Year 4 Medicine Research Project

Year 4 Medicine Research Project

Overview

What is a Year 4 Medicine Research Project?

A Year 4 Medicine Research Project is a supervised project undertaken by a fourth-year medical student at UNSW. We have two research streams:

  1. MD Research (ILP; 30 Units of Credit) and
  2. BSc(Med) Honours (48 Units of Credit). The BSc(Med) Honours stream has entry requirements.

The research project is designed by the supervisor (that meets our criteria for supervision) whose responsibility is also to obtain the appropriate ethical approval, if applicable, for the project prior to data collection and no later than the end of the 4th week of Term 1. The supervisor is also responsible for providing the student with the appropriate training and support for the project (including but not limited to health and safety, methodology, scientific/clinical knowledge and other relevant research skills). Such training could be provided to the student by the supervisor directly or by other resources such as the co-supervisor, other members of the research team or other resources available within the medicine program and the university. The supervisor is responsible for providing the student with an appropriate, safe and well-resourced research environment (if applicable).

It is required that the student attends the research environment where the project is conducted for at least 25 hours per week, for 30 weeks (MD Research/ILP) or 35 hours per week, for 34 weeks (BSc(Med) Honours). The student is not permitted to work from home for any significant length of time (maximum of 20%) and must be engaged with the research environment, attending research and supervisor meetings, seminars and other training opportunities negotiated with the supervisor(s). By the end of the ILP and/or BSc(Med) Honours the student is expected to:

  • Demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills in clear and concise presentation of research information that is appropriately referenced.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of relevant research methodologies by applying them appropriately to the research project.
  • Collect, analyse and interpret qualitative and/or quantitative data, and reach appropriate conclusions that are supported by evidence.
  • Interpret and critically evaluate research literature, to formulate hypotheses or research questions and then to justify discussion, comparisons or conclusions from the research performed.
  • Demonstrate professional skills in planning, time management, teamwork and research integrity.

BSC(MED) HONOURS ONLY:

  • Design future experiments and studies based on the knowledge and research skills development through the research project.

The Project

The Project

Year 4 Medcine Research Project is designed to be undertaken in one of UNSW Medicine's Schools or a UNSW affiliated research institute or centre. Interstate or Overseas research projects will not be considered.

 

The research must address research aim(s) and hypotheses or research question(s) using scientific inquiry. The research must generate and/or analyse primary or secondary data in a systematic manner. It is expected that the final research report would meet the criteria set for a manuscript to be published in an indexed peer reviewed academic journal in the field.

The study design of the Year 4 Medicine Research Project may vary across the program and disciplines and below is a non-exhaustive list of examples of what would be considered appropriate, or not, for a project.

A few examples of projects that could be considered appropriate:

  • Preclinical (animal studies, tissue analysis) or clinical projects testing a hypothesis.
  • A qualitative inquiry of documents addressing clear research questions and using an established qualitative research framework/theory.
  • A case-control study involving a very small number of participants/subjects due to objective limitations of such a study.
  • A secondary analysis of an existing dataset provided it addresses research questions not asked before for that particular (or very similar) data-set.
  • A systematic review that included a meta-analysis of a relevant scientific topic, which follows the conventional method(s) in the field.  

Some additional considerations:

  • An extension of a previous MD Research/BSc(Med) Honours project using an extended dataset (more participants/subjects and/or more variables) is acceptable provided the research questions /hypotheses already consider the findings of the previous project and aim to add some new knowledge. The new project must require new analysis and hypothesis testing or new research questions.

A few examples that are NOT appropriate projects:

  • A descriptive audit report.
  • A case report.
  • A thematic or systematic review which does not include meta-analysis.
  • A replica of a previous Iproject that uses the same data set

Entry Requirements

MD Research Project (ILP) Entry Requirements

Students have completed year 3 clinical coursework requirements are eligible to apply.

 

BSc (Med) Hons Entry Requirements

Students with a Phase 1 average course mark of ≥ 65 (see WAM calculation below) and have completed 12 UoC general education before Term 1 in year 4, are eligible to apply.

Mark Calculation

The Phase 1 average course mark is calculated from the following courses:

  1. MFAC1521 Beginnings, Growth and Development A
  2. MFAC1522 Beginnings, Growth and Development B
  3. MFAC1523 Health Maintenance A
  4. MFAC1524 Health Maintenance B
  5. MFAC1525 Ageing and Endings A
  6. MFAC1526 Ageing and Endings B
  7. MFAC1527 Society & Health

In addition, students are required to pass the following courses (including passing subsequent supplementary exams, but if a student fails a course then they will be ineligible):

  1. MFAC1501 Foundations
  2. MFAC1511 Phase 1 Portfolio
  3. MFAC1512 End of Phase Examination
  4. MFAC1513 Clinical and Communication Skills Examination
  5. MFAC2514 Integrated Clinical Studies 1
  6. MFAC2515 Integrated Clinical Studies 2
  7. MFAC2516 Integrated Clinical Studies 3
  8. MFAC2511 Phase 2 Portfolio
  9. MFAC2512 Integrated Clinical Examination

General Education

General Education information is available here.

 

Getting Started


Key Dates



Dates Activities
1 March 2024 Student Plan (to be completed by students in eMed)
1 March 2024 Negotiation Process Commences
Monday 17 June 2024  Due Date for Year 4 Medicine Research Project (to be completed by supervisors)
July 2024  Student Form (to be completed by students in eMed)
  Non-negotiated projects will be listed on eMed for students to browse and select
August 2024 Allocation emails will be sent to students/supervisors
Monday 13 February 2025 MD Research/Honours Commenced - MANDATORY Induction day
Friday 19 September 2025 MD Research (ILP) Completed
Friday 17 October 2025 BSc(Med) Honours Completed

 


How to negotiate a project

Students are encouraged to negotiate a research project with prospective supervisors. Some projects will also be designed by supervisors and listed in eMed for students to view. In both cases, the year 4 medicine research project form must be completed by the supervisor in eMed.

Past Projects


Year 4 Medicine Research Project Form

  • This form is available in eMed from March to Monday 17 June 2024.
     
  • Application Form [word] (To avoid unexpected loss of data entry, it is recommended to complete this form in a word version and then paste your responses into an eMed application form)

Criteria for Primary Supervisor and Co-Supervisor

  • The supervisor and co-supervisor must be UNSW academic staff members or have a conferred academic title holder (conjoint or adjunct) with UNSW.  There are no exceptions to this rule.
  • The primary supervisor and co-supervisor must have a Masters degree by research or PhD or medical degree (unless specifically exempted by the Committee)
  • The supervisor and co-supervisor should have academic/medical qualifications relevant to the project
  • If a supervisor does not meet our criteria, an Faculty Supervisor can act as a conjoint supervisor with approval of the Committee.

Additional Criteria for Primary Supervisor

  • The primary supervisor must have had at least 1 publication in a peer reviewed journal in the previous 3 years.
  • The primary supervisor must have supervised (to completion) at least one research student (MD Research/ILP, Honours, Masters or PhD) previously.

Supervisor Registration

UNSW Medicine and Health academic staff members and affilated conferred title holders (conjoint or adjunct) who are interested in taking up year 4 research students can indicate their offers by updating their staff profile (see instructions here). For more information on this, please contact  Ms Khanh Vo | md.research@unsw.edu.au


 

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3MT

UNSW ILP - Three Minutes Thesis (3MT)

ILP students will have three minutes to present a compelling oration on their thesis topic and its significance, in language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specilaist audience. Each presentation will be assessed by a panel with the mark contributing to the overall ILP grade and also as a competition (with a $500 gift voucher prize).

3MT Winner 2019

Ms Roshana Kanagaratnam (under supervision by Dr Steven Leach)

A role for intelectin-1 and lactoferrin in health and inflammatory intestinal disease in children

Presented by Dr Linda Ferrington

2019 Cohort

 

Publications

Our ILP and Honours students succeed in their research projects through publications and presentations. Below is a list of achievements.

2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013

 

2013 Achievements

Student: Bui, David
Supervisor:  Prof William Walsh
Title:  The Effect of Sterilisation Protocol on Meniscal Allograft
Oral Presentation: New South Wales Australian Orthopaedic Association Annnual Scientific Meeting, 2013
Authors:  Bui D, Lovric V, Oliver R, Bertello N, Broe D, Walsh W

Student: Iyer, Dushyant
Supervisor:  Dr Scott D’Amours
Title: INTRA-ABDOMINAL HYPERTENSION AND ABDOMINAL COMPARTMENT SYNDROME: Pathophysiological and non-operative management
Article:  Minerva Anestesiologica, 2013
Authors:  Rastogi P, Iyer D, Aneman A, D'amours S

Student: Iyer, Dushyant
Supervisor:  Dr Scott D’Amours
Title: The Natural History of intra-abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome
Oral Presentation: Australian Medical Student Association Convention, Gold Coast, 2013,
Authors:  Iyer D, Rastogi P, D’Amours S, Aneman A

Student: Iyer, Dushyant
Supervisor:  Dr Scott D’Amours
Title: Cardiothoracic surgery and intra-abdominal hypertension: An undervalued association?
Oral Presentation: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) Annual Scientific Congress and the Australian and New Zealand College of Anesthetists (ANZCA) Annual Scientific Meeting, Singapore, 2014
Authors:  Iyer D, Rastogi P, Aneman A, D’Amours S

Student: Iyer, Dushyant
Supervisor:  Dr Scott D’Amours
Title: Early Experiences with the Resuscitation with Angiography, Percutaneous Techniques and Operative Repair (R.A.P.T.O.R) Hybrid Suite
Oral Presentation: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) Annual Scientific Congress and the Australian and New Zealand College of Anesthetists (ANZCA) Annual Scientific Meeting, Singapore, 2014
Authors:  Iyer D, Rastogi P, Aneman A, D’Amours S

Student: Iyer, Dushyant
Supervisor:  Dr Scott D’Amours
Title: A predictive tool for the development of intra-abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome in critically ill patients
Poster: International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, Brussels, Belgium, 2014
Authors:  Iyer D, Rastogi P, Aneman A, D’Amours S

Student: Lawrence, Renae
Supervisor:  Dr Claire Wakefield
Title: Comparing the models of care utilised by Australia and New Zealand childhood cancer long term follow-up clinics
Oral Presentation: Australian New Zealand Children’s Haematology and Oncology Group (ANZCHOG), Annual Scientific Meeting, Melbourne, 2013
Authors:  McLoone JK, Wakefield CE, Lawrence R, Cohn RJ

Student: Lawrence, Renae
Supervisor:  Dr Claire Wakefield
Title: Transition practices in paediatric hospitals: providing cancer survivorship care from childhood to adulthood
Oral Presentation: National Youth Cancer Services Network Meeting, Melbourne, 2013,
Authors:  McLoone JK, Wakefield CE, Lawrence R, Cohn RJ

Student: Lee, Jia Li
Supervisor:  A/Prof William Sewell
Title: Flow cytometry of T cells and the role of V-beta assessment
Oral Presentation: Australasian Flow Cytometry Group Annual Meeting, Wellington, NZ, 2013,
Authors:  Sewell WA, Lee LJ, Smith SABC, Brown DA

Student: Mason, Emma
Supervisor:  Dr Lynne Wray
Title: Sexually acquired reactive arthritis at Sydney Sexual Health Centre 1992-2012
Oral Presentation: Australasian Sexual Health Conference, Darwin, 2013,
Authors:  Mason E, Wray L, Foster R, Donovan B

Student: Newton, Sally
Supervisor:  Dr Renée Morris
Title: The Differential effects of Rubrospinal Tract and Red Nucleus Lesions on Skilled Reaching
Poster:  Annual Neuroscience Society, Melbourne, 2013,
Authors:  Newton SS, Kearsley AP and Morris R

Student: Pillay, Megan
Supervisor:  Dr Mark Harris
Title:  Quality of care measures in multimorbidity
Article: Australian Family Physician, 2014, 43(3):132-6
Authors:  Pillay M, Dennis S, Harris MF

Student: Pillay, Megan
Supervisor:  Dr Mark Harris
Title: Multimorbidity: negotiating priorities and making progress
Article:  Australian Family Physician, 2013, 42(12):850-4
Authors:  Harris MF, Dennis S, Pillay M

Student: Pillay, Megan
Supervisor:  Dr Mark Harris
Title:  Multi-morbidity and low health literacy in general practice: double trouble
Oral Presentation: Health Literacy Network: Crossing Disciplines, Bridging Gaps, 2013
Authors:  Pillay M, Dennis S, Harris MF

Student: Ryan, Amitée
Supervisor:  A/Prof Rebecca Dignan
Title: The PAINLESS trial (Painbuster Length of Stay) - Redefining Pain Management After Cardaic Surgery: A Randomised Pilot Trial
Oral Presentation: Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons Annual Scientific Meeting, 2013
Authors: Dignan R, Ryan A, Mann K, Patterson E, Gebski V, Keech A, O’Regan W, Hong S, Aty W, French B, Wolfenden H, Vallely M, Bannon P, Rajendran S, Turner L

Student: Tan, Kevin
Supervisor:  A/Prof Jia Lin Yang
Title: Uncovering a key to the process of metastasis in human cancers: a review of critical regulators of anoikis
Article:  Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, 2013, 139(11):1795-805
Authors:  Tan K, Goldstein D, Crowe P, Yang JL

Enrolment

For Enrolment Support, please contact The Nucleus Student Hub.

 

MD Research | Independent Learning Project (ILP)
Term 1
Course UoC
MFAC4999 8UoC
MFAC4001 2UoC
MFAC2511 0UoC
Gen-ed 6UoC
Term 2
Course UoC
MFAC4999 8UoC
MFAC4001 2UoC
Gen-ed 6UoC
Term 3
Course UoC
MFAC4999 8UoC
MFAC4001 2UoC
MFAC2507 6UoC
     
BSc(Med) Honours Research Intensive  
Honours Research
(T1 Advanced Course)
Term 1
Course UoC Program Code
MDCN8888 8UoC 3831
MFAC4001 2UoC 3831
Advanced Course 6UoC 3831
MFAC2511 0UoC 3805
Honours Research
(T2 Advanced Course)
Term 1
Course UoC Program Code
MDCN8889 14UoC 3831
MFAC4001 2UoC 3831
MFAC2511 0UoC 3805
   
Term 2
Course UoC Program Code
MDCN8889 14UoC 3831
MFAC4001 2UoC 3831
Term 2
Course UoC Program Code
MDCN8888 8UoC 3831
MFAC4001 2UoC 3831
Advanced Course 6UoC 3831
   
Term 3
Course UoC Program Code
MDCN8889 14UoC 3831
MFAC4001 2UoC 3831
MFAC2507 6UoC 3805
Term 3
Course UoC Program Code
MDCN8889 14UoC 3831
MFAC4001 2UoC 3831
MFAC2507 6UoC 3805
   
BSc(Med) Honours Coursework Intensive  
Honours Coursework
Clinical AI
Term 1
Course UoC Program Code
MDCN8000 6UoC 3831
MFAC4001 2UoC 3831
HDAT9100 6UoC 3831
HDAT9300 6UoC 3831
MFAC2511 0UoC 3805
Honours Coursework
Environmental Health
Data Science
Term 1
Course UoC Program Code
MDCN8000 6UoC 3831
MFAC4001 2UoC 3831
HDAT9200 6UoC 3831
GEOS9017 6UoC 3831
MFAC2511 0UoC 3805
   
Term 2
Course UoC Program Code
MDCN8000 6UoC 3831
MFAC4001 2UoC 3831
HDAT9500 6UoC 3831
HDAT9000 6UoC 3831
Term 2
Course UoC Program Code
MDCN8000 6UoC 3831
MFAC4001 2UoC 3831
PHCM9612 6UoC 3831
PHCM9794 6UoC 3831
   
Term 3
Course UoC Program Code
MDCN8000 6UoC 3831
MFAC4001 2UoC 3831
MFAC2507 6UoC 3805
Term 3
Course UoC Program Code
MDCN8000 6UoC 3831
MFAC4001 2UoC 3831
MFAC2507 6UoC 3805

Key Contacts

Advanced Study & Research Committee Convenor
Dr Steven Leach
T +61 (2) 9385 8075
E mdresearch.convenor@unsw.edu.au

Advanced Study & Research Committee Coordinator
Ms Khanh Vo
T +61 (2) 9065 7108
E mdresearch.support@unsw.edu.au

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