• Original articles are the most reliable source
How to find relevant sources of information
• Textbooks are a secondary source • The primary source is the original scientific
Photography K. Bain
Study Skills
• You need to be able to find information in
the scientific literature; you should be using original scientific articles • Not just text books and lecturers‘ handouts or
relevant articles • PubMed gives you are more exhaustive list
Beware!
• Beware of websites for patients (sometimes
they are very good but their quality is variable) • Be cautious with Wikipedia
Study Skills
• These skills are relevant to writing up your 2nd
year practical (and to essay writing in year 4) • Some study skills are crucial for you whole medical career • Independent learning • Critical ability
• Wikipedia often gives high quality information • An article in Nature in 2005 found 162 errors in
Wikipedia and 123 in Encyclopaedia Britannica
(quoted in Wilkinson N, ‗Tis all in pieces, The Author, Spring 2010, p15)
Study Skills
• Science and the Patient starts your
preparation for the BSc course • The BSc is different from the rest of the undergraduate medical course • It is more scientific • It is less clinical • Learning is more self-directed • Science and the Patient introduces you to self-directed learning skills
• The ability to write clear concise and
accurate English is essential for your whole medical career • It is time to start practicing
• So how do you do all this?
Power Point Presentations
• To a lesser extent, you need to be able to
find and assess the validity of information in alternative electronic sources
Study Skills
and assess its validity
• This includes the ability பைடு நூலகம்o find information for yourself
• You need to think for yourself and question
what you are told
Wall of British Library
Study skills and medical writing
Professor B. J. Bain Department of Haematology
Declaration
• The lecturer has no conflict of interest to
declare
Study Skills and Medical Writing
How to find relevant sources of information
• Start with recommended text books and
lecture handouts to make sure you have the necessary basic knowledge • When you have done that, search by topic on PubMed or using a search engine to find further up-to date information • Google, Yahoo etc give you a shortcut to
• Some of your teaching is didactic • Some of it requires you to seek out information
for yourself or generate data by research and synthesize it into your own work • This lecture deals mainly with the latter • It also deals with medical writing • Essays • Practicals • Scientific articles