Managing your MD

1. Managing your MD Rakesh Heer Director of MD studies Graduate School Faculty of Medical Sciences

2. Welcome! • A change from the clinic! • Settling in… • Learning agreements • Project approvals (within 3 months) • E-portfolio (log meetings)

3. What do you think is important in managing your MD?

4. 'Managing your MD – Key for Clinical Researchers • Time! (…..back to clinic/training/consultancy!) • Combining clinical commitments • Completely new skill sets • Follow specific processes and procedures • Please keep to deadlines (annual progression) • Please access and use your university email address (important reminders from GS) Managing your supervisor!

5. What shall I do first? • First meeting with your supervisor(s) • Discuss the completion of an on-line process for project approval. This details: • Your proposed project with a timeline and objectives • Any requirements for ethics committee approval • The name of all supervisors • The 2 members of your progress review panel • The learning agreement

6. Project Proposal (submitted with 3 months from registration start date) • Title • Summary • Project plan • Ethics • Timeline (Gantt chart)

7. Criteria for evaluation of research proposals • clear aims and objectives • student has (or can acquire) the knowledge, skills and aptitudes to complete the project successfully • proposed supervisory team has, or will be able to acquire, the skills, knowledge and aptitudes necessary to supervise the project to a successful conclusion • project is suitable for the programme of study and for the award • can be completed within the time-scale for the programme • sufficient resources will be available to complete the project

8. The learning agreement/Intellectual Property (Geraint) The University requires confirmation that you have received, understood, and accepted the expectations of your research degree programme by signing a formal Learning Agreement with your supervisors

9. How many supervisors do I need? • You have a supervisory team • 1 lead supervisor • 1 or more co-supervisors

10. It is now mandatory to record supervisory meetings Meeting records in ePortfolio, and any associated notes and documents, are shared and easily accessible to you and your supervisor(s). Adding notes and/or uploading minutes provide the team with a useful record of progress, a record of agreed actions for both students and supervisors (normal practice for you!) Can act as an aide-mémoire to guide future action

11. You are required to maintain regular contact with your supervisors. • See your supervisors on a weekly, if not daily basis, especially if you are undertaking laboratory research

12. Formal meetings - 1 • Formal meetings are the most vital part of your project • Frequency • Often more common at the start than at the end of your project • In this Faculty should not be more than six weeks apart (or less than 10 per year) • You can initiate meetings • make an appointment (perhaps even book a quiet room – no phone) • Invite all appropriate members of supervisory team

13. Formal meetings - 2 • What happens at the meeting? • You take all your results and interesting papers and discuss these in detail • Set the Agenda: Make plans • Discuss problems • Ensure the project is more than a series of small experiments • Your thesis will ultimately tell a story

14. Your data recording/lab books • Hard back with numbered pages • Always enter the date • Complete as you are working • Do not need to be spotless or neat • Enter raw data, observations and calculations • Detail all problems and errors (be honest – we’re all human!) • Your review panel may ask to see these • Your examiner might also ask to see them!

15. Research governance You will be aware of ‘scientific fraud’ We must manage our raw data to provide evidence in the case of disputed findings Do not erase text of cut pages from your lab book Use pen (rather than pencil) Remember lab books also protect us (you) if you discover anything that can be patented!

16. Write up as you go • Not always possible, but: • Always prepare high quality graphics output when you derive the data • this takes time when you are writing your thesis – good if you can simply cut and paste figures into your thesis • If a figure isn’t good enough for presentation have another go – don’t assume you will return to the problem later • Write up methods as you develop them • Make notes when you read good papers • don’t assume you will remember everything

17. Progress review • You will be examined by 2 academic reviewers • Not part of your supervisory team • Complementary and independent • You will submit appropriate written work before the review (electronically) • You and your supervisor(s) will receive formal feedback after the review

18. Progress review • Give an oral PP presentation (and prior to viva examination) • Opportunity to review your work – two way dialogue • Panel members may make helpful ‘recommendations’ to help you progress • Consider the option to change candidature to a PhD? • Funding? • Nature of study • Clinical Commitments • Standard thesis or thesis by publication?

19. Cross institute – supervision Panel member Talks (internal & external) Collaboration

20. Time plan summary for MD students Start Finish 1 Learning agreement 3 Project Approval 1st annual review (at 10 months if PT) at 8 months at 17 months 2nd annual review (at 22 months if PT) (at 34, 41 months ….if PT at 30 months So much more than just these few milestones

21. Project Approval/Annual Progress Reviews: E-portfolio 2 3 4 School progress panel (assessors) Student report Supervisors report DPGT’s/PGRC (Institute nominee) 1 Evidence of student progress; Interview Presentation Research training Conferences Publications 5 Progression decision by PG Dean/PgR Tutor

22. If you have a(any) problem • Seek help as soon as you can • Supervisors want your project to succeed as much as you do! • Postgraduate co-ordinators • Reviewers (progress panel) • Me through the Graduate School or directly (rakesh.heer@ncl.ac.uk) • The Dean, Prof John Kirby and Associate Dean Dr Alison Tyson-Capper (through the Graduate School)

23. Personal Safety - Smart Cards: • Wear it at all times on premises • Computer/e-mails: campus log-in, University e-mail address • Out of hours – login and logout

24. The bottom line • Don’t keep a problem to yourself! • The university has dealt with thousands of students – it is unlikely your problem is unique! • Don’t be afraid to talk to someone • You can talk to male and/or female staff • We respect discretion and confidentiality • If the Graduate School can’t help you directly, it will almost certainly be able to direct you to someone who can

25. What am I doing here? Committed to Medical Research! • Preparing an MD thesis • Examination Criteria - Doctoral Programmes • Doctoral degrees at Newcastle University are awarded to candidates that demonstrate: • The ability to create and interpret new knowledge through original research and advanced scholarship • A systematic understanding of an existing body of knowledge that is at the forefront of an academic field • The ability to critically explore, evaluate and test their ideas, and those of others, and to relate them to a wider body of knowledge • A good understanding of the research techniques, methods or approaches adopted and applied in a field of enquiry • The ability to conceive and implement a project which demonstrates an understanding of how to conduct research at the forefront of a field

26. Timeframe for thesis submission A full-time MD thesis must be submitted within 3 YEARS of first registration A part-time MD thesis must be submitted within 5 YEARS of first registration

27. YOU want everything to go well • WE want everything to go well • ….and hopefully it will! • We want to enhance your experience and submit your thesis on time • We want to help you get the most out of your time here

28. Good luck…….and I look forward to hearing about your research