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Physician Associates research project guidance: Home

Resources and links to guide you through your research project.

Welcome to this guide which includes resources and help for doing your research project. Use the tabs above to explore guidance on specific topics.

Consult the Research Project handbook on Blackboard for specific guidance on doing your project, especially requirements for writing the report, such as structure and word counts.

About your project

Your project is an opportunity to engage in research aligned with your own clinical interests.

In developing your research plan you will demonstrate these skills:

  • You will understand the role of evidence in clinical practice and research and how research supports patients and understanding the appropriate knowledge of research methods, including qualitative and quantitative approaches in scientific enquiry
  • You will be able to evaluate ethical needs of an activity that shows that students understand the importance of information governance, confidentiality, and data protection legislation

In carrying out, evaluating and presenting results on a piece of research, you demonstrate these skills:

  • You will be able to critically appraise relevant research, evaluation, and quality improvement, and use the results to inform own clinical practice and improve quality
  • You will be able to appropriately evaluate clinical and research data, selecting valid, reliable methods and understanding the wider context of the work linking to local and national policy.
  • You will be able to formulate appropriate quality checking, data manipulation, presentation and summary methods applying appropriate principles of health informatics.

Support for doing your project

Your supervisor

  • You will be allocated a research supervisor to help you develop your research idea and complete your research project tasks.
  • You should arrange to meet your supervisor for fortnightly meetings. You should engage in these meetings even if you feel you have nothing to discuss to ensure you keep in touch and develop a suitable working relationship with your supervisor.

Follow the 'Project management' link below for more information about working with your supervisor:

Your librarian

Jackie Skinner can help with doing your literature search, citing references, and using EndNote or Mendeley for reference management. She can offer support via email , through booking an appointment (in person or online), or at the weekly Library drop-in. See her contact page for more information:

Study Advice & Maths Support

Support for using Microsoft Office

If you need guidance on using Microsoft Office products such as Word and Excel try these online tutorials:

Useful books on doing your project