an extent), so you can do projects in areas you're interested in. You can also approach consultants but that always seems scarier for medical students.
A bonus third way is looking for opportunities of national collaborative research. This won't get you points on fpas but is decent for your cv, but more importantly teaches you how to carry out projects and where and how to collect data.
Hope that helps!

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 5

Lightingspeed

10

Original post by Beska

Contact your INSPIRE grant lead (find them here) and tell them you're interested in getting involved in clinical research - they will put you in touch with people that should fit your bill. If you're interested in a particular thing, find supervisors by looking at the university website and emailing them.

What does the Inspire programme entail? I am moving into the 3rd year (clinical years) and was wondering if it still possible (alongside my studies)? AFP sounds something interesting in the future.

Reply 6

Beska

21

Original post by Lightingspeed

What does the Inspire programme entail? I am moving into the 3rd year (clinical years) and was wondering if it still possible (alongside my studies)? AFP sounds something interesting in the future.

It usually funds a 6-8 week summer research project (between 1st and 2nd or 2nd and 3rd years), it’s not something you can do alongside studies. Our clinical years were a lot longer so we only get 3 odd weeks summer so we couldn’t have done anything then. Your medical school might be different though, might be worth contacting the INSPIRE lead.

Reply 7

Lightingspeed

10

Original post by Beska

It usually funds a 6-8 week summer research project (between 1st and 2nd or 2nd and 3rd years), it’s not something you can do alongside studies. Our clinical years were a lot longer so we only get 3 odd weeks summer so we couldn’t have done anything then. Your medical school might be different though, might be worth contacting the INSPIRE lead.

Oh i see

. I've sent off an email, how do students get into doing audits and CV building for AFP? My medical school aren't as open as other when it comes to preparation for future applications/carer planning.

How to get involved Medical research

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