Research project

During the course of the training program, the trainee must undertake one major research project relevant to occupational and environmental medicine. The project should demonstrate the Research Methods Competency. This project will then form the basis for the Ramazzini Presentation.

The project is an important part of the training of occupational and environmental physicians and should demonstrate an ability to research and summarise scientific literature, generate answerable research questions, apply appropriate research methodology and statistical methods, interpret and discuss results clearly and present findings in a clear and concise manner.

Planning the research

Trainees are strongly advised to commence planning their research early in their training as field or laboratory based research takes time in the preparation, execution and write up phases of the research. As a guide, the work could reasonably be expected to take one to two years to complete.

The subject of the research should be relevant to occupational and environmental medicine and could include the trainee’s previously published or unpublished work. Often the most effective topics are those related to the trainees own work place when problems arise that require original solutions to be developed.

The trainee should seek approval from their Mentor prior to commencing research. Additional expert advice can be sought from the Regional Censor or from noted experts and academics in the particular field of study.

Undertaking the research

**Trainees should read this section in conjunction with the research methods competency**

The research could use a variety of methodologies. For example, laboratory or field research is acceptable. Randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, case control methodologies and outbreak or cluster investigations are all acceptable. In certain situations, the reporting of a case series that generates a hypothesis for an original observation, or highlights a previously unreported problem may be acceptable. The project should involve critical appraisal of the literature, formulation of a study design, practical experience with the running of the study, statistical analysis of results and preparation of material for presentation and publication.

Submitting the research

The research project should be submitted in a publishable format, following the guidelines of the Internal Medicine Journal (IMJ). This includes appropriate referencing, statistical analysis tables and diagrams. If the work has been published, it is acceptable that the trainee submit the published article. In this case, the original data should be available for review by the Regional Censor. In the situation of a multiple authored work, then the trainee should be principal author and should have performed the majority of the work.

In general the submitted work should contain the following:

  • Abstract: should not exceed 250 words in length, succinctly describing the study’s methods, results and its major conclusions.

    IMJ guidelines
  • Introduction: this should describe the problem and summarise the available literature concerning previous research and unanswered questions. It often contains the research hypothesis.
  • Methods: this section describes in detail the methods used to investigate the problem. This should include (as a guide):
  • descriptions of populations (including controls)
  • description of data collected
  • investigations performed, questionnaires, ethical issues, consents
  • descriptions of analysis and tests to be used e.g. power studies
  • if undertaking basic scientific research or randomised controlled trials, full descriptions of the experiments and study processes should appear here
  • Results: this section requires presentation of the results in the clearest and most succinct way possible. This should involve the use of tables, figures and graphs. Text is usually kept to a minimum and is confined to explanation of subtle or difficult points.
  • Discussion: this is the portion of the paper which brings together the results of your findings and compares them with other research. The strengths and limitations of your work, conclusions from the results and how the work achieved its aims and answered the hypothesis should all be discussed. Further avenues for research should be considered and discussed.
  • References: these should be presented in an accepted style e.g. Vancouver style

    Assessment

    The project must be submitted, assessed and presented for the Ramazzini Prize prior to admission to Fellowship. Time should be allowed for the project to be assessed and any necessary revisions undertaken. It is in the trainee’s interest to submit the work as early as possible in order to give them time to make any changes deemed to be necessary.

    The research project will be assessed by an individual or individuals appointed by the Board of Censors. The Board reserves the right to ask that the work be altered, redrafted and resubmitted if necessary. If the trainee is unable or unwilling to undertake revision of work considered unacceptable, the piece of work will not be accepted as satisfactory and as a consequence fellowship may not be granted.