MRes Clinical Science

Key details

MRES CLINICAL SCIENCE

Start Year

2023

Attendance

Full Time

Award

Degree of Master of Research

Duration (years)

Clinical Science research underpins every aspect of modern medicine. Clinical research and practice operate as quite separate entities, but it is now widely accepted that advanced research skills develop a greater depth of understanding in doctors – and have a hugely positive impact on their practice. 

Our Master’s course in Clinical Science is designed to enable practicing medical professionals to develop a mature approach to a specialist area of research. We believe that an interested student is a motivated student, so we accommodate the full spectrum of clinical scientific research, letting you select and define the question you wish to pursue. 

The programme includes four learning modules, but your Master’s dissertation will be your main focus throughout the year. As well as arming you with key research skills, which will prove invaluable to your career, we aim to instil a love of research in you, and to contribute positively to your future practice. 

About

Our MRes Clinical Science is your chance to experience the reality of cutting-edge clinical research. You’ll develop a broader, more considered approach to a specific area of medical research, gaining expertise in the intellectual and practical skills of scientific research in the process. And you’ll gain a deeper understanding of the underlying theories, and greater comprehension of the importance of critical review in the practice of evidence-based medicine. 

Driven by the research interests of our students, our programme is incredibly diverse. You choose the project that you want to work on, and we provide the close expert mentoring and the learning to help you develop advanced research skills. 

Whether you want to explore the design and deployment of new drugs, or you have a desire to optimise the delivery of primary care, we can accommodate you. And the research skills you’ll acquire will be entirely transferrable, so your project doesn’t have to fall within a discipline you aspire to working in. 

Your year with us will be dominated by your dissertation research project, and you will also undertake four learning modules. Our approach throughout is designed to promote a thorough understanding of the diversity and breadth of medicine, the benefits of research, and the value every health professional can add by contributing to the advancement of collective medical knowledge. 

It’s our hope that you will find your experience of conducting your own research enjoyable, liberating, fulfilling and useful, and that the skills you learn will provide you with a research base to build a career upon for the foreseeable future. 

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the courses listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the regular review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. Changes may for example consist of variations to the content and method of delivery of programmes, courses and other services, to discontinue programmes, courses and other services and to merge or combine programmes or courses. The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will inform students.

Assessment for Year 1

You will need to submit coursework for the majority of the taught modules, however only one of the modules involves a written test. You will need to achieve a pass in all four modules. 

The dissertation module, which represents the majority of your Master’s, is comprised of three elements: a review of the literature, a research paper, and piece of reflection.

Structure

You can complete your MClinEd degree by studying for three years part-time. During your time with us, you will need to complete four compulsory modules:

Enhancing teaching, learning & assessment in clinical education (20 credits)
Leading teaching, learning & assessment in clinical education (40 credits)
Leading contemporary clinical education (20 credits)
Introduction to research methods (20 credits)

...and one further research module (20 credits), which you will select from the following options:

Further quantitative research methods
Further qualitative research methods
Systematic reviews and research synthesis

Within your compulsory modules, you will explore advances in both theory and practice in clinical education, and you’ll learn to apply your knowledge to the practical design and development of teaching and inquiry methods.

The clinical education modules are designed to help you reflect on your own learning in order to support learning in others. They will also help you develop the skills you need to design your own teaching programmes and techniques using contemporary methods, in a way that is relevant to your discipline and clinical area.

The research modules will reinforce your skills and understanding of research methods, critical appraisal of research evidence and theory, and application of research evidence to education practice.

You will also complete your Masters’ dissertation (60 credits), firstly identifying an appropriate research question on a clinical education topic, then addressing it through a quantitative or qualitative research study, or through a systematic review.

Each credit relates to about 10 hours of study.

Teaching and Learning

Teaching 

The four research skill modules you will undertake will be taught by experts in the field and delivered through a variety of methods and formats. These include lectures, seminars, tutorials and workshops.

Independent study 

Our MRes degree has been designed to encourage autonomy and independence in not only defining your preferred area of study, but also in locating relevant resources and evaluating information. You will have access to expert mentoring, but the emphasis is very much placed on your own pursuit of your research objectives.

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Open Days

Students must successfully complete the Core modules, including the Research Dissertation to gain 160 credits.

Assessment for Year 1

You will need to submit coursework for the majority of the taught modules, however only one of the modules involves a written test. You will need to achieve a pass in all four modules. 

The dissertation module, which represents the majority of your Master’s, is comprised of three elements: a review of the literature, a research paper, and piece of reflection.

Compulsory Modules

INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH ETHICS AND GOVERNANCE

Code MED-7019D

Credits 20

This module gives an overview of research ethics and research governance. It will enable the students to understand the research governance frameworks and it will help them to understand the ethical implications of their planned research. In addition, it will help the students to write participant information sheets (PIS), informed consent forms, and lay summaries of their protocols. It will also address crucial issues for successful funding applications such as patient and public involvement (PPI).

RESEARCH DISSERTATION CLINICAL SCIENCE

Code MED-7023X

Credits 100

In this module students will focus on communicating the work they are undertaking and the rationale for it. Students will consider writing for peers and for the public, preparing abstracts, posters, papers and grant applications and giving oral presentations. Learning outcomes By the end of the module students will be able to formulate hypotheses, write protocols, assess literature, acquire, analyze and interpret data and will have developed the cognitive abilities required for these tasks. Assessment The research plan will be composed from up to 1,500 words and will be illustrated with a timeline or Gantt Chart, it will be evaluated formatively by course director and mentor independently who will both provide oral feedback to the student. Reflective report will be composed from up to 5,000 words and will provide details of all training so far undertaken and plans for completion of the research being undertaken and write-up of the dissertation. It will be evaluated formatively by course director and mentor independently who will both provide oral and written feedback to the student. The Dissertation will be composed from three sections. The first will be a review of 6,000 – 7,500 words, the second a research paper of 6,000 – 7,500 words and the third a reflective report providing a synoptic description of the research, training and enabling procedures undertaken by the student during the course of the year and will be between 1,500 and 2,000 words. The complete dissertation will be 13,500 – 15,000 words. 15,000 words

TRANSFERRABLE SKILLS FOR RESEARCH

Code MED-7024F

Credits 20

At masters degree level the purpose of PGT research masters degrees are primarily to familiarise and prepare students for careers with significant but diverse research components. This course meets the central need of all Clinical Researchers to communicate effectively in formats that are either written or oral and to a variety of audiences from their peers as researchers to members of the public. In this module students will focus on communicating the work they are undertaking and the rationale for it. Students will consider writing for peers and for the public, preparing abstracts, posters, papers and grant applications and giving oral presentations. By the end of the module students will have: • Written lay and professional abstracts • Assembled a poster • Given a presentation • Prepared a grant application

INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH METHODS

Code MED-7021D

Credits 20

The purpose of this module is to provide students with a broad introduction to the methods used in Health Science Research. . The skills to be developed include being able to 1: recognise basic quantitative and qualitative research designs 2: recognise different data collection techniques 3: acquire a basic understanding of both statistical analysis and qualitative analysis; 4: critically appraise of the research literature.

Optional A Modules

(20 credits)

SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS AND RESEARCH SYNTHESIS

Code HSC-7057E

Credits 20

Findings from systematic reviews have been increasingly used by health policy makers, clinicians and patients for making decisions. A systematic review of available evidence is also often required for developing new research, and for interpreting findings from a primary study. The module will include the following contents: 1. Introduction, framing questions and inclusion/exclusion criteria 2. Sources of evidence and literature search strategy 3. Data extraction and validity assessment 4. Synthesizing evidence from qualitative studies 5. Synthesizing evidence from quantitative studies 6. Quality of systematic reviews and overview of reviews 7. Recent development in research synthesis methods 8. Systematic review protocol. The learning outcome will provide you with the skills and understanding to appraise and interpret published systematic reviews, to develop a protocol and undertake a systematic review. By the end of the module, you will be able to: • Frame questions appropriate for a systematic review • Design an appropriate literature search strategy • Assess the relevance and quality of primary studies • Qualitatively and quantitatively synthesize data from primary studies • Appropriately interpret findings of a systematic review and meta-analysis • Understand common pitfalls in systematic reviews and meta-analysis • Become familiar with recent method research relevant to systematic reviews.

INTRODUCTION TO IMPLEMENTATION SCIENCE (ONLINE)

Code HSC-7170F

Credits 20

This module aims to provide an introduction to Implementation Science and its role in healthcare. Health services are under increasing pressure to improve services and yet save resources. The routine delivery of evidence-based interventions and services ensures that the most cost-effective interventions are delivered to patients; however, it takes on average 17 years for research evidence to be routinely adopted in practice. In an attempt to close this research-to-practice gap, the field of Implementation Science has evolved. Implementation Science is defined as the scientific study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of research findings and other evidence-based practices into routine practice, and, hence, to improve the quality and effectiveness of health services. This module will cover: • Key differences between Implementation Science, Quality Improvement and Knowledge Mobilisation. • Implementation study design, including implementation strategies, outcomes and hybrid designs. • Implementation frameworks and theories for understanding contextual factors that impact on successful implementation, for informing the process of implementation and to guide the evaluation of implementation efforts. • Stakeholder engagement, organisational readiness and systems thinking. • Scalability and sustainability of evidence-based practice. This new online module is delivered by leading implementation researchers across four universities: UEA, King’s College London, Kingston University and St George’s. A formative and summative assessment will be used to assess student knowledge gained throughout the module. Students will be presented with three case studies that provide implementation challenges faced in the NHS. Students will select one of the case studies on which to develop an implementation study protocol to explore / investigate the implementation challenge. Students will be encouraged to use the ImpRes tool and guide to designing implementation research throughout the module https://implementationscience.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13012-019-0897-z Formative assessment: students will record a Powerpoint presentation that talks through their ideas for an implementation study protocol. The presentation will be recorded in Collaborate and made available to a small group of students for peer feedback. Summary feedback will be provided to the entire cohort. Summative assignment: students will write a protocol for an implementation research study. The protocol should be no more than 4000 words in length and address one of the implementation challenges addressed by the case studies. The protocol can be either quantitative, qualitative or mixed method. Students would be expected to demonstrate clear understanding of the implementation science concepts introduced in the module, e.g. implementation outcomes, implementation strategies, implementation theories, stakeholder engagement, organisational readiness, systems thinking and sustainability.

FURTHER QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS

Code MED-7013E

Credits 20

This course builds on the quantitative methods covered in Introduction to Research Methods. It will add depth to the basic knowledge already acquired in that module on measurement, survey instruments, study designs and statistics. Students will also take part in practical sessions where they will apply the statistical knowledge gained to describe and analyse datasets.

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Important Information

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring and review of modules. Where this activity leads to significant change to a programme and modules, the University will endeavour to consult with affected students. The University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. Availability of optional modules may be restricted owing to timetabling, lack of demand, or limited places. Where this is the case, you will be asked to make alternative module choices and you will be supported during this process.

Entry Requirements

Degree classification

Bachelors degree - 2.1 or equivalent

Degree subject

Medicine, Biomedicine, Health, Psychology or Life Science related degrees

Additional entry requirements

This course is open to medical students wanting to intercalate after the 3rd or 4th year of their UK Medical, Dental or Veterinary degree.

When submitting your application you will be required to upload a research proposal of 500 words.

Students for whom english is a foreign language

We welcome applications from students whose first language is not English or those whose degree was not taught in English. To ensure such students benefit fully from postgraduate study, we require evidence of proficiency in English. We also will require a certain standard to be achieved on the written element of the test.

Our usual entry requirements are as follows:

IELTS: 7.0 (minimum 7.0 in all component)
PTE: 76 (minimum 76 in all components)

All scores must be less than two years old.

Other tests, including Cambridge English exams and the Trinity Integrated Skills in English are also accepted by the university. The full list of accepted tests can be found here: Accepted English Language Tests

INTO UEA also run pre-sessional courses which can be taken prior to the start of your course. For further information and to see if you qualify please contact intopre-sessional@uea.ac.uk