Research requirements enable you to gain experience:
- in research methods
- in interpretation of research literature
- in participation in research at some stage of your career
- to develop quality improvement skills
Submission of a research project provides:
- evidence of the skills of considering and defining research problems
- the systematic acquisition, analysis, synthesis and interpretation of data
- effective written communication
Requirements for trainees commencing training in 2017 onwards:
One over the course of training due by 15 September in Year 2 of Advanced Training.
The research project must be marked as satisfactory prior to admission to Fellowship. It is recommended that you submit your research project by 15 September in their penultimate year of training to allow time for marking and resubmission of research projects initially marked ‘Resubmit’.
Requirements for trainees who commenced training before 2017:
One satisfactory Research Project is to be submitted over the course of training, due by 15 September in year two of Advanced Training.
The Sexual Health Medicine project report is designed to help you:
- formulate clear research questions and hypotheses
- perform a critical, systematic literature search
- develop appropriate methodology, including ethical considerations and sample size calculations
- develop an understanding of simple statistics
- present results in a clear and succinct manner.
You should also be able to discuss the findings with respect to the existing literature in terms of:
- how they compare and contrast with and add to the current understanding
- deficiencies of the methodologies used, how they may confound the findings and how they might be overcome
- whether the aims and objectives of the study were met
- what new specific research questions have arisen as a result of the project’s findings.
If you fail to submit the project, the certification of training decision will be deferred, pending satisfactory completion of the project. Failure to submit the project may also result in the deferral of your approval decision for the following year of training.
Part-time trainees need to contact the Education Officer to discuss the deadline for their project. A trainee may apply for an extension to submit their project by lodging an Application for Consideration of Exceptional Circumstances to the Training Committee.
Ethical considerations
Bearing in mind the time required to obtain ethical approval, it is strongly recommended that you start planning projects early in their training.
All research must adhere to the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. This is available via the NHMRC website.
It is anticipated that the majority of projects will be required to undergo ethical approval. Experience of the ethics submission process is regarded as an important part of the project.
A copy of an approval letter from the ethics committee must be included in the final submission.
Standards and formatting
It is expected that you will spend 100–120 hours working on the submitted project.
Unless otherwise stated, the word limit is 5000. The word count should not include any patient information sheets, consent forms, data collection sheets, correspondence with ethics committees, references, or any other supporting documents.
As a general guide to the expected quality, the project should be of a standard appropriate for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Projects are usually expected to follow the general academic journal structure of introduction, methods, results, discussion and conclusion.
If the work is part of a collaborative effort, the exact input of the trainee and other contributors should be clearly stated in the acknowledgements section. Submissions should be accompanied by a statement of authenticity, indicating that the work is substantially that of the authors.
References should follow the Vancouver format. See the uniform requirements for manuscripts of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Trainees are encouraged to use referencing software, such as Endnote. In common with university practice, plagiarism-detection software may be used.
Projects that do not conform to these guidelines will be returned to the trainee for correction before they are sent for marking.
Types of projects
The project can take one of the following forms:
Original project
This should address a specific question in sexual health or HIV medicine. The following should be clearly stated:
- Background – why this research is important.
- Research question – what the research seeks to answer.
- Methods – how the trainee has attempted to answer the research question. This should include a sample size calculation.
- Results – data to be presented in a clear and easily understood fashion.
- Conclusions – how the data adds to the current body of literature in the area, including possible future research questions.
- References – patient information sheets, data collection sheets and consent forms should be included, together with any correspondence with ethics committees.
Original articles published within three years in peer-reviewed journals are acceptable. The trainee must demonstrate that they have made a substantial contribution to the paper, and ideally be the first author.
Audit
An audit should examine an area of current clinical practice.
- Depending on local circumstances, audit projects often require a simplified ethics clearance. Before embarking on an audit, the trainee must clarify such ethics requirements. The final submission should also include a statement detailing the situation.
- The trainee should demonstrate a clear understanding of the audit cycle, with evidence of how their work will lead to an improvement in clinical practice.
- A critical literature review of the relevant areas should be included.
Systematic review or literature review
A systematic or literature review submission should demonstrate that the trainee has carefully followed the guidelines set out by the Cochrane Group
Continuing professional development (CPD) module
A CPD module for sexual health medicine practitioners and/or other relevant health professionals can be submitted. The trainee must clearly identify the target audience for the module. The trainee is required to devise and submit all content for the CPD module; for example, they would compose the script for an audio-visual component, but they are not required to produce the finished product.
For an example of an appropriate CPD module, please see the Active Learning Modules available through ThinkGP. An example of an original published article which could be used as a project is: Wray L, Law C, Barrie SC. A general practitioner STD training program: meeting education and service provision needs. Int J STD AIDS. 1998;9:731–735.
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