External Training Module 3 | Research

Paediatric rehabilitation medicine trainees who commenced before 2017

You may complete one of these requirement options alternatively to the Advanced Training Research Project.

Clinical Research Project and Article Critiques

Overview

The Clinical Research Project and Article Critiques familiarise you with the main stages of the clinical research process so that you’re able to:

clinically evaluate the experimental design, methodology and statistical analyses of published research on rehabilitation medicine
design and undertake a limited clinical research project

You should attempt this requirement in your second and third years of training.

Recognition of Prior Learning

Full or partial exemption from this module can be granted, in accordance with our Recognition of Prior Learning Policy, if you have already completed a:

research higher degree
degree with a significant research component
major research project that has been published

Resources

Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Critical Appraisal Tools
JAMA Series on Step-by-Step Critical Appraisal
RACP Online Learning Resource: Research Projects

Requirements

Requirement

1 x Clinical Research Project and 2 x Article Critiques

Deadline

Due 6 months before the end of your Advanced Training.

Content of all external training modules is examinable in the AFRM Fellowship examinations. You’re responsible for submitting all module requirements 6 months prior to completion of the program to avoid delaying your admission to Fellowship.

Resources

Rehabilitation Medicine Module Assessment cover sheet (PDF)

Article Critique guidelines

Evaluation

You’ll evaluate published research articles provided by the course convenor, along with course materials.

Refer to the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Critical Appraisal Tools or the JAMA Series on Step-by-Step Critical Appraisal to ensure you’re following an appropriate clinical appraisal format.

Word limit: 600 words.

Submission

First report

Submit your first report by email to rehab@racp.edu.au

The RACP Education Officer will forward your report to the course convenor for assessment.

Marking is generally completed within 8 weeks and the report is returned to you.

Second report

Upon return of your first report, you will also receive your second article for review by the course convenor.

After considering the convenor’s comments for your first report, begin evaluating your second published article.

The second research article will be more complex and require a higher level of analytical skills.

Submit your second report by email to rehab@racp.edu.au

The RACP Education Officer will again forward your report to the course convenor for marking, which is expected to be completed and returned to you within a month.

Each article critique is worth 25% of your overall project mark.

Resources

Academic Integrity in Training Policy
Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Critical Appraisal Tools
Greenhalgh T. How to Read a Paper – The Basics of Evidence Based Medicine (PDF). Fifth Edition: BMJ Publishing Group Ltd; 2014.
JAMA Series on Step-by-Step Critical Appraisal
RACP Online Learning Resource: Research Projects
Rehabilitation Medicine Module Assessment cover sheet (PDF)
Turnitin

Clinical Research Project guidelines

After completing your first article critique, you’re to begin designing and implementing a limited clinical research project.

Planning

The main elements of your project are to be undertaken within 1 training term. To make this possible, allowing for sufficient time to complete the project, you should plan to conduct your project in your second year of training.

It's important to liaise in advance with a prospective project supervisor in order to design a realistic and achievable project.

Consider building on earlier research work undertaken by the project supervisor or rehabilitation unit or descriptive studies, due to time limitations.

Project types

Study of patient/group of patients

A range of study types could be conducted. There is a hierarchy of study types with randomised trials, cohort studies, case control studies, cross-sectional analyses and descriptive studies accepted in this order as having greater possibility of bias.

An appropriate study type depends on the issue to be researched, for example if a treatment is being evaluated then a randomised trial is generally necessary.

It’s acceptable for you to conduct a pilot study in order to develop the appropriate methodology for a larger clinical trial.

You project could also involve assessing the outcomes of rehabilitation programs, investigating aspects of the rehabilitation process or testing the effectiveness of treatments or techniques applicable to rehabilitation.

If a project with a single patient or using quantitative methods is planned, you must have approval from your course convenor first.

Position paper

Trainees are permitted to submit a position paper that has been endorsed by the relevant AFRM Special Interest Group as your clinical research project if it contains a systematic review that is of a similar design and standard to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions.

Systematic review

Systematic reviews conducted using robust methods, like the those of the Cochrane Collaboration, may be acceptable for your research project.

You must have approval from your course convenor before proceeding.

Format

Your project should not be a large or complex project.

The final presentation of the project should be in a format suitable for journal publication.

Word limit: 3000 words maximum.

Submission

Your project must have been designed and undertaken with the supervision of a nominated AFRM Fellow acting as a clinical supervisor.

The supervisor is to review your finalised project and approve and sign off for submission, confirming all requirements have been met.

Submit your final Clinical Research Project, along with a Rehabilitation Medicine Module Assessment cover sheet (PDF) to rehab@racp.edu.au

Your Clinical Research Project is worth 50% of your overall project mark.

Resources

Academic Integrity in Training Policy
Haynes B, Sackett D, Guyatt G, Tugwell P. Clinical Epidemiology — How to do Clinical Research. Third Edition. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2005.
RACP Online Learning Resource: Research Projects
Rehabilitation Medicine Module Assessment cover sheet (PDF)
Campbell MJ, Swinscow TDV. Statistics at Square One. Tenth Edition: BMJ Publishing Group Ltd; 2002.
Turnitin

Rehabilitation Medicine Research Project

Open all

Overview

A Rehabilitation Medicine Research Project requires you to demonstrate an understanding of research methodology, in order to have a better understanding of the type of scientific material you’ll be exposed to during your practice as a physician.

The projects should have direct relevance to rehabilitation medicine practice and display your ability to communicate original thought in an articulate and succinct manner.

Sometimes, you may find yourself working as part of a larger group or project, but you’re required to make an original contribution to the planning or interpretation of the study you’re a part of.

Research projects are assessed upon:

scientific merit
relevance to the field of rehabilitation medicine
interpretation of the material
relevance of the literature review to the case study or research being presented
the unique and honest intellectual content – simply paraphrasing literature is inadequate

You should aim to published at least 1 research project in an appropriate forum during the course of your Advanced Training, such as a presentation at the AFRM Annual Scientific Meeting.

Resources

Academic Integrity in Training Policy
RACP Online Learning Resource: Research Projects
Rehabilitation Medicine Module Assessment cover sheet (PDF)
Turnitin
UpToDate^®

Requirements

Requirement

2 x Rehabilitation Medicine Research Projects

Deadlines

Due 6 months prior to the end of your Advanced Training.

Resources

Rehabilitation Medicine Module Assessment cover sheet (PDF)

Accepted project formats

Original scholarship

Results of original work done by you or as part of a team, such as original research and educational projects, written in IMRD (introduction, methods, results, discussion) format.

If part of a team, you’ll need to clearly indicate your level of involvement in the work.

Word limit: 3000 words (approximately).

Submission limit: Nil

Literature review

Comprehensive review of a topic, including the search strategy used.

Example:
Morton MV, Wehman P. Psychosocial and emotional sequelae of individuals with traumatic brain injury: a literature review and recommendations. Brain Injury, 1995, Vol. 9, No. 1, pages 81-92.

Word limit: 3000 to 5000 words.

Submission limit: Nil

Case report and review

Review of an interesting case and brief literature review.

Report should be of publishable standard that provides novel knowledge or insights. Only one case report should be submitted during the course of Advanced Training.

Example:
Bensen ES, Jaffe KM, Tarr PI. Acute gastric dilatation in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a case report and review of the literature. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Volume 77, Issue 5, May 1996, pages 512-514.

Word limit: 2000 to 3000 words.

Submission limit: 1 x Research Project in case report format only.

Research proposal

A completed proposal for research including background, literature review, estimated cost, and how ethics approval will be achieved.

Word limit: 2000 words (approximately).

Submission limit: Nil.

Presentation

Summary of oral or poster presentation made to a national or international medical scientific meeting, including abstract.

PowerPoint presentations will not be accepted.

Projects should be written in a style suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Word limit: 2000 words (approximately).

Submission limit: Nil.

Audit or quality assurance

Audits should generally be substantial and lead to recommendations for clinical care or quality improvement.

Word limit: 2000 words (approximately).

Submission limit: Nil.

Resources

Academic Integrity in Training Policy
RACP Online Learning Resource: Research Projects
Rehabilitation Medicine Module Assessment cover sheet (PDF)
Turnitin
UpToDate^®

Submission guidelines

Format style

Both projects should be presented in a standard suitable for publication and should adhere to the usual norms for scientific writing.

Does the research project:

provide defined aims, clearly articulated objectives and prospectively defined methodology?
present conclusions relate to the aims?
discuss the new work’s place in the context of the published literature?

In addition, your projects should:

be written in sound English, free of grammatical and typographical errors
include a standard, consistent method of citing the literature that’s sufficiently detailed for an assessor to review

PowerPoint and other electronic formats aren’t acceptable. An exception to this is when a project is discussing an online production or PowerPoint presentation.

Remember to always seek the advice from your course convenor before embarking on your research project.

Submission

You're required to submit your first project in your second year, and the second project in your third year of Advanced Training. All projects must have been specifically prepared for this requirement. A reformatted project based on the work undertaken during your studies may be allowed.

You cannot use research work previously submitted for another training program or a thesis or project prepared for a higher qualification.

Submit your research project, along with your Rehabilitation Medicine Module Assessment cover sheet (PDF) to rehab@racp.edu.au

Resources

Academic Integrity in Training Policy
RACP Online Learning Resource: Research Projects
Rehabilitation Medicine Module Assessment cover sheet (PDF)
Turnitin
UpToDate^®

Marking outcomes

Each research project is assessed by 2 independent reviewers.

If both reviewers don’t mark your project as ‘satisfactory’, your project will be referred to the course convenor. The course convenor can:

decide to pass or fail the project
seek a third review
invite submission of a revised project

If your project is already published in an acceptable peer-reviewed journal, the reviewers will usually consider the project ‘satisfactory’ without further review. Exceptions can arise if a trainee’s project contribution, or its relevance to rehabilitation medicine, is uncertain.

Resources

Academic Integrity in Training Policy
Rehabilitation Medicine Module Assessment cover sheet (PDF)
Turnitin

Project supervisor’s role

Your project supervisor is there to assist you with the selection of the project, project design, and guide you through to project completion. Your project supervisor is not a joint author.

You and your project supervisor should meet early in the course of your training to devise the projects you’ll be undertaking.

Once your projects are decided, meet with your project supervisor on a regular basis to ensure that your projects are progressing and adhere to the guidelines.

Sometimes a trainee’s project supervisor may be different from their clinical supervisor. In this instance, it is important that you keep your clinical supervisor informed of your progress in your project work.

Your project supervisor must read the final project and certify that the project is ready for submission. Ensure you allow adequate time for your project supervisor to read and provide feedback prior to the submission date.

Resources

Academic Integrity in Training Policy
Rehabilitation Medicine Module Assessment cover sheet (PDF)

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