MSc Emergency & Resuscitation Medicine Year 3 Student Handbook 2020-21

Masters in Emergency & Resuscitation Medicine Year 3: Dissertation Year Student Handbook 2020-21 Centre for Neuroscience, Surgery and Trauma Blizard Institute Queen Mary University of London

Welcome back to the Blizard Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine at Queen Mary University of London. Congratulations on completing the demanding and challenging first two years of the Masters Emergency & Resuscitation Medicine and enrolling for Year 3 - the dissertation.

This handbook should be used together with the Academic Regulations and www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students. This handbook provides information specific to the Blizard Institute, while arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students gives information common to all students at Queen Mary. The Academic Regulations provide detailed information on progression, award and classification requirements.

Nothing in this handbook overrides the Academic Regulations, which always take precedence.

The Academic Regulations are available online at http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/policy/ The information in this handbook is correct as of September 2020.

In the unlikely event of substantial amendments to the material, the Blizard Institute will inform you of the changes via QMPlus and/or email.

QM cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy or reliability of information given in third party publications or websites referred to in this handbook.

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Contents Administrative information: Year 3 dates & contacts ............................................. 5 Centre location ................................................................................................ 5 Contact details ................................................................................................. 5 Dissertation overview .......................................................................................... 6 Format and length ............................................................................................ 6 Potential subject areas & early steps ................................................................. 6 Methodology: A critical component of Year 3 ..................................................... 7 Ethics board approval ....................................................................................... 9 Project plan ..................................................................................................... 9 Project plan organisation: Planning, methodology, and presentation .............. 9 Components related to planning the project ................................................. 10 Components related to project methodology ................................................ 11 Components related to presentation of the project ....................................... 11 Putting it all together: The project plan in bullet points ................................ 12 Dissertation marking criteria and formatting .................................................. 12 Components related to overall formatting and presentation ......................... 13 Components related to section-by-section marking ...................................... 14 Putting it all together: The dissertation in bullet points ................................ 15 Weighting for module sections ........................................................................... 15 Submission of Project Plans & Dissertations ....................................................... 16 Dissertation supervisor ..................................................................................... 16 Communication ................................................................................................. 18 Personal information & data protection ............................................................. 19 Conduct ............................................................................................................ 19 Feedback .......................................................................................................... 20 Appeals ............................................................................................................. 20 Complaints ........................................................................................................ 21 Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) ....................................................... 21 Disability & Dyslexia Service .............................................................................. 21 Student Enquiry Centre ..................................................................................... 22 Advice & Counselling Service.............................................................................. 22 3

Financial, Immigration and Welfare Advice ...................................................... 22 Counselling .................................................................................................... 23 Contacting the Advice and Counselling Service ................................................ 23 Information Technology (IT) services ................................................................. 23 Library services ................................................................................................. 24 Assessment procedures ..................................................................................... 27 Grades ........................................................................................................... 28 Penalties for late submission ........................................................................... 28 Word count .................................................................................................... 29 Extenuating circumstances .............................................................................. 29 Interruption & withdrawal of studies .............................................................. 30 QM Blizard Institute Plagiarism Information ....................................................... 31 Trauma System Components Assignment Excerpt ............................................ 34 New Zealand student thesis excerpt ................................................................ 35 Map – Mile End campus ...................................................................................... 39 Map – Whitechapel campus ................................................................................ 40

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Administrative information: Year 3 dates & contacts Semesters 1. 21 st September – 18 th December 2020  4th October 2020 23.59 BST – Dissertation topic submission deadline  29th November 2020 23.59 GMT – Project plan submission deadline 2. 4 th January - 16 th April 2021 3. 19 th April – 2 nd July 2021  27th June 2021 23.59 BST – Dissertation submission deadline College closure dates for the 2020 -21 Christmas & New Year period:  24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31 December 2020  1 January 2021 Additional UK Bank Holidays - & Queen Mary Closures in 2021: Good Friday

2 nd April

Easter Monday

5 th April

Early May Bank Holiday 3 rd May Spring Bank Holiday

31 st May

Summer Bank Holiday

30 th August

Key Queen Mary dates are available on the ARCS homepage (www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk) and here: http://www.qmul.ac.uk/about/calendar/

Centre location The Centre for Neuroscience, Surgery and Trauma Ground Floor of the Blizard Institute 4 Newark Street London, E1 2AT (Whitechapel Campus)

Contact details MSc Emergency & Resuscitation Medicine Course Director: Prof. Tim Harris Email: t.harris@qmul.ac.uk Dissertation director and Year 3 lead (can be emailed for any questions on Year 3) : Prof. Stephen Thomas Email: s.h.thomas@qmul.ac.uk Course Administrator: Email: emergencymed@qmul.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0) 02 7882 6532 (not available by phone for Semester 1)

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Dissertation overview Format and length The focus of Year 3 of the MSc Emergency & Resuscitation Medicine is your dissertation.

This will take one of the following forms: - Retrospective review of medical records - Systematic review (usually with meta-analysis) - Narrative review - Qualitative impact assessment protocol (QuIP contribution analysis) - Survey study - Non-patient interventional research (for example, education studies) - Additional approaches, which would need to have been started before Year 3: o Prospective cohort study o Clinical trial o Animal studies All types of projects will be scored similarly, regardless of methodology.

The dissertation submission must have a length of 10,000 words (+10% leeway).

Submissions above the 10% word-count margin will incur a marking penalty.

Submissions above a 20% word-count margin will be returned to the student for resubmission.

You are strongly encouraged to work with your dissertation tutors (also known as dissertation supervisors and abbreviated DS) to develop your work for broader dissemination such as presentation at a professional -society meeting and/or publication in peer-reviewed journals. Such presentation or publication is not a prerequisite to pass this MSc course’s Year 3.

Students will work alone on their respective dissertations; research for the dissertation must be performed by the student. However, support from research teams is allowed if those teams are led by the student for the dissertation project.

Potential subject areas & early steps You may have already thought of a subject area on which to focus your dissertation.

However if you haven’t, talk to your work colleagues or QM faculty to see if there is a subject amenable to investigation that may help your professional progression.

Do a literature search to see what is already known (and not known) about the subject.

Discern where there are gaps are in the evidence. This project does not have to be totally novel but there is little point in repeating work that has already been published .

The dissertation should serve the dual aims of developing your academic writing skills and serving some scholarly purpose.

You start to think through your ideas for the dissertation from August after your Year 2 ends. In order to meet Year 3’s tight timelines, the research question must be submitted within two weeks of Year 3 commencement. You can consult your personal tutor for advice in the initial stages. If your personal tutor is not a DS, or if your 6

proposed topic is outside your tutor’s field, your personal tutor will work with Year 3 faculty to assign you a DS. (The requirement to identify and confirm a suitable DS is one of the reasons your research question must be finalised in the early weeks of Year 3.)

Your dissertation topic must be submitted via QMPlus by 4 th October 2020 23:59 BST for review by the dissertation lead team. If any modifications are advised these will be fed back to you by mid-October and you will be assigned a DS by 16 th October.

You can then work with the DS to modify your topic/title as you need to prior to Project Plan submission.

To review the general process in order to clarify the pathway: 1) September/October: Choose a topic and submit to QMPlus by 4th October.

2) October: Dissertation team will review topics and either approve or advise amendments. At this stage you will also be allocated a DS (by 16th October).

3) October/November: Visit 1-2 times with DS as you prepare Project Plan (PP). Submit PP by 29th November.

4) Late December/January: Receive PP feedback; work towards dissertation execution.

5) February/March: Work on dissertation, meeting 2-4 times with DS. 6) April/May: Aim to have initial dissertation draft for review by DS. 7) June: Incorporate DS suggestions into final draft and submit on QMPlus by 27th June 2021.

Methodology: A critical component of Year 3 Many MSc students will choose to conduct a narrative or systematic review , usually (and preferably) with a meta-analysis (MA). While there are no inherent penalties (or bonuses) awarded depending on study methodology, a more in-depth exploration of a given topic, via either MA or prospective scientific inquiry, will tend to warrant higher marks.

Important note: Students are reminded that a well-conducted systematic review is not necessarily “easier and faster” than other methodologies. To be marked on a par with other methodologies, a systematic review for this MSc should either include MA, or make a specific statement as to why MA is not appropriate for the data. If there are insufficient data for any MA procedures at all, it’s likely there are insufficient data for a narrative systematic review. Keep in mind the following: heterogeneity is a finding of, not a reason to avoid, MA. MSc marking will not be adversely affected if initial MA procedures find that inter-study heterogeneity precludes generation of a pooled estimate. However, methodology marks will be lowered for a systematic review that avoids execution of any MA procedures due to perceived (but not objectively demonstrated) heterogeneity.

Once you have a subject area for your dissertation, please carefully consider the most appropriate methodology. It is usually helpful to first write out a research question and some achievable aims. This will then guide you to select the correct methodology to answer the question and achieve your aims. Designing a dissertation based on a research question (including generation of a null hypothesis) is not required, but 7

experience with this course suggests that generation of a lucid research question that guides the dissertation, is associated with better performance and higher marks. You will be allocated a DS based on the subject matter and methodological approach.

One year is insufficient time for a clinical trial and indeed, many types of prospective studies. We therefore would encourage students who aim to do patient-based research to start this early on in the MSc (e.g. during the second year). We do not recommend prospective interventional clinical research for this MSc course, due to high risk of not completing the work to time and target. A retrospective cohort study (e.g. analysis of data from a trauma registry) may well be achievable within the time restrictions of Year 3; early planning is recommended for students considering these types of projects. While systematic reviews will comprise a large portion of most MSc years’ designs, students are encouraged to use the MSc as an opportunity to gain skills in other forms of scientific inquiry. Non-review methodologies that have worked well for students in this MSc have been exampled by: 

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Natural experiment: A new rule for ordering pulmonary embolism (PE) CT was introduced in a long-planned practice change (having nothing to do with the student) that happened to occur during the student’s Year 3 time frame. The student assessed whether CT ordering was decreased, and whether there were any missed PEs due to lesser CT numbers.

Educational research: A module for teaching toxicology was incorporated into paramedic teaching. Pre-test evaluation of cardiotoxic overdose knowledge, followed by posteducation testing at 1 and 3 months after module completion, evaluated effectiveness of the teaching material.

Observational cohort study (OCS): The OCS is well-suited for this MSc, with the major caveat that ethics board review is usually needed (and can be time-consuming). Many OCS designs have been successful executed for this MSc; one example was assessment of prehospital-provider needlestick risk associated with administering naloxone as compared with other drugs.

Combined methodologies: The 10000-word target for the MSc may translate into opportunity to combine a simple OCS with an additional systematic review. For example, the student who executed the above-mentioned needlestick OCS included in her dissertation discussion, a review of the fiscal case for transitioning from injected naloxone to intranasal naloxone (e.g. by favourably impacting the missed-work outcome from occupational health appointments and sickness from post-exposure prophylactic regimens).

Although it is unlikely that Year 3 will afford time to do a prospective interventional study or trial that requires informed consent, some students may be involved in ongoing research that they feel is suitable for a dissertation. Applications for this must be made to the dissertation lead by the last week of September, in order to allow for timely review. The review’s intent is not so much to determine whether the research is “acceptable,” but whether the student has a sufficiently directive role in the project to use the work as a dissertation subject.

Research that doesn’t involve patient volunteers is a less time-risky area and could be completed within the year if planned early. Examples of this type of work include 8

educational research or other non-interventional designs that don’t require ethics committee review. Students should be aware that depending on their practice site, some studies that appear to be simple “quality assurance” will require full ethics review; even these types of studies can be subject to substantial delays if ethics approval processes are not pursued early. (The next section covers ethics in detail.)

Overall, when considering the design of the dissertation study, it’s best to prioriti se being able to actually complete the work. The next most important consideration is what is the best method – given the course’s time constraints – to meaningfully address your dissertation question.

Ethics board approval If you work in the United Kingdom, please check information obtainable from the following link for advice with regard to ethics review: http://www.hra-decisiontools.org.uk/ethics/ All QM MSc dissertations that require ethics approval must be reviewed and approved by the QM Research Ethics Committee. Please refer to the following website for QM: http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/research-degrees/research-degree-students/ethics/ Additional approval may also need to be obtained from your local Research Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board (IRB). Although the DS and Year 3 faculty are available to provide guidance, obtaining ethics approval is the sole responsibility of the student.

Students should keep in mind that any study that uses patient data will lik ely be subject to consent issues (which may be situational, and which should be worked out with applicable ethics boards). General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or other similar regulations (e.g. HIPAA in the USA) must be used to guide students’ research data handling.

Perhaps the most useful advice for students considering the ethics approval process is to find a former E&RM student from the same system, who has previously gone through the local administrative process. Time-saving advice can be easily obtained from previous-years’ E&RM students; the Year 3 faculty are happy to try and put students together with others who have executed the required (local) processes.

Project plan You are required to submit a dissertation project plan (PP) by 23.59 GMT on 29 th November 2020. The purpose of the PP is to provide a framework for organising your thoughts on how to achieve your project aim. As such, the PP is intended as the “first stage” of the dissertation itself. The PP is marked; PP marks constitute a small proportion (15%) of the overall Year 3 marks. The PP is most important as a foundation, executed in order to set a trajectory towards successful dissertation completion.

Project plan organisation: Planning, methodology, and presentation The PP and its associated work products can be categorised into three general areas: 9

planning, methodology, and presentation. Each of the three areas constitutes roughly a third of the PP marking total.  Planning entails generation of a research question with aims and outcomes, that will be addressed on a timeline that adjusts for potential barriers to project completion. Planning also includes deciding where to target your dissertation in terms of a potential journal publication, educational forum, or related arena.  Methodology details outline mechanics of how you’ll reach your project aims.

You’ll need to determine how to get information (e.g. studies for a review article, data for a retrospective cohort study) – from what source, using what sampling, and including which data. The information must also be analy sed somehow, in a fashion that provides meaningful results while minimising the impact of systematic error (bias). Systematic reviews should include MA (even if simply to demonstrate there is too much heterogeneity for a pooled estimate) or provide an objective and data-driven explanation as to why MA does not fit available evidence.  Presentation of your PP includes the look, the organisation, and the scientific style of your content. A well-organised, formally written project plan has the highest likelihood of evolving into an effective dissertation. Your dissertation presentation needs to be academic, with a scientific style characterised by attention to precision in data, discussion, and spelling/grammar.

The details of PPs will differ depending on subjects and methods, but the basic PP anatomy includes title, research question, aims/outcomes, methodology , ethics statement, target audience, and timeline (including barriers and mitigation plans). One of the Year 3 lectures addresses PP components and their associated marking. A brief summary of the PP is shown in the subsections that follow.

Components related to planning the project The research question must be characterised by clarity and relevance to resuscitation medicine. Similarly, the aims & objectives should be feasible and focused (no more than three).

Primary and secondary outcomes should match the aims, and should be precisely defined. For instance, “mortality” is less informative as an outcome than “mortality within 24 hours of ED arrival, for patients arriving to the ED alive.”

The timeline should be realistic and should also be sufficiently detailed to serve as a roadmap for your whole dissertation process. The timeline needs to reflect that you have anticipated barriers to project completion, and considered ways to mitigate risks those barriers pose to your timely completion of the dissertation.

Finally, you need a target for your project. Successful MSc course completion does not require that the dissertation be presented or published (or submitted for consideration for presentation/publication). However, part of learning scientific writing is learning to target work to an appropriate receptor site. Selecting a target , whether a journal, educational forum, or other arena, can help focus thinking about how you’ll choose pathways during dissertation planning and writing.

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Components related to project methodology Whether the “input” in your project is a set of studies (for a review article) or a stroke registry, the sampling method to find relevant information is the first part of the methodology marking set. Once potential sources of information are identified, som e inclusion criteria need to be consistently applied in order to constitute the set of data (or studies) to be assessed.

The next methodologic step entails defining precise data terms; for example, “mortality” may have different meanings across different studies. When terms are clear, data collection and handling are considered. Details on these parameters may vary depending on project design, but some examples follow:  Data collection for a review article should include such processes as grey literature searches, bibliographic searches, and occasionally author contacts.  For an original research project such as a retrospective cohort study, data handling methodology covers the mechanisms for finding, recording, and organising the data.

Once data are collected and organised, data analysis is the next step. You are not expected to become statisticians (your DS can help steer you towards statistical consultation). Nonetheless, as this is an MSc course you must be knowledgeable about, and responsible for, the descriptive and analytic statistics used in your dissertation.

Poor definition of statistical methods is just as threatening to project viability as poor definition of aims, objectives, inclusion criteria, or other dissertation components. In fact, a project can be rendered uninterpretable (and unpublishable) if it employs the wrong statistical methods. Attention to detail is thus important in the analytics. Further guidance on statistical issues relevant to your project can be obtained from your DS or from the Year 3 faculty. Some example notes follow: 

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For reviews, either execute MA or present a valid reason to not execute MA. (Valid reasons do not include “I do not have time to learn MA”; this statement from a 2019 PP may be laudable for its honesty, but it does not reflect commitment to Masters-level systematic review methodology.)

For original research, start with power calculations and carry through with understanding whether parametric or nonparametric approaches are appropriate. Use multivariate techniques when possible.

For any dissertation methodology, the reporting of any maj or results with confidence intervals is a highly recommended approach.

It is difficult, and often impossible, for statistical mathematics to overcome bias (systematic error). When formulating the project plan, keep the possible sources of bias always in your mind, and be proactive in minimising the impact that such bias may have. For example, if you’re going to execute a survey, it’s far better to take many hours’ extra time to get a high response rate, than it is to try and f igure how to meaningfully analyse a survey with a problematically low response rate.

Components related to presentation of the project The goal of scientific writing is communication of information. Such communication is facilitated by a clear, formal academic style. The PP should start with a title that 11

simultaneously describes the project and garners interest.

Conveyance of information is improved when there is an organised approach to writing.

Use headings and subheadings to identify key sections along the pathway (see the Year 3 PP Lecture for further details). The organisational flow of the PP, when considered as a whole document, contributes the effectiveness of scientific writing.

Spelling and grammar errors can be distracting. They tend to convey a sense that the writer failed to take time to error-check documents. Even more importantly, a PP that is riddled with spelling/grammar errors does not instill the marker with confidence that the student has paid appropriate attention to other details. Based on previous experience in this MSc, the spelling and grammar arena is one of the most prominent sources of easily preventable lost marks (in both the PP and dissertation).

Putting it all together: The project plan in bullet points Taking the information, and placing it in a listing format, yields the project -plan itemisation that follows. Some additional notes are added, with the understanding that more information is available from the DS:             

Title (it can be altered prior to final submission) Research question Specific, achievable aims/outcomes, with hypothesis if appropriate Techniques for sampling (original research) or data-search (reviews) Inclusion/exclusion criteria Primary and secondary outcomes (the more focused, the better) Data definition, collection, and organisation processes Analysis plan (quantitative and, for systematic reviews, qualitative) Sources of bias and mitigation plans to minimise impact on project Timeline (such as Gantt chart) Barriers (with mitigation plans) to timely completion of dissertation Potential target audience/journal Ethics o QM/local ethics approval letter or statement of review status o If no ethics review required, a statement to this effect

Anything that is not listed above, is not needed in the PP and will not influence marking (either way). Since components (e.g. references, appendices) that are not listed above are subject to marking for dissertation grading, there will be no marking for any such “extra sections” in the PP. Appendices, introduction/background sections, abstracts, discussion, and references are not needed for the PP. The above should be covered in a fully paginated document, with 12 -point font, 1.5-unit spacing, and 1-inch margins on all sides. There is no specific word-count target but project plans generally run to 5-10 pages.

Dissertation marking criteria and formatting As the dissertations are essentially extensions of the PP, the general formatting and marking criteria are similar to those of the PP. The dissertation organisation and 12

presentation will differ across varying project designs. Not all sections of the dissertation layout as given here, will be included in every dissertation. However, a common skeleton for dissertations includes: Title, List of contents, Abstract, Body (dissertation text), References, Tables and figures, and Appendices.

The dissertation is evaluated on overall characteristics and also on section -by-section basis. Detailed information on dissertation marking is available elsewhere (e.g. from dissertation lectures). The information below is a useful introduction to what the MSc faculty believe is important – in other words, how your dissertation will be marked.

While the full details of the marking rubric are not provided, important summary information is available to students in the Year 3 lectures that cover marking.

Components related to overall formatting and presentation Formatting and presentation matter. Journals will return without review, a submission that fails to meet their formatting requirements. Thus, while some of the points may seem pedantic, learning to follow formatting rules is an important part of MSc studie s.

Marks will be removed for such formatting problems as inconsistent font sizing (suggested is 12-point, but consistency is paramount), errors in spacing (suggested is 1.5, with consistency again being the most important consideration), or inconsistent application of citation format. Spelling and grammar remain important (do not rely on software spell-check as the sole proofing mechanism).

The word count goal is 10000 (not including abstract or appendices). There is a 10% leeway with extra word-count, but after that difference is exceeded, marks are subtracted. Word counts falling under the 10000-word target are not automatically penalised (as per university guidelines), but students submitting dissertations well short of the target word-count should take extra caution to assure their dissertation adequately covers all required points.

The title page includes your name, student ID#, and word count. Pagination should include the title page and all of the other pages in the dissertation. The title page d oes not have to be included in the list of contents, and you can decide how detailed you wish your contents listing to be (but there must be a list of contents).

With our international faculty and student group, this MSc does not have “standard” abbreviations. Spell words out the first time you use them and provide an abbreviation, but after that use the abbreviation all of the time. If you have more than a few abbreviations, list them on the same page as your contents listing. Previous experience with this MSc has shown that dissertations often provide abbreviations that have not been spelled out, and equally often use abbreviations in some parts of the manuscript with full spelling out of the terms in other sections. Attention to detail in the definition and consistent use of abbreviations is an easy way to preserve marks.

Tables and figures come at the dissertation’s end (not in the body). While no specific formatting is dictated, be consistent in numbering, layouts, and legends. Tables and figures should supplement – not repeat – results found in the dissertation text.

Academic writing comprises the final component of the overall dissertation scoring. The dissertation prose should be in a scientific style, with appropriate objectivity and formality.

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Components related to section-by-section marking The Abstract should have fewer than 350 words, and include sections on background/aims, methods, results, and conclusions.

The Introduction needs to identify why the subject is important and poi nt out where there are gaps in the subject’s evidence base. The introductory section of the dissertation makes the case for the work’s relevance, importance, and likely contribution to the scientific evidence base.

The Aims/Objectives should be clearly formulated and differentiated as to primary vs. secondary status. They should logically follow from the Introduction section. Often, a hypothesis should be stated.

The Methods for a review are quite different from methods for an original research project. Thus there are different approaches to preparing (and evaluating) the Methods section, depending on what type of study design is discussed. 

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For review-type methodologies, a PICOS or similar framework should drive the organisation of the methods section. With regard to the studies (evidence) comprising the reviewed information, the methods should outline Sourcing of studies reviewed as well as Screening of identified studies for inclusion.

Processes of extraction (and in large-database studies, reduction) of data should be clear, and the methods must explain how Bias in the evaluated evidence is handled. In addition to a Quality appraisal, the methods for review articles should include suitable Statistical methods (particularly MA).

For original research, the methods discussion needs to include an ethics statement. The section should be clear as to Study site & participant sourcing.

Sampling processes and inclusion criteria should also be outlined. Data definition and handling information should explain all definitions and processes for organising study information. Power & sample-size calculations are generally required for research designs; other statistics used for Descriptive and analytic analyses should be outlined.

The Results should provide systematic, coherent reporting of findings relevant to project aims. Organisation is a key characteristic of effective results sections. The results Content should focus on findings related to the study aims ( i.e. not including significant amounts of irrelevant data). Results reporting should be characteri sed by Objectivity; editorial or interpretation is left to the Discussion section. Tables and Figures are necessary for nearly all dissertations; they should be consistently formatted and contain information that is supplementary to (rather than repetitive of) Results section data. The Statistical reporting in the Results should be lucid, following the Methods section techniques, and should emphasise major findings’ precision levels by reporting CIs. The Discussion should be comprehensive with regard to project findings, yet concise and scientific in style. Project results should be framed with an easily f ollowed Organisation, following previously stated goals and objectives; the discussion should have Focus on the main project aims. The discussion should frame findings in light of 14

existing data, with Links to relevant evidence. The Discussion section should exhibit a concise, Academic style that avoids repetition of information given in the results section (Results duplication).

The Limitations section should demonstrate that limitations were identified, and that risks were mitigated with study processes. The Limitations section should also provide an estimate as to the degree that various study shortcomings are estimated to have affected the results/conclusions.

Dissertation Conclusions should have Consistency with aims and Consistency with results. In other words, the dissertation’s main concluding remarks should follow the study goals, and be supported by the study findings.

Putting it all together: The dissertation in bullet points Taking the information, and placing it in a listing format, yields th e dissertation itemisation that follows. Some additional notes are added, with the understanding that more information is available from the dissertation tutors.  Title  List of contents (with abbreviations listing where appropriate)  Abstract (should be included for all dissertations)  Introduction/background (make a case for subject relevance and importance)  Aims/objectives (explain exactly what the dissertation hopes to achieve)  Methods (how the dissertation was executed)  Results (what was found)  Discussion (explaining what was meant, by what was found)  References/citations (be meticulous in numbering and use of consistent style)  Tables and figures (not more than 10 total)  Appendices (not more than 8-10 pages) o Appendices are not marked but should be relevant and brief. o Ethics issues having been previously addressed in project plan, ethics approval letter does not need to be included as a dissertation appendix.

The above should be covered in a fully paginated document, written in clear scientific style and printed using a consistent font, font size, and spacing. Recommended are Arial/Calibri 12-point font, with 1.5-line spacing and 1” margins on all sides. It is acceptable to use different font/size/spacing/margins, but these parameters should be consistent throughout the dissertation.

Weighting for module sections The dissertation topic submission of 4 th October 2020 23:59 BST is assessed only for timeliness (not content). It enables the programme team to match you with a suitable supervisor and approve the topic you have chosen.

The deadlines and weighting for each section of the 60-credit dissertation module (ICM7048) are as follows: 1) Project plan – due 29 th November 2029 23:59 GMT, 15% of Year 3 marks 2) Dissertation – due 27 th June 2021 23:59 BST, 85% of Year 3 marks 15

Submission of Project Plans & Dissertations Students are to submit their Project Plans and Dissertations as follows: 1) Upload via appropriate submission link on QMPlus, and 2) Email to emergencymed@qmul.ac.uk Note: QMPlus sometimes has issues with Word documents that have been created with Endnote so we recommend saving your assignments as a PDF before submitting.

Students are responsible for the appearance (e.g. formatting problems) that may occur when converting documents to PDF; any formatting or other problems associated with PDF conversion should be identified by the student and communicated to the DS prior to the submission deadline (this will avoid loss of marks in the Presentation category).

The DS faculty are required to mark the PP and dissertation documents as they are presented in QMPlus. Marking equity dictates that final -submission errors (e.g. semirandom conversion of normal text to boldface or italic) must be counted as errors unless the student has previously communicated a PDF conversion problem.

Dissertation supervisor Each student will be followed throughout the third year by a DS. The DS faculty will provide support on issues arising from the course’s PP and dissertation; the DS faculty will also act as mentors and provide guidance throughout Year 3.

It is expected that each student will have 1-2 meetings in October/November prior to the PP submission, and an additional 2-4 meetings prior to the June dissertation submission. Each DS has agreed to offer this range of meetings so students should not feel they are impinging on DS time.

Student-DS meetings are neither compulsory nor assessed. Meetings can be in person, but they can also occur via other media such as email, phone, or internet conference. The DS faculty are asked to respond in appropriately timely fashion (within a week of a meeting request); students who cannot get a DS meeting within a week of a request should contact Stephen Thomas for assistance.

The DS group is dedicated to optimising conditions for student success in the MSc. Dissertation supervisors will be responsive to student contact and will assist in a manner consistent with QM regulations. It is the responsibility of the student to initiate communications with the DS. The DS will not monitor a timeline in order to make sure and contact students who are behind trajectory; maintaining the timeline is the responsibility of the student.

The DS is not expected (or allowed) to proofread or edit – the work to be presented and assessed must be completed by the student. Supervisors’ role is to counsel students in topic choices and dissertation subject matter/writing. The DS will firstmark PP and dissertations of their assigned students. (Some PPs and all dissertations will be second-marked.) A listing of DS and E&RM Year 3 faculty follows (substantive staff have their FTE post in brackets):

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Name Prof. Tim Harris

Prof. Stephen Thomas (0.6)

Dr. Tom Abbott

Title

Email

Professor of EM (QM) Course Director, ICM7068/ICM7078/ ICM7049 Module Lead Professor of EM (Weill Cornell Medical College, New York); Chair, Hamad General Hospital Department of EM (Qatar)

s.h.thomas@qmul.ac.uk

Senior Lecturer in EM, QM Dissertation/Year 3 Director Clinical Research Training Fellow

t.abbott@qmul.ac.uk

ICM7067 Co-Lead

Dr. Ben Bloom

Consultant in EM - Royal London Hospital Senior Lecturer in EM (QM)

(0.3)

ICM7067 Module Lead

Dr. Brian Burns

t.harris@qmul.ac.uk

Consultant in Emergency Medicine

b.bloom@qmul.ac.uk

b.burns@qmul.ac.uk

ICM7068 Co-Lead Dr. Richard Carden

Dr. Tessa Davis (0.4)

Dr. Giles Cattermole

Dr. Derek Hicks

Dr. Chris Kabrhel

Dr. Prashant Parulekar Dr. Paul Rees (0.2)

Senior Trainee in Emergency Medicine ICM7047 Co-Lead Consultant in Paediatric EM - Barts Health Senior Lecturer in EM (QM)

r.carden@qmul.ac.uk

t.davis@qmul.ac.uk

ICM7231 Module Lead Consultant in Emergency Medicine ICM7077 Co-Lead Consultant in Emergency Medicine ICM7047 Co-Lead Professor of EM – Harvard Medical School ICM7069 Co-Lead Consultant in Intensive Care ICM7078 Co-Lead Consultant Cardiologist Senior Lecturer in EM (QM) ICM7077 Module Lead, lead for Military &

17

g.cattermole@qmul.ac.uk

d.hicks@qmul.ac.uk

c.kabrhel@qmul.ac.uk

p.s.parulekar@qmul.ac.uk

p.rees@qmul.ac.uk

Tactical MSc

Dr. Libby Thomas

Consultant in EM - Kings College Hospital Senior Lecturer in EM (QM)

(0.4)

ICM7079 Module Lead and Simulation lead

Dr. Chet Trivedy (0.2)

Dr. Darryl Wood (0.2)

libby.thomas@qmul.ac.uk

Consultant Emergency Physician - Brighton Hospital Senior Lecturer in EM (QM) ICM7068 Co-Lead and Lead for student interaction Consultant Emergency Physician Queen’s Hospital

c.trivedy@qmul.ac.uk

darryl.wood@qmul.ac.uk

ICM7069/ICM7047 Module Lead

Please liaise with your DS when deciding on the methodology for your dissertation. See important dates for key milestones and submission deadlines.

Submission for each component of assessment is via an Assignment link on QMPlus as well as by email to emergencymed@qmul.ac.uk by the required deadline as above.

Communication Queen Mary will communicate with you in a variety of ways but most formal university correspondence will be sent to you by electronic mail. It is important that Queen Mary has up to date personal details for all students. You will be able to update your address and contact details online using MySIS, however a change in name must be done in person at the Student Enquiry Centre with accompanying identification. You can find out more information on the Student Enquiry Centre website. http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/mysis-record/index.html.

Generally, Queen Mary will contact you at your Queen Mary email. You are assigned a university e-mail address when you enrol, and you are responsible for checking this account regularly. You can access your email account via the following link: https://mail.qmul.ac.uk .

For information on how to forward QM emails to a personal account please visit the IT website - http://www.its.qmul.ac.uk/support/selfhelp/email_setup/howto/161297.html.

Our virtual learning environment, QMPlus (http://qmplus.qmul.ac.uk/), will be used for announcements regarding group discussion times/dates, general updates etc. so please ensure you check this site regularly too. This is also how the online content of the programmes will be delivered to you. More information on our VLE can be found at https://elearning.qmul.ac.uk/application/qmplus/.

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Personal information & data protection During application and at (re-)enrolment you provide us with personal information about yourself such as relevant contact details and information about your background, which is held in systems such as MySIS. It’s imp ortant that you ensure this information is accurate and keep it up to date. Throughout your studies (or after you graduate) you may also provide, or we may collect, other personal information and you should be aware that this also includes any work you submit for assessment in the course of your studies. Tutors may occasionally use anonymised student essays (or portions from them) as part of the teaching process. We hope you will be willing to support your fellow students by allowing this, but you may opt o ut by contacting your school office. Other markers of engagement are monitored to help support students. If you engage with your Advisor or other support services, notes may be kept and shared with appropriate individuals.

We ensure that all personal data is held securely and not disclosed to third parties without your consent, unless we are obliged to do so by law - for example the annual student record that we submit to the Higher Education Statistics Agency - or other conditions allow.

HESA requires us to collect details of our students’ ethnicities and disabilities as a means of monitoring the success of equal opportunities policies at a national level. This information is kept confidential and helps us to provi de you with support and information on facilities and services that may be useful.

When you enrol or re-enrol online you will be asked to read a privacy notice about the purposes for which we use your personal data and to whom we may disclose it when required. You must read this carefully. All personal data is maintained in accordance with data protection legislation. For more information, visit: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/privacy/ and/or contact Queen Mary’s Data Protection Officer via data-protection@qmul.ac.uk

Conduct The Code of Student Discipline applies to any action of misconduct whether it takes place on or off Queen Mary premises. The Code also applies to actions that are electronic and occur via electronic means such as (but not limited to) the internet, email, social media sites, chat rooms or text messages. http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/student-appeals/misconduct/

Report and Support campaign Report + Support: tackling harassment, gender-based violence and hate crime Queen Mary is committed to creating an environment for work and study where staff and students are treated with dignity and respect. We have no place for bullying, harassment and hate. We recognise that these behaviours can take many forms. Any allegation of harassment, hate crime, bullying or victimisation will be treated seriously, regardless of the seniority of those involved, and anyone found to have behaved unacceptably may be the subject of disciplinary action subject to the processes detailed in the relevant Queen Mary policies.

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Report + Support is our secure online platform for anyone at Queen Mary to report harassment, gender-based violence or hate crime, and find out about support options. If you have experienced or witnessed any form of bullying, harassment, violence or hate crime, please see reportandsupport.qmul.ac.uk.

All members of Queen Mary have a collective responsibilit y to: encourage a culture of dignity and respect; to treat others fairly, with courtesy and consideration; and to challenge inappropriate behaviour when it is safe to do so. More information can be found here: https://reportandsupport.qmul.ac.uk/campaigns/our-commitment

Feedback Your views are important to the Blizard Institute and Queen Mary. There are a variety of ways in which you can tell us what you think and share your ideas for improvements. Student representatives, elected by fellow students, also speak on behalf of the student body at the School, Faculty and Queen Mary-wide level via various committees, groups and meetings. More information can be found at https://www.qmul.ac.uk/tell-us/ The Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) is conducted every year. It gives you, as a postgraduate taught student, an opportunity to give your opinions on what you like about your time at Queen Mary, as well as those aspects that you feel could be improved. Please do complete the survey; your feedback really is invaluable and will help us make a difference for future generations of Queen Mary students. http://my.qmul.ac.uk/your-voice/feedback/postgraduate-taught-experience-survey/

Queen Mary Charter The Queen Mary Charter contains a list of expectations for both staff and students to help create a community that is mutually supportive and works to further knowledge creation and dissemination. http://www.qmul.ac.uk/ourcommunity/

Appeals An academic appeal is a request to review a decision about progression, assessment or award.

Before you submit an appeal, speak to your School/Institute about the decision you wish to appeal as many issues can be resolved without the need for an appeal.

Your School/Institute will be able to provide you with feedback on your marks, or degree classification, and to answer any queries. Please note that an appeal cannot provide feedback on academic work.

Appeals against academic judgment are not permitted, this means you cannot appeal simply because you think the mark you have received is too low.

There are two grounds for appeal: 

procedural error: Where the process leading to the decision being appealed against was not conducted in accordance with Queen Mary’s procedure, such that there is reasonable doubt as to whether the outcome might have been different had the error not occurred. Procedural error shall include alleged administrative or clerical error, and bias in the operation of the procedure.

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

that exceptional circumstances, illness, or other relevant factors were not made known at the time for good reason, or were not properly taken i nto account.

An appeal must be received within 14 days of the notification of the decision you want to appeal and should be submitted from your Queen Mary email to appeals@qmul.ac.uk.

Further information about how to appeal and the appeal form can be found on the Queen Mary website: http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/studentappeals/appeals/index.html If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your appeal you may submit a Final Review for consideration by the Principal’s nominee. Once a Final Review is complete you will be sent a Completion of Procedures letter which outlines the final decision of Queen Mary and the reasons for the decision.

Complaints Before submitting a complaint you are advised to speak to a member of staff in your School/Institute as most issues can be resolved informally without the need for a formal complaint.

If your issue is not resolved through the informal process then you will need to complete the Stage 1 complaint form and submit this to the relevant School/Institute/Professional Services Head for investigation under the Student Complaints Policy: http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/student-appeals/complaints/index.html Most complaints are resolved at Stage 1 but if your matter is still not resolved then there are two further stages to the policy, which are t he institutional level and review stage.

When the complaint process is finished you will be issued with a Completion of Procedures letter explaining the final decision and the reasons for it.

Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) If you are unhappy with the outcome of an appeal or complaint then you may submit a complaint to the OIA within 12 months of receiving your Completion of Procedures letter. The OIA is the independent body set up to review student complaints and is free to students. For further information regarding the OIA please visit their website: http://www.oiahe.org.uk/

Disability & Dyslexia Service The university’s Disability and Dyslexia Service (DDS) offers advice, guidance and support for students with disabilities, including specific learning difficulties like dyslexia and dyspraxia, as well as mental health difficulties, from application through to graduation. The range of support that the DDS is able to provide includes: •

Support and guidance in applying for the Disabled Student’s Allowance (DSA) 21

• • • • • • • • • • •

Support for international disabled students Liaison with staff in Queen Mary’s Schools regarding ‘reasonable adjustments’ Support in ensuring that course materials are fully accessible Screenings for students who think that they might have specific learning difficulties Referrals to assess whether or not a student has a specific learning difficulty Specialist one-to-one study skills support for students with dyslexia and other specific learning difficulties Specialist mentoring support for students with mental health difficulties and autism On-site DSA needs assessments Access to non-specialist human support, e.g. note-taking Access to assistive technology Guidance in accessing examination concessions such as additional time

Telephone: 020 7882 2756 Web: www.dds.qmul.ac.uk/; Email: dds@qmul.ac.uk

Student Enquiry Centre We provide support to all Postgraduate Taught students and we can help with a wide variety of queries. If you are not sure about something or do not know who to contact, ask us!

We are located on the ground floor of the Queens’ Building, CB01, Mile End. Student Enquiry Centre Online (accessed via MySIS http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/sec/sec-online/) Email: studentenquiry@qmul.ac.uk; Telephone: 020 7882 5005 Follow us on twitter @QMULSEC https://twitter.com/QMULSEC Please find information about obtaining an official student status letter here http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/sec/official-letters/.

Advice & Counselling Service The Advice and Counselling Service offers confidential, professional support services to all Queen Mary students. We have helpful advice and guidance for financial, immigration and other practical issues as well as emotional support on our website (welfare.qmul.ac.uk). You will also find information there about our services and contact details.

Financial, Immigration and Welfare Advice Our Welfare Advisers can advise you on solutions and options relating to financial, immigration, practical and welfare issues. We provide specialist advice and support on all aspects of student finance (loans, grants, bursaries), hardship funds and welfare benefits. We can help you plan your budget and find out how to reduce your spending.

If you are an international student we can advise you on your immigration rights. We can advocate on your behalf if you need help resolving an issue, for example with Student Finance England or the UK Home Office.

We offer dedicated support for students who no longer have contact with their family (estranged), and students who have experience of local authority care, and students from a refugee background. We also provide support for students experiencing 22

domestic abuse or forced marriage.

Counselling Life can seem like a struggle at times, and it is normal to sometimes feel a bit low or anxious. Sometimes, though, emotional and psychological issues can become too challenging, and may have a negative effect on your studies and well -being. Our Counsellors can help you to make sense of difficult experiences and feelings by providing the opportunity to think and talk reflectively, which can bring relief and meaningful changes.

The first step is meeting confidentially with one of our Counsellors to discuss what type of support might be most useful to you. This might be short term counselling, group therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy or a referral for longer term support or specialist services outside Queen Mary/in the NHS. For many students, just one or two sessions can really help. Our Counsellors are all highly experienced in working with students, and all types of issues.

Contacting the Advice and Counselling Service For more information about available services and contact details please visit the Advice and Counselling Service’s website: www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk Email: via website online form

Information Technology (IT) services Our services to support students range from email and internet access, to state -of-theart teaching and learning facilities and high performance computing in support of research. There are a number of rooms around the campus that contain computers which students can use. You sign in using your Queen Mary username and password. In general, any computer you use will have all the applications that you need for your course available to you.

Your IT Account: Details of your Queen Mary username and password will be emailed to your personal address before you enrol.

The IT Service Desk is the first point of contact for all IT help, support and advice You can Live Chat with the Service Desk 24/7 https://qmul.bomgarcloud.com/, call on 020 7882 8888 or raise a ticket via the Self Service portal https://servicedesk.qmul.ac.uk/.

Visit us in the Queens' Building on the Mile End Campus. Our opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8am-6pm.

Find an available PC on campus: an interactive map showing which rooms have empty seats http://availability.stu.qmul.ac.uk/ Print, Copy, Scan: There are printers in the computer rooms and in the Librar y. The larger devices in the Library also offer copying and scanning facilities alongside printing. We also offer a wireless printing service. You are charged for printing and copying by clicks (one click = one side of paper). The cost of a single side is 4p but 23

drops to 3.5p when you print double-sided.

The CopyShop: A quick, professional and cost-effective photocopying and printing service. We can print a range of items for you, including: Theses/Dissertations, Lecture notes, Posters and much more.

Book Scanning Service: The CopyShop offers students a professional scanning service.

If you wish to retain a section of a publication for study use, the CopyShop produce a clear image without fingers tips, black areas and poor results for you.

We can also scan materials you wish to include in your research materials in the correct format you need, for example Research Posters for William Harvey Day‌.no more fuzzy images.

Wi-Fi: The wireless network you use to connect your devices is eduroam. Halls of residence are fully networked with Wi-Fi and a wired socket in each study bedroom.

Access to e-mail, QMPlus the online learning environment and other services relevant to your study at Queen Mary is available from the internet as a whole.

Mobile app: Queen Mary’s mobile app is available as a native app for Android (version 2.3.3 or higher) and iOS (version 6.0 and above) devices. The app allows you to do a number of things on the move, including: check your course timetables, log into QMPlus and your Queen Mary email, search for and renew library books directly from your phone.

Policies: The use of IT facilities is covered by College regulations prohibiting, among other things, software piracy and unauthorised computer use. IT Services policies are published here: http://www.its.qmul.ac.uk/governance/policies/index.html The IT Services website contains information on a number of our services and includes a range of self-help guides http://www.its.qmul.ac.uk/support/index.html Contact the IT Service Desk Telephone: 020 7882 8888 (24/7) Self Service: https://servicedesk.qmul.ac.uk/ IT Services on the web: www.its.qmul.ac.uk

Library services The Libraries at Queen Mary provide the study environments, resources and staff you need to support your learning during your time at the university.

For 2020 we are providing as many e-books and other e-resources as we can, so you can gain access to online readings from wherever you are. Also we have a team answering emails at library@qmul.ac.uk who we will help you use the e-resources and answer any questions you may have. For subject support please see the Library Subject Guides available from the Library Website. For support with finding, using and evaluating information and information about the academic skills services, please see our Find it!

Use it! Reference it! module on QMPlus 24

[https://qmplus.qmul.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=6819] You will find more detailed information for new students o n the library’s welcome page.

The online services are backed up by some socially distanced service points who will provide drop-in help. We will be offering socially distanced study space in our 3 libraries at Mile End, Whitechapel and West Smtihfield, eac h with a character and ambience of their own. As this is such an unusual year, we will be offering some click and collect borrowing services, and some self-service borrowing. You will find up to date details of the library services for the new academic yea r on the library website [https://www.library.qmul.ac.uk/

Archives & Special Collections Archives & Special Collections manage institutional and personal archives dating from the 18th Century to the present day, as well as collections of rare or special materials.

Digital Archives are accessible via our website. To get started exploring the collections, try searching the archives catalogue: https://www.library.qmul.ac.uk/archives/ Visits to the Archives Reading Room on the 2nd floor, Mile End Library, are by appointment in advance; these appointments are limited for the start of 2020/21 due to social distancing in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, but this will be reviewed and updated during the course of the year. The Archives Reading Room provides silent individual study space in which to access and research using these collections. For more information, see the Archives website: http://www.library.qmul.ac.uk/archives.

Other libraries As a college of the federal University of London, Queen Mary students have access and borrowing rights at Senate House Library: https://www.senatehouselibrary.ac.uk/ Contacts General: Telephone: 020 7882 8800; Email: library@qmul.ac.uk ; Website: www.library.qmul.ac.uk Twitter: QMUL Library (@QMLibrary) Medicine and Dentistry: Email: library-smd@qmul.ac.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/SMDlibQMUL Academic Skills Enhancement The Academic Skills Enhancement (ASE) service works in a number of ways with taught students at any level, undergraduate or postgraduate, from any subject di scipline, to develop the skills and practices needed to become more effective in their academic work and excel at university.

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Areas covered include: writing for academic purposes, effective reading and note -making, presentation skills, time-management, critical thinking, understanding marking criteria, using feedback, revision and exam preparation and avoiding plagiarism. We also support the work of student mentors through providing resources and training to support peer and social learning.

Academic Skills Tutors offer support and developmental opportunities in the form of one-to-one tutorials, workshops, drop-ins, and self-access resources. In addition, we host Royal Literary Fund (RLF) Fellows who offer writing advice to both taught and research students.

Academic Skills Enhancement (ASE) are part of the Library Teaching and Learning Service and are based on the Mile End Campus and online. For more information on the services and resources available, how to book, check https://www.qmul.ac.uk/library/academic-skills/.

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Assessment procedures Awards will be classified according to the 2018-19 Academic Regulations (year of programme entry): The classification of the degree shall be made according to the following scale: College Mark

Classification

70.0 – 100.0

Dissertation or project module mark 65.0 or higher

60.0 or higher

60.0 or higher

Merit

50.0 or higher

50.0 or higher

Pass

Distinction

Examination boards may use a borderline policy when making recommendations for final degree classifications. The following criteria are used: 1. Students with Classification Marks within one per cent of a borderline (except at the pass/fail border) shall be determined to fall within the ‘zone of consideration’; 2. Students with Classification Marks within 1.5 per cent of a borderline and with significant extenuating circumstances in the final year not taken into account elsewhere may be determined to fall within the zone of consideration. However, if this approach is taken then the extenuating circumstances may not also be used as a reason to raise the classification itself; 3. All students falling within a zone of consideration shall be considered as possible cases for application of the borderline policy; 4. Students falling within the zone of consideration and with at least half of their final year credits (half of all credits at PG level) with marks at the level of the upper classification (or higher), shall be raised to the higher classification. The credits at the higher level may include the dissertation or project, but this is not a requirement. Where a student studies on a part-time basis, all modules comprising the full-time equivalent final year shall be used in the borderline policy.

5. Students falling within the one per cent zone of consideration and not meeting the requirements of point 4, but with significant extenuating circumstances in the final year not taken into account elsewhere shall be raised to the higher classification provided the SEB is confident that – without the effect of the extenuating circumstances – the student would have achieved the higher classification.

The award of the degree will be made only when all modules are satisfactorily completed. In the event of a candidate achieving <50% in a module or writing assignment, the candidate may take a single re-sit of the required module(s) during the same academic year. Re-sits will be capped at 50%.

If you are required to re-sit the dissertation you will be classed as ‘re-sitting out of attendance’ during the following academic year with a submission deadline of 27 th March 2022.

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Grades To view your assessment marks, login to MySIS with your Queen Mary username and password, where they will be listed. These marks are provisional and subject to change until they are agreed by the appropriate Subject Examination Board. MySIS will indicate whether the results are provisional or confirmed. Guides on checking your results on MySIS are available on the Student Enquiry website (http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/mysis-record/provisionalresults/index.html) Year 2 marks and awards will be formally released by the end of October 2021.

Penalties for late submission If an assignment is submitted after the specified deadline it shall be recorded as late and a penalty shall be applied, unless there are valid exte nuating circumstances: i. For every period of 24 hours, or part thereof, that an assignment is overdue there shall be a deduction of five per cent of the total marks available (i.e. five marks for an assessment marked out of 100). After seven calendar days (1 68 hours or more late) the mark shall be reduced to zero, and recorded as 0 NS (zero, non submission). ii. A student may submit work of passing standard but fail the module because of the late submission penalty. Where the student is eligible for a resit attem pt in such a case, the student shall not be required to resubmit the assessment; instead, the pre-deduction mark from the first attempt shall be entered for the re -sit. Where a student is not eligible for a resit, this provision does not apply. Re -sits are capped at 50%. iii. Certain assessments may cease to be a valid measure of a moduleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s learning outcomes prior to the seven working day cut-off. For example, where feedback has been provided to the class, any submission made after that point would not be an accurate measure of attainment. In such cases, the late submission policy shall apply as normal up to the day on which feedback is given; at that point, a mark of zero shall be applied, even if this is within seven calendar days of the deadline.

Schools and Institutes must make clear to students in advance where this variant policy applies, or else the general policy shall be applied. iv. A late work penalty may be removed where a student provides good reason for the late submission under the extenuating circumstances policy. A student must submit a formal claim with supporting evidence in line with that policy in order for the circumstances to be considered. v. Schools and Institutes may award extensions to submission deadlines. This is at the discretion of the school/institute. Where a school/institute does consider the award of an extension, a student must apply before the submission date with an extenuating circumstances claim and supporting evidence. In no circumstances shall an extension set a new deadline beyond the next meeting of the relevant Subject Examination Board.

A student who is unable to submit a coursework assessment by the required completion date must notify the course administrator by emailing emergencymed@qmul.ac.uk as soon as possible. If late submission is with good reason such as illness, close family bereavement or closely related compassion grounds, the student may be granted a short 28

extension provided there is an extenuating circumstances form (see below) completed and submitted with supporting evidence prior to the assessment submission date.

Word count The following penalties apply to those students who exceed the 10% flexibility limit on essay word count. Word limits do not include referencing, tables and appendices, as is standard QM practice: Up to 10% above word limit = no penalty 11%‐20% above word limit = up to 10% penalty taken from gross agreed internal mark, at marker’s discretion 21%> above word limit = assignment will not be marked and student asked to resubmit, at marker’s discretion There is no fixed penalty for submissions that are under the specified word length. In these cases, students will have displayed skill in covering the material concisely, or else have failed to fully address the material; in either situation the normal marking conventions should take this into account.

Extenuating circumstances Extenuating circumstances are defined by Queen Mary as: Circumstances that are outside a student’s control which may have a negative impact on a student’s ability to undertake or complete any assessment so as to cast doubt on the likely validity of the assessment as a measure of the student’s achievement.

Extenuating circumstances are usually personal or health problems. Health problems include your emotional wellbeing and mental health, as well as your physical health.

Extenuating circumstances do not include computer problems, misreading your exam timetable, planned holidays or events, or local transport delays.

Queen Mary operates a fit to sit policy, which covers all assessments including coursework and exams. If you sit an exam or submit a piece of coursew ork, you are deemed to be fit to do so. In such instances, a request for extenuating circumstances will not normally be considered.

To submit an extenuating circumstance request you must fill out the relevant from which can be obtained from QMPlus or by emailing emergencymed@qmul.ac.uk. The form should be completed and returned to emergencymed@qmul.ac.uk. All claims must be received by 3 rd September 2021 at the latest for consideration at the September examination board but preferably as soon as possible further to the missed assessment.

Your form must be accompanied by relevant supporting evidence (for example medical certification, death certificate, police report and crime number, or other written evi-

29

dence from a person in authority). Please note that although accompanying documentation can be submitted after the form, claims without any evidence cannot be considered.

It is in your best interest to provide evidence and supporting documentation that is as comprehensive as possible You are entitled to self-certify on up to three occasions each academic year. This means completing and submitting the Queen Mary self-certification form in place of independent evidence. Please note that self-certification does not mean automatic approval of a claim – your school/institute will consider it in the normal way and will need to be satisfied of the validity of the claim, and satisfied that it justifies the outcome.

All extenuating circumstances claims are kept confidential until they are considered by a subcommittee of the Institute’s Subject Examination Board. All proceedings of the subcommittee are strictly confidential, and will not normally be discussed at the full examination board meeting.

It is your own responsibility to submit any claims for extenuating circumstances, not that of your supervisor. Please ensure that if you have what you believe is a valid case, you complete the submission process in accordance with the Blizard Institute guidelines and deadlines.

It is not possible to make a retrospective claim for extenuating circumstances, specifically once you know your results. Therefore claims submitted after the deadline (3 rd September 2021) will not be considered by the examination board.

Please refer to the full guidance notes on extenuating circumstances from the Advice and Counselling service or online at https://www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk/student-adviceguides/.

Interruption & withdrawal of studies Permission to interrupt from your studies on the grounds of illness or another good cause may be granted by your academic school or institute. You may only interrupt for a maximum of two years in total and from the beginning of a particular semester – final Registry deadline is 30 th April 2021. You will return to the course at the same point in the following academic year and will be unable to have support from your supervisor in the interim.

Please contact Fees on feesdl@qmul.ac.uk to discuss your tuition fee liability prior to submitting the interruption or withdrawal form.

Information on interruption and withdrawal of studies, including links to the relevant forms, is found here: http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/study/interrupting/index.htm l http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/study/withdrawing/index.html

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QM Blizard Institute Plagiarism Information ‘QM defines plagiarism as presenting someone else’s work as one’s own irrespective of intention. Close paraphrasing, copying from the work of another person, including another student, using the ideas of another person, without proper acknowledgement or repeating work you have previously submitted without properly referencing yourself (known as ‘self-plagiarism’) also constitute plagiarism.’

– Regulations on Assessment Offences http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/student-appeals/assessment-offences/index.html Plagiarism is a serious offence and all students suspected of plagiarism will be subject to an investigation. If found guilty, penalties can include failure of the module to suspension or permanent withdrawal from Queen Mary. It is your responsibility to ensure that you understand plagiarism and how to avoid it. The recommendations below can help you in avoiding plagiarism: 



   

Be sure to record your sources when taking notes, and to cite these if you use ideas or, especially, quotations from the original source. Be particularly careful if you are cutting and pasting information between two documents, and ensure that references are not lost in the process.

Be sensible in referencing ideas – commonly held views that are generally accepted do not always require acknowledgment to particular sources. However, it is best to be safe to avoid plagiarism.

Be particularly careful with quotations and paraphrasing.

Be aware that technology, such as Turnitin, is now available at Queen Mary and elsewhere that can automatically detect plagiarism.

Ensure that all works used are referenced appropriately in the text of your work and fully credited in your bibliography.

If in doubt, ask for further guidance from your advisor or module tutor.

Turnitin is a web-based plagiarism prevention system used by most universities in the UK. This statement describes how Turnitin is used within the school and the data it creates about your work.

1 1.1

How Turnitin works A Turnitin assignment is set up by a member of staff on QMPlus. You then access this assignment online and upload your work before the due date. Turnitin will analyse the submitted work to identify text matches with other sources and will compare the work against: o the current and archived web; o previously submitted work; o books and journals.

1.2

For each piece of submitted work Turnitin provides two things: o A similarity index, which indicates the percentage of the submitted paper that Turnitin has identified as matching other sources. o An originality report, which shows each of these matches in more detail, including the source(s) that Turnitin has found.

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2 2.1

2.2 2.3

2.4

3 3.1

3.2 3.3

3.4

3.5

How we use the information provided by Turnitin Only academic staff will make a judgement on whether plagiarism has occurred in a piece of work. An academic may interpret the originality report to help but Turnitin itself does not make this judgement.

We do not use a threshold percentage to identify whether plagiarism has occurred and may review any originality report in detail.

Turnitin will highlight matching text such as references, quotations, common phrases and data tables within work that has no plagiarism issues at all. Those interpreting Turnitin reports will discount such matches and so initial percentages are often irrelevant.

Where it is suspected that plagiarism has occurred in a piece of work, the originality report may be submitted to the Head of School and possibly to an Assessment Offences Panel for further investigation.

How you can use the information provided by Turnitin There will be an opportunity for you to see a Turnitin report on your work before Turnitin is used on your assessed work. You will be able to see the report almost immediately after initially submitting (this can take up to 24 hours during busy periods).

No other student will be able to see an originality report on your work.

To help you understand what the report is telling you, please ensure you have followed the guidance on the E-Learning Unit’s website (http://www.elearning.capd.qmul.ac.uk/guide/interpreting-your-originality-report/).

You may find it helpful to resubmit your work after reviewing the originality report – you are given repeat opportunities to do this up to an assignment deadline. Where this is the case, the idea is to use the report to help you identify any potential issues you may not have spotted before, and not to change individual words to avoid a match.

If you have a question about your originality report that is not answered by the material linked to in 3.3 above, please direct these to your supervisor in the first instance.

Try the plagiarism quiz at https://ilrb.cf.ac.uk/plagiarism/quiz/index.html.

4 Other things you should know 4.1

Turnitin stores a copy of most work submitted to it in its repository. This does not affect the ownership of or any copyright in the original work.

4.2

Staff may configure a Turnitin assignment such that copies of submissions are not stored in its database. This will be done for all test-runs or any ‘dummy’ assignments used for training or demonstration purposes.

Staff on your course will ensure that no commercially or otherwise sensitive documents are stored in Turnitin’s repository.

4.3

Learning Development Learning Development works in a number of ways with students at any level, undergraduate or postgraduate, from any subject discipline, to develop the skills and practices they need to become more effective in their academic work. Areas covered include writing for academic purposes, effective reading, presentation skills, time-management, critical thinking and avoiding plagiarism.

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Writing & Study Guidance is offered by Learning Development Advisors in the form of one-to-one tutorials, workshops, drop-ins, retreats and downloadable resources. We also offer a programme of PhD writing development events. In addition, tutorials on writing are offered by the Royal Literary Fund (RLF) Fellows, who are hosted by Learning Development.

Writing & Study Guidance and RLF tutorials are based in the Library on the Mile End Campus.

For more information on the range of services we offer, and to book a tutorial or workshop, check www.learningdevelopment.qmul.ac.uk.

Further information on referencing and plagiarism can be found on the library website: http://www.learningdevelopment.qmul.ac.uk/sources-referencing Note that any copying from a source text, without acknowledging the source or indicating the copied section by placing it in inverted commas, constitutes plagiarism. The following pages show an actual example of plagiarism, taken from a student essay. The student has copied a number of blocks of text from a New Zealand university thesis, without attribution.

Please also note that using your Project Plan again within your dissertation would constitute self-plagiarism so do ensure that information is re-worded from one assessment to the other.

See next pages for illustration as to how plagiarism is detected in Turnitin.

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Trauma System Components Assignment Excerpt The Sultanate of Oman is located on the south -eastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula occupying an area of 309,500 km2 (12.77% of GCC), the second largest of the GCC countries after Saudi Arabia. It shares borders with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the west, the Omani Gulf and Arabian Sea to the east, the United Arab Emirates to the north and the republic of Yemen to the south(2).The population of Oman being 2,782,435(World Bank 2011 data).(3).

According to the latest census which was carried out by the National Center for Statistics and Information, in 2010 Oman had a population of 2.77 million people, a density of 9.0 persons per square kilometre. However, 816,143 residents, nearly 30% of the population were expatriates. Males exceeded females at a ratio of 138 males to every 100 females, compared with 128 males to every 100 females in 2004.(4).

Prior to the establishment of the current government in 1970, the main health care providers were the British Embassy Hospital and a few missionary hospitals in Muscat with no existing national health care system (6).This government made major investments in improving the health care system which resulted in Oman being the first in the world in regard to the WHO Health System Attainment and Performance Estimates [40].

These health institutions are divided into exte nded (primary) health care centres which are situated in villages and small local communities, secondary care hospitals which are located in cities and, finally, tertiary care hospitals mainly in the capital Muscat, but there are a few in major cities with in each region (e.g. Sohar).

The extensive growth in the global economy in the last century has changed many aspects of peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives including their use of various means of transportation.(8). Continuous expansion in road network construction has accompanied a rapid increase in the population, with a corresponding increase in vehicle numbers (9). The growth in motor vehicles that follows economic growth usually results in an increase in RTC and consequent injuries and deaths (10). As a consequence, road t raffic injuries have become a major public health problem globally with a large increase in the number of casualties and fatalities (9).

According to WHO data, road traffic crashes caused about 25% of all deaths from injury worldwide in 2004 (11).

The main victims of road traffic crashes are young adults. More than 50% of all deaths due to RTCs are among young adults within the age range of 15 -44 years(12).

The year 2010 witnessed one million more deaths from injuries than 1990; this 24% rise was attribute d to the increase in RTCs by almost 420,600 crashes claiming the lives of 1.3 million people (13,14).

Road traffic crashes are recognized as a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the GCC countries and many developing countries. The large number of tr affic crashes has caused these countries a substantial wastage of life and national resources (16).

Oman has the highest rates of mortality and injury compared with the neighbouring Gulf countries .(15) There is a relatively new system of emergency care whi ch follows the Anglo-American system of Emergency Medicine Services (EMS). It is only a land based system and does not include aeromedical services (6). During 2012, a plan was set in place by the Royal Oman Police for the EMS services to cover the whole country and to incorporate aeromedical services. The EMS currently does not cover all cities and responds mainly to trauma cases with limited coverage of other emergency cases. Under a joint provision from the ROP and the Ministry of Health committee for th e development of a modern EMS system, It officially started to provide its services in April 2004, covering approximately 70% of the population with 23 permanent ambulance units. Over a period of four years, the service attended to 5,501 cases of which 83% were trauma cases and the rest were medical emergencies (17%) (6).

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New Zealand student thesis excerpt Overview of the Sultanate of Oman Table 3: Overview of the Sultanate of Oman: Information

Statistics

Total Area of the Sultanate of Oman Total length of Roads

309,500 km2 59363 km

Note: Data obtained from Ministry of Tourism, Oman [37].

Arabian Sea to the east, the United Arab Emirates to the north and the republic of Yemen to 9IPage

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[37]. The country is divided into ten governorates as follows (numbered from 1-11 according to the map above): 1. Muscat Governorate which contains the capital city Muscat.

2. Musandam Governorate 3. Al Buraimi Governorate 4. Al Dakhilya Governorate 5. Al Batinah north Governorate which contains the prospective study city Sohar.

6. Al Batinah south Governorate 7. Al Sharqiyah north Governorate 8. Al Sharqiya south Governorate 9. Al Dhahira Governorate 10. Al Wosta Governorate 11. Dhofar Governorate Note: Data obtained from Ministry of Tourism, Oman [37].

Figure 1 below describes the distribution of the population within the different governorates in Oman. It can be seen that most of the population resides in the governorates of Muscat and Al Batinah. This is markedly different from the 2003 governorates percentages of the total population where most people resided in Al Batinah {31.7%) followed by Muscat (21.4%) [38].

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Figure 1: Total Population of Oman by Governorate:

27.90 %

28.00

25.00 % 20.00 % 12.60 %

11.80 %

9.00 %

10.00 % 5.00 % 0.00%

1.10 %

5.50 %

2.60 %

1.50 %

7

Note: Data obtained from 2010 National Census, National Centre for Statistics.

Oman has been ruled by Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said since 23 July 1970; His Majesty also heads the Defence Council, the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council and the Supreme Judicial Council

[39].

Health care in Oman There has been a major change in health care provision in Oman in the past four decades.

[40]. Providing free health care which is available to the whole population was the main objective for the new government that came into power in 1970 under his Majesty Sultan Qaboos (Sultan of Oman).

[40].The Ministry of Health provides free health care to all Omani citizens through multiple

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institutions situated throughout the country.

(e.g. Sohar). In addition, alongside the Ministry of Health, many government organisations and private institutions provide medical care to their employees.

1.6.1. Emergency care in Oman

system of Emergency Medicine Services (EMS). It is only a land based system and does not

include aeromedical services [40].

During 2012, a plan was set in place by the Royal Oman

services. The EMS currently does not cover all cities and responds mainly to trauma cases

with 23 permanent ambulance units. Over a period of four years, the service attended to 5,501 cases of which 83% were trauma cases and the rest were medical emergencies (17%) [40]

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I Page

Map â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Mile End campus

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Map â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Whitechapel campus

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