Undergraduate medical student research takes centre stage

More than 200 Southampton Year 3 medical students experienced what it is like to present their own research at a conference.

The Year 3 research project module of the BM programme gives students a flavour of what research entails. Students can choose any type of research project, from discovery-stage and translational lab-based, to clinical audits, service evaluations, or systematic reviews.

The project module culminates in a two-day conference at which the students present their findings to their peers and supervisors in a session chaired by Faculty staff. Students on the BM(EU) course, Southampton’s undergraduate medical degree delivered jointly in the UK and Germany, also take part from Kassel via live stream.

This year’s projects covered a diverse range of inter- and multi-disciplinary topics including:

• pathology
• global health
• psychiatry
• medical physics and bioengineering
• oncology and cancer immunology
• dermatology
• medical education
• maternal, foetal and neonatal physiology

More than 70 members of Faculty staff were involved in the organisation of the event.

Dr Kim Bull, BM Research Project Module Lead, said: “The conference is a fantastic opportunity for the students to showcase all their hard work during the project module.  It was so lovely to see them standing there, full of confidence, presenting their work.  The conference ran like clockwork thanks to the efforts of all involved, including Dr Ali Roghanian, the conference organiser.”

Dr Roghanian, BM Research Project Deputy Module Lead and Conference Chair, added: “It was very rewarding to be part of the BM students’ journey throughout this module, and see our talented students deliver the fantastic research they’d done and everything they’d achieved over a relatively short period. On behalf of the Module Leaders group, I would like to sincerely thank all the UoS, UHS, and Kassel colleagues who supported the students and the team in any capacity, and in particular the Heads of Fields, project supervisors, the FoM Assessment and Student Office, and conference parallel session chairs and markers, without whom none of this could be achieved. We are especially grateful to the admin/technical support teams at both FoM and Kassel sites who have worked tirelessly over the past months to ensure smooth running of the conference and the module as whole”.

For the first time, in several years, an external examiner attended the event. Mr Somaiah Aroori, Consultant Hepato-pancreatico-biliary Surgeon and Honorary Associate Professor at the University Hospital Plymouth, met with students and the module leaders’ team. Mr Somaiah noted: “I thoroughly enjoyed the conference. You all should be proud of yourselves and your students for putting up such a great conference.”

Professor Jane Wilkinson, Associate Dean Education, commented: “I would like to thank Ali and the research project module team for an excellent conference. The sessions I attended were stimulating and thought provoking. I would also like to thank the exams and assessments team for their brilliant contribution to the organisation of the days which ran so efficiently. Most of us don’t see the hard work going on behind the scenes to ensure the two days run smoothly.”