Course Catalogue

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In this course, students will identify a topic and (a) research question(s) in health professions education; they will design and conduct empirical research to address those questions; and they will critically analyse, interpret and discuss their findings, presenting these in the form of a written dissertation.

tbc (distance-learning)

Applicants should normally possess a medical, dental, or nursing degree from an institution recognised by the University Court; or a recognised degree from another appropriate health profession; they should ideally be employed in a relevant professional context. Applications will also be considered from individuals with other relevant degree qualifications (such as a BSc in a biomedical science), who are, or aspire to be, employed in the education of health professionals

Applicants would normally be expected to have completed successfully Years 1 and 2 of the MSc HPE or MSc HPER programmes.

■ Dissertation in Health Professions Education

■ MED5158P

N/A

Dissertation of 10,000 words, excluding appendices (100%)

This course aims to give students the opportunity to:

1. Design and conduct supervised empirical research in the field of health professions education;

2. Present a critical account of their empirical research.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

1. Identify research topics in health professions education and formulate and critique research questions;

2. Design and implement a search strategy to identify relevant literature on the topic, exercising an understanding of the full range of available resources;

3. Select and justify appropriate methodologies to address research questions in health professional education;

4. Design a study to address (a) research question(s) in health professions education, taking into account - where appropriate - such issues as sampling, validity and reliability, authenticity, trustworthiness, credibility and generalizability;

5. Critically analyse education research data, in a manner consistent with the methodological approach;

6. Interpret and draw conclusions from research in the field of health professions education, and identify the significance of these conclusions for their professional practice;

7. Prepare and present a dissertation describing empirical research in health professions' education.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.