We asked Edinburgh Fourth Year and ESSS Vice-President William Cambridge about getting involved in research at Medical School. William has interests in Hepato-Pancreatico-Biliary Surgery, Transplantation and Surgical Oncology. He has published research (Annals of Surgery), and presented at several conferences and symposia, for which he was awarded winner of the Oral Presentations at The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Student and Foundation Years Research Symposium. In 2018/19, William was awarded 'Most Distinguished Scholar Prize’ for Health Sciences. Here's what he had to say... *Disclaimer: All of the advice provided here relates to things I’ve experienced; it may be incorrect and, like everything else in medicine, do not take it as gospel. 1. First Steps
The first thing to decide is what you want to spend your time researching. This may be easy if you’ve been approached by a potential supervisor (more common than you think in clinical years) or if you want to do further work off the back of your BMedSci. If neither of these apply to you, there are two paths you can take:
Hopefully you’ll find an inspiring clinician whose research is in a field you’re interested in; this is usually the case at a world-class institution like Edinburgh. 2. Approaching a Supervisor Once you have a speciality/condition in mind, you need to find a supervisor. Thankfully, the surgical department in Edinburgh makes this extremely easy. Say you want to explore outcomes in hernia repair or predictors of recurrence in those undergoing transplantation for HCC, the department’s website lists almost all consultants in all specialities within Edinburgh (https://www.ed.ac.uk/surgery/staff). Additionally, even if the consultant isn’t interested in the project you propose, they’ll most likely know a registrar who will be. Prior to approaching a supervisor, you should have a look through their recent research activity. Those publishing regularly are more likely to A) Be interested in what you’re proposing & B) Have research projects you can become involved in if you haven’t formed any solid ideas yet. This is important as it shows you’ve taken time and shown interest in the work they’re completing, meaning you’ll have a better understanding of any complex terminology they may bring up in a face to face meeting. It may also bring up potential questions and project ideas. After you’ve done all this you should initiate contact with an email; if you’re wanting to work with a specific supervisor you can go straight to this step. This should generally be brief and explain what you’d like to do (Audit/Clinical/Lab-Base etc.), have your CV attached and include a request for a meeting. Remember, clinicians are busy people and it may take a while for them to respond; after two weeks, if they still haven’t replied, send a second email, and if there’s still no response move on. If they agree to a meeting I’d say there are three things you should make clear at said meeting: 1) Your strengths and limitations, don’t say you are capable of things you aren’t, 2) The type of project you’re looking to complete, and 3) What you want to get out of the project (publication/lab skills/audit presentation). 3. Completing & Writing up Research Now you’ve got a project you’ll have to see it through, but, if you eventually feel you can’t complete the project then let your supervisor know; it’s poor form to ghost your supervisor. Remember to ask for help if something doesn’t make sense and don’t dedicate all your time to the project - you still have to fit in University and clinical commitments. For those of you who come to write up your project, my advice is to make sure to put aside time to write up papers. Additionally, start with your methods (you can probably write this before the project is completed), then move to results, then your discussion and introduction; you should leave your abstract until the paper is completed. 4. Getting the Most out of your Research Getting a surgical number is a competitive process. With that being the case, you should be attempting to get as much out of your research/time as possible. If you manage to get two papers from your research project, present your research orally at a national or international meeting and win a prize at said meeting, you can score 21 of a potential 72 points at core surgical interviews, whilst a well done clinical audit which you have re-audited and presented can score you 11 points. Hence, if you complete a fruitful research project and your supervisor offers you a clinical audit you can tick off almost half the points marked at CST interviews, (you can go through the CST portfolio checklist). Presenting your research locally will give you some great practice before presenting nationally, so make sure to submit to local conferences (such as the annual ESSS conference!). Additionally, you can claim back £250 from the University for conference expenses so don’t write off some international conferences because of the cost. Finally, if you’re completing a summer project make sure to apply for funding, there are multiple streams, and these are often undersubscribed. I hope those who end up reading this find it proves useful. If you have any questions feel free to drop me an email: [email protected].
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AuthorsArticles are written by Edinburgh-based students and doctors, for the benefit of those interested in surgery. Archives
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