MEDI2003

Research Project

This course is a compulsory requirement for Semester 2, Year 1 and Semesters 1 and 2, Year 2.

The ANU MBBS graduate-entry program draws on the research strengths of the ANU and other ACT and Commonwealth organisations by requiring all medical students to conduct a research project during years 1 and 2 of their 4 year MBBS degree.

The projects provide students with the opportunity to join world-class research teams and to build or broaden their research skills and experiences.

The aims of the Research Projects are to:

 1. Teach students to identify research questions, and design and implement a research plan

 2. Foster critical analysis of the literature and, where appropriate, teach students how to explore,  analyse and summarise research data sets

 3. Teach students to synthesise their ideas and present coherent arguments

 4. Encourage students to develop publication style writing skills

 5. Promote career development through original research

1.   Undertake a research project of at least 80 hours in duration of relevance to health or medicine.  The research must seek to answer a research question.

2.   Submit a research paper, report or grant proposal of, at maximum, 4000 words (excluding data and references) and written in one of the following styles:

a.   As set out by a scholarly journal in the discipline

b.   Government report

c.    Cochrane review

d.   Systematic review

e.   NHMRC grant proposal

3.   Maintain a workbook that details the day-to-day progress of the program of study. For a laboratory-based program a laboratory notebook must be kept; for a non-laboratory based project the workbook will essentially be a diary recording what the student did each time they worked on their project. The workbook will be taken as evidence that the student has fulfilled the 80 hours of research time and will be handed to the supervisor for review at the same time as the completed research paper.

4.   Maintain a full reading record in an electronic database. This will form the basis of the bibliography or reference list of the research paper.

Only students offered a place in the ANU Medical School are eligible to enrol.

Please refer to http://medicalschool.anu.edu.au/students/.