June 11, 2014, by studentcontributor

Research projects and the BMedSci

Hey, it’s Rob again. Now that exam period is starting to come to an end for most people I guess if you are thinking about medicine your mind has started to turn towards applications.

One thing that I think people tend to overlook too much is where to apply. There are so many things to look at – place, teaching style, home or away. People often ask me why I picked Nottingham and in truth there are many factors, but perhaps one of the biggest was the BMedSci – an extra degree which is incorporated into the five year course at Nottingham.

For the first half of the third year of the course everyone does a research project which forms the bulk of this extra degree. There are literally hundreds of options to pick from varying from laboratory based genetic research to anatomy studies to clinical research. My own project was to investigate whether insulin pump delivery systems were superior to conventional injections using a database of survey results.

It was a great opportunity to do something quite different to the constant lectures and learning from the first two years and work in depth on one project largely under my own steam (of course with support from my supervisor).

Having completed the project I think that it has given me an invaluable insight into what goes into clinical research and also the long pathway between findings and their translation into clinical practice. It taught me valuable skills – working individually and in a team, writing a scientific report and research skills – all of which will be important in my career. But more than that it has inspired me to get involved with research in my future career, wherever that might take me.

When you’re looking at universities seriously consider options to either take a year out to intercalate an extra degree or integrate it like in Nottingham. It might not be for you, but it’s definitely something I would highly recommend keeping your options open for!

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