ORU

What is your question, goal, timeframe

 

It is likely that you will spend some time on your thesis.  To make it worthwhile choose a question that interests you.  Make this question as specific as possible.  If you find a question that is part of our strategy then you will be able to draw from our resources even more.  A project should be able to have an impact on as many people as possible.  Focus on areas of research where we are world experts and you will become one.  Involve others, collaborate, mentor, teach, think out of the box and your success with the project will go beyond your thesis.  

 

Plan ahead and realize what your time frame is.

Ideally you should complete the project within the first 2 years of your registrar time because you will be studying in your last 2 years. 

This is what you should get out of your thesis:

 

• 1-2 publications in a peer-reviewed article

• Your Master should be published before submission (expected)

• At least one congress presentation (expected)

• Knowledge in an area in which you could imaging to work after your thesis

 

There are 5 phases to your MMed

 

1. Protocol phase

2. Data collection phase

3. Write up and submission phase

4. Correction phase

5. Publication phase

 

Step 1 - Protocol Phase, DRC and Ethics approval

 

This phase can be time consuming if you are not following the guidelines.  

Make sure you tick all the boxes.  The time spend here will save you many days of work during the later stages.

 

Drawing up your protocol

 

• Use the UCT guidelines FHS 015.

• Use the Clinical Research Centre (CRC) template for the format of your protocol

• Use CONSORT and EQUATOR guidelines for your protocol.

• Financial, time and ethical scope of the project, as well as any special techniques and equipment required needs to be stated

• Describe in detail what your statistical analysis is and run a power calculation if needed (Statistician: William Msemburi)

• You should be able to use your introduction and your methods section for your thesis and future articles, so spend time here.

• Sign an D2a MoU with your supervisor.

• Make sure you check spelling!

 

After this the protocol (with consent forms and appendix) will be submitted to the Orthopaedic Research Unit (Dr Held) from where it will be distributed to a panel of senior researchers of our Department.  This will esure that you are not overloaded with high risk projects and that you are in line with our strategy.  

 

Once approved you have to hand in your application to the Departmental Research Council (DRC) - electronically and in hard copy (x1)

 

• FHS 013 form – New Protocol Application Form (goes to supervisor, HOD, DRC, HREC)

• Research Protocol

• Consent form and other appendix documents

 

After DRC approval you have to apply for ethics approval at HREC

 

• FHS 013 form (New Protocol Application form) - signed by you, your supervisor, HOD and DRC

• Synoptis (Section B) - this is a "Protocol in simple language"

• Your Protocol

• Consent forms and other appendix documents

• DRC approval letter

 

send the HREC an email with everything but they need the submission pack in 3 hard copies.

 

The following documents need to be handed in to the Postgraduate Office as they are required for the Professional Masters Committee Chair and the Board of the Faculty of Health Sciences.  

 

• Protocol

• Approval letter of HREC

• Form D1 - Approval of Study proposal

• Form D3 - supervisor appointment form

• Form D2a - Memorandum of understanding between supervisor and student

• Form D2b - Annual Progress report for your supervisor if you take longer

 

 

Step 2 - Data Collection Phase

 

• Stick to the approved timelines

• Changes to the protocol need to be discussed with the supervisor and will need to be dealt with to prevent delays, whilst submitting change requests to ethics, if necessary.

• Students should communicate with their supervisor at the very least quarterly on their progress

• you will need to report on your progress every 6 months to the ORU

• A formal report is required annually

• Redcap is available as data collection tool to all UCT students. The Clinical Research Centre will assist with queries here.

 

Step 3 - Writing-up Phase

 

• Use the template for MMed provided.  

• Also read and understand the exact requirements of the MMed guidelines. 

• We are only accepting MMeds in publication-ready format.  

• Use a referencing program such as Endnote or Refworks.

 

• For your article, choose a journal which is relevant to your topic. It must be listed in the citation index of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) or accredited by the Department of Education.

 

• Candidates must closely liaise with their supervisors to coordinate timelines and make sure submissions happen to meet graduation timelines and/ or College cut-offs.

 

• It is recommended that the candidate only submits if the supervisor(s) agree that the dissertation is ready for submission. It is recommended that enough time is left for both the candidate to thoroughly proofread the document, not just for factual correctness, but also for style, grammar, punctuation and spelling, while giving the supervisor enough time to make suggestions and recommendations (also see below).​

 

 

Step 4 - Correction and Submission Phase

 

Candidates are required to answer all queries and suggestions made by the examiners in a line by line fashion.

All queries are addressed, to the satisfaction of the supervisor before re-submission.

Be very aware of timelines.

 

Turnitin

Use People Soft and Turnitin to hand in your thesis.

 

UCT Dissertation Submission deadlines (confirm this with the postgraduate office)

 

1. March 15th for June graduation

2. August 15th for December graduation

Note on fees: To avoid attracting fees, dissertations need to be submitted before the beginning of the first quarter (first day of academic year), and before the start of the second semester (mid July) to qualify for a 50% fee rebate (Fees).

 

Step 5 - Publication Phase

 

After successfully completing and submitting all corrections, the candidate should submit the manuscript to the previously chosen journal for publication within twelve months. They must list their affiliation and that they completed their research for the degree of MMed at UCT, as well as the affiliation of their supervisors.

 

Should the candidate fail to submit a manuscript to a journal within this time period, they must accept that their supervisor(s) is/ are entitled to publish their data on their behalf, with the student as co-author. It is unethical not to publish the research findings, negative or positive.