How to Succeed in Medical Research

Foreword ix Preface xi About the Companion Website xiii Chapter 1 How to get involved in research 1 1.1 Why do research? 1 1.2 What can I become involved in? 2 1.3 Different types of research 2 1.4 Clinical vs laboratory 8 1.5 Getting ideas for research 8 References 9 Chapter 2 Conducting a study 11 2.1 How to find a research project 11 2.2 How to approach a mentor 14 2.3 Planning your study 17 2.4 Data collection 25 Chapter 3 Literature review and critical appraisal 27 3.1 Literature review 27 3.2 Search terms 28 3.3 Where to search 29 3.4 How to search 30 3.5 Critical appraisal 30 Chapter 4 Ethics and the ethical application 35 4.1 What is medical ethics and why is it important? 35 4.2 Main ethical considerations in medical research 35 4.3 Practical ethical applications 38 4.4 Dealing with conflicts in ethics 39 4.5 Ethical applications 40 Chapter 5 Analysing your data 42 5.1 What I need to know and how to find it 42 5.2 Variables 44 5.3 Analysis of categorical and continuous variables in two groups 47 5.4 Sensitivity and specificity 48 5.5 Positive predictive value and negative predictive value 50 5.6 Receiver operating characteristic curves 51 5.7 Logistic regression analysis 53 5.8 Other types of analysis 54 5.9 How to present your results 55 5.10 Conclusion 57 References 57 Chapter 6 Conferences and presentations: the next step in the research journey 58 6.1 Types of conferences 58 6.2 Prices and prizes 59 6.3 Abstract submission 60 6.4 Title 60 6.5 Introduction 60 6.6 Methods 60 6.7 Results 60 6.8 Conclusion 61 6.9 Poster presentation 63 6.10 Podium presentation 64 Chapter 7 Writing a paper 66 7.1 Title 66 7.2 Abstract 67 7.3 Introduction 68 7.4 Methods 69 7.5 Results 71 7.6 Discussion 72 7.7 Conclusion 73 7.8 References 74 7.9 Sending to seniors for review 74 Reference 75 Chapter 8 How to get published 76 8.1 Which journal? 76 8.2 Authorship 78 8.3 Getting your paper ready for the journal 79 8.4 Dealing with reviewer comments 80 8.5 Dealing with rejection 84 References 85 Chapter 9 Writing a case report 86 9.1 How to begin 86 9.2 Preparing to write the case report 88 9.3 Writing the case report 90 References 94 Chapter 10 Basic laboratory research 95 10.1 Introduction to laboratory research and translational research 95 10.2 Basic research versus clinical research 96 10.3 Laboratory hierarchy 97 10.4 Day to day of working in the lab 98 10.5 How to choose your lab 101 Chapter 11 Expanding your horizons in research 103 11.1 Research elective 103 11.2 Intercalated research degree 104 11.3 Postgraduate diplomas/certificates 105 11.4 Postgraduate degree 106 Chapter 12 Teaching 109 12.1 How to get involved in teaching 109 12.2 Teaching as an undergraduate student 110 12.3 Teaching as a postgraduate student 111 12.4 Teaching at work 112 12.5 Planning a lesson 115 12.6 Getting the most out of your teaching 116 12.7 Running a teaching course 118 12.8 How to set up a novel teaching course 118 12.9 How to run an established course 121 Chapter 13 Conducting an audit 122 13.1 What is clinical audit? 122 13.2 Conducting an audit 123 Chapter 14 Portfolio/CV 131 14.1 Keeping a portfolio 131 14.2 Curriculum vitae (CV) 135 Chapter 15 Maintaining a good balance 137 15.1 Stress and burnout 138 15.2 Improving your mindset to promote resilience 141 15.3 Other methods for resilience 142 15.4 Practical tips 144 References 145 Index 147