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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2023/2024

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Deanery of Biomedical Sciences : Biomedical Sciences

Undergraduate Course: Literature Evaluation and Review (BIME10053)

Course Outline
SchoolDeanery of Biomedical Sciences CollegeCollege of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryStudents will conduct and prepare a literature review on the subject of their chosen research project in order to inform hypotheses and research questions, and allow them to formulate an outline of the proposed research project. Students will critically evaluate published primary research articles and develop skills in clear and accurate communication of scientific, biomedical or clinical information. This self-directed process will be supported by seminars on literature searching and critical appraisal with additional relevant information provided in the core Research Skills for Health Sciences module.
Course description Students will attend seminars introducing them to the principles and practicalities of searching the biomedical literature, retrieving papers using the available resources, critically appraising retrieved articles, writing a critical report, and incorporating the findings from the review into a chosen research project design. Additional relevant and valuable knowledge and skills will be gained from the Research Skills for Health Sciences course. Students will then be expected to conduct their own literature review and produce a critical report of their findings including an outline research proposal for their research project.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2023/24, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  45
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 96 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Assessment will be in the form of a 2000 word report (100%) that critically appraises the available published literature and outlines the research proposal to be undertaken in semester 2.
Feedback Members of the programme team will be available to assist with queries or questions relating to the literature searching and will be able to provide verbal feedback on progress. Students will be provided with written feedback in relation to their submitted literature reviews.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Identify and retrieve published literature relevant to the development of a research theme or interest.
  2. Critically appraise articles published in the scientific, biomedical or clinical literature
  3. Write a well structured, precise, critical report of the literature to provide background and rationale for a chosen field of research
  4. To incorporate the findings of a literature review into a research study outline.
Learning Resources
University library and librarians
Interlibrary loans service (National Library)
Online biomedical databases available through university library (e.g. PubMed, OVID Medline; Embase; Web of Sciences)
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills By the end of this course you will be able to:
¿ Critically review and consolidate knowledge, skills, practices and thinking relevant to a research interest
¿ Make judgements where data or information is limited or comes from a range of resources
¿ Present information about specialised topics to informed audiences
¿ Communicate on a professional level
¿ Use ICT to support and enhance work
¿ Interpret, use and evaluate numerical and graphical data
¿ Exercise autonomy and initiative

KeywordsMedicine,Surgery,Primary Care,Biomedical Science,Research,Literature review,Critical Appraisa
Contacts
Course organiserDr Jeremy Hughes
Tel: (0131) 242 6683
Email: Jeremy.Hughes@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr James Hunter
Tel: (0131 6)51 4064
Email: James.Hunter@ed.ac.uk
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