Conduct an independent investigation of a topic relevant to the content of the MSc programme under the supervision of an academic member of staff.

Module Description

The dissertation forms an important part of the MSc Aesthetic Medicine programme, carrying a weighting of 60 credits. The dissertation requires demonstration of the ability to carry out an original investigation into an area of academic interest.

The main objectives of the dissertation are to:

• Conduct an independent investigation of a topic relevant to the content of the MSc programme under the supervision of an academic member of staff.

• Formulate a research question, review pertinent literature, justify an appropriate research design and perform data analysis.

• Communicate concepts and findings in academic language. • Manage a project within deadlines. Organisation of the Module 1. Dissertation timeline 2. Dissertation subtypes Students have the option to choose a variety of different project subtypes including: • Systematic/evidence-based review. • Clinical series/prospective clinical study (inclusive of a literature review). There are certain rules to work by: 1. The Dissertation submission must be an individual piece of work in its entirety in full compliance to the letter and the spirit of academic regulations. 2. Primary data collection, data processing, interpretation and analysis must be carried out individually by each student. The supervisor should not be part of the primary project execution; nevertheless they may assist with secondary revisions after the award has been made and the student has graduated. Page 3 of 24 3. The ethics approval process Students must seek ethical approval from the University for any research, which involves human participants (for details see: http://www.jrmo.org.uk/performing-research/conducting-researchwith-human-participants-outside-the-nhs/applications-and-approval/#d.en.849154). You can also contact Dr Haidar Hassan, Lead of student experience, who is a member of the Ethical Approval committee at QMUL for any queries relating to the need for such approval. For projects needing ethics approval, please see below a step-by-step approach. 1- Start by registering your study on Medical Research Council for HRA approval: http://www.hra-decisiontools.org.uk/ethics/ 2- Follow the QMUL ethical application process by clicking on the link below: http://www.jrmo.org.uk/performing-research/conducting-research-with-human-participantsoutside-the-nhs/applications-and-approval/#d.en.849154 3- It is important to perform the statistical power analyses of the proposed study by downloading the G*Power programme (follow the link), this needs to be included in your write up: https://www.psychologie.hhu.de/arbeitsgruppen/allgemeine-psychologie-undarbeitspsychologie/gpower.html Please note that the University is not in a position to provide statistical support for individual student projects. Page 4 of 24 Dissertation Supervision 1. Start date and supervision allocation Supervision allocations will be published during the 1st week of December and students will be asked to contact their supervisor to arrange the first meeting. This should take place in advance of your ethics application submission, where required, so that there is sufficient time to decide upon research design and methodology. The allocated supervisor will ideally have background expertise in your area of study. However, this may not always be possible and regardless of the subject background of the supervisor, he/she will be in a position to support through the dissertation process. Please bear in mind that supervisors will facilitate and not lead the module hence the responsibility for the quality and content of a dissertation is entirely that of the student. 2. Role of your dissertation supervisor Students are guided through the dissertation by an academic supervisor. Supervision is an important element in the process of compiling and submitting the dissertation. The Supervisor advises on various aspects of the research project including: 1. The final title of the dissertation. 2. The feasibility of your proposed research and the possible risks that may be involved, for example problems in accessing information, potential poor response rates to surveys etc. 3. Design and adequacy of methods. 4. Structure and style of reporting. Supervisors cannot give an indication of the mark that might be expected, and are not expected to read a draft chapter, help with formatting documents or proofread. The supervisor is expected to give feedback on ideas and to make general comments on how the structure and logic of arguments can be improved. Please note that reading drafts of the work before submission and editing of content is not expected since this falls within the authorship category of duties. Page 5 of 24 3. Responsibilities of the student 1. Maintain regular contact and inform the supervisor of ongoing progress. Difficulties must be communicated at the time they are encountered. 2. Keep records of supervision meetings (see below). 3. Write the dissertation to a sufficient standard both in content and language using appropriate academic terms and citation/referencing conventions. 4. Compose the dissertation and ensure it reflects the student’s own subject understanding and research abilities. Please note that you should not expect instant responses to e-mails; supervisors are asked to aim to reply to any correspondence relating to dissertations (including email correspondence) and to return comments on submitted work within seven working days of receipt. Additionally, supervision cannot be guaranteed to be available at all times during the summer vacation and you should ensure that you make adequate arrangements with your supervisor to cover this period. The deadline for the last contact with your supervisor is 14 days prior to dissertation submission deadline. 4. Changing supervisors Once a student is allocated a supervisor, it is not normally possible to change this arrangement. On rare occasions, however, a student may find that she/he cannot work with the allocated member of staff. In the first instance, a discussion around the difficulties and an attempt to resolve these through some agreed action plan should be undertaken. If, after this, it becomes evident that the relationship is not sustainable, the student should contact directly the dissertation lead to discuss an alternative arrangement. It is important to highlight any difficulties as soon as possible. 5. Supervision meetings Supervision can take place through face-to-face/online meetings, email, telephone conversations as long as both student and supervisor agree that the modality of communication is acceptable. A supervisory meeting on at least two occasions during the period of the module is a reasonable expectation. It is the student’s responsibility to take notes at supervisory meetings and the “Record of Dissertation meeting form” needs to be used for this purpose. Page 6 of 24 Record of Dissertation Supervisory Meeting MSc Aesthetic Medicine, QMUL Student Name: ID Number: Supervisor(s): Date of Supervisory Meeting: Meeting Number: Brief Summary of Discussion (200 words max): Agreed Actions: Student signature: Supervisor(s) Signature: Below are a set of prompts to help you think about what to record • Who or what initiated the meeting (student, supervisor, draft work, formal monitoring review). • What was discussed (supervision arrangements, progression monitoring, training. programme, draft work, research planning, funding application, conference or publishing plans, progression schedule). • What questions/issues/problems were raised with your supervisor. • What have been your major achievements since your last meeting? • What are the most interesting papers you have read since the last meeting and why have they been helpful? • What agreed actions or recommendations resulted from the discussion. • What arrangements were made for further contacts/meetings. Blizard Institute Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry Queen Mary University of London Record of Dissertation Supervisory Meeting 2021/22 Page 7 of 24 Dissertation pathway 1. Choosing the topic Students should identify a topic of interest in the aesthetic medicine field; a list of previously chosen topics is available on QMPLUS under the dissertation tab. 2. The dissertation proposal The proposal is an important initial step in the whole process and aims to serve as a road map to completing the dissertation. A template of the dissertation proposal is available on QMPLUS; students will need to fill in the form using a maximum count of 500 words.