COLLEGE OF MEDICINE AND VETERINARY MEDICINE
Postgraduate Offer-holders
Online Distance Learners’ eZine
In this issue Rebecca Daly Student, Primary Care Ophthalmology
“Focus on the practical.”
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JUNE 2016 Sarah Henderson Programme Director, Clinical Management of Pain
“It is truly international - we have students from nearly every continent.”
Non-native English speakers’ support Academic tips Student blogs Scottish sightseeing
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Welcome
In this issue
Congratulations on your offer! We are excited that you will start studying with us soon and although you will be studying online, we’ve managed to slip in a few sections on what Edinburgh and the University campus are like just so you get a picture (perhaps you may decide to pay a visit to this beautiful city or to come for your graduation)!
Welcome .......................................................................2
Hello,
Read about Rebecca’s online learning experience with the Primary Care Ophthalmology programme on page 4 – she talks you through how she manages to study while working (no rose-tinted glasses here), and shares some tips for finding the best way to study online! We’ve also featured our students who blog about their experience in the last pages of this e-zine – Kiki recently blogged about the new website she created called “MyAnimalMyHealth” and Chiara recalls her experience of the Neuroscience Day 2016 event! In addition, Sarah Henderson shares some insider info about the online distance programme that she runs, and describes her expectations from students – check out pages 6 and 7. Hope you find all this information useful - look out for two more ezines before you join us in September.
See you soon, The Graduate School Team
Latest research news.....................................................3 News from around the University..................................4 Student perspective Interview with Rebecca Daly, Student of Primary Care Ophthalmology..............................................................5 Take a shot at online learning with MOOCs..................6 Academic matters Interview with Sarah Henderson, Programme Director, Clinical Management of Pain.........................................7 Helping your academic development...........................8 Social Featured: Our Student Bloggers...................................9 Discover the University community...............................9 Sights to see if you ever visit Scotland!.........................10 Edinburgh City...............................................................12
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Research News Arthritis treatment hope
Brain wipes memories to forget, study finds
Dolly celebrated at science festival event
Arthritis and other inflammatory conditions could be helped by new insights into how the immune response is switched off. Scientists have discovered how compounds produced by the body’s immune system help to dampen inflammation and prevent damage to healthy tissues. Their findings suggest that therapies based on these compounds could help to treat rheumatoid arthritis, which occurs when the immune system attacks the joints, causing pain and swelling.
Vital clues about how the brain erases long term memories have been uncovered by researchers. The study in rats reveals how forgetting can be the result of an active deletion process rather than a failure to remember.
Dolly the sheep will be celebrated at an event at the 2016 Edinburgh International Science Festival as experts share their memories of her life and legacy. Almost twenty years after her birth, Professor Sir Ian Wilmut - who led the research project that created Dolly - will share his reflections on how one sheep helped to turn scientific thinking on its head.
Read more
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News from Around the University Close to 300 events took place during Innovative Learning Week 2016
Innovative Learning Week is a festival which inspires, supports, and celebrates creative learning at Edinburgh University. As one of the largest University-run festivals for creative learning, ILW was a unique opportunity for staff and students to explore and share their learning experience in a new way through collaborative events and activities in February 2016. Around the theme Ideas in Play, this year’s festival hosted nearly 300 events and reached over 5,000 students, staff, and community members in five days. Read more
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Developing your academic English
English Language Teaching Centre offers self-study learning materials on writing assignments, good grammar, preparing for exams, and recommended English learning websites. Native speakers of English may also find the resources helpful, particularly if you are returning to studying, as they break down and explain some of the conventions of academic writing in general.
Virtual World Second Life is used as a teaching tool for online students
Virtual Worlds provide a unique and flexible environment for researchers, teachers and learners interested in distance learning, simulation, online presence and new media. Second Life (often referred to as SL) is a virtual world developed by Linden Lab. A free client program called the Viewer enables its users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars. Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another, or travel throughout the world (which residents refer to as “the grid”). Read more
Official University of Edinburgh Student News Channels Although you are not based in Edinburgh, you can be part of what’s going on at Edinburgh all the time! Join here!
Student Perspective Rebecca shares her tips on how to study online and also tells us how she manages to study alongside working full time. Rebecca Daly, Primary Care Ophthalmology. My name is Rebecca Daly. I currently live in Edinburgh and have for the past 10 years. I work in East Lothian for an independent optometry group. I am originally Irish and I achieved my optometry degree in Dublin. My most recent study before undertaking the MSc was a diploma in ocular therapeutics through Glasgow Caledonian University which I completed in 2013. I am now studying for a part time MSc in Primary Care Ophthalmology. How does this programme fit with your job? I usually manage about 2 hours of MSc work 3-4 nights a week after work and then do about 4 hours each day at the weekend, this is just about enough to keep up to date. I have recently reduced my work hours by a day a month in order to give myself a bit of catch-up study time. Usually I have no opportunity to do any course work during my day as I work to booked appointments with no time in-between. Occasionally if there is a cancellation I will log onto the website and catch up on a discussion board but this happens less than once a week I would say. Why have you chosen to study at the University of Edinburgh? I am aware that the University of Edinburgh has an excellent academic reputation and this was certainly a factor in my choice to study there. Also the particular course that I am studying is only available through Edinburgh, though other universities do offer MSc courses for optometrists. Page 5
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“The most satisfying aspect of the course is the application to my day-to-day work.” The third reason is that I received partial funding through NHS Education for Scotland which made the course more affordable. My reason for studying at all is that I wanted a challenge as it is too easy to stagnate in a full-time job that is relatively unchanging. How do you find fitting in your study with other commitments? I struggled a lot at the start of the year, but I think that it is getting easier. I had not appreciated how much of the work would need to be submitted on a continuous basis, not just catching up at the weekends, and also the range of the topics covered is broader than I had anticipated so in some areas I found even the most basic concepts very tough. However, I have enjoyed the course so far and am willing to put other commitments on hold until the holidays. Tell me one tip that helped you stay dedicated to your studies and made your way of studying more efficient. I think my answer to both of these is to focus on the practical. What I mean is that for me the most satisfying aspect of the course is the application to my day-to-day work so any time I lose some commitment I just think back to some technique that I have learned from interaction with colleagues and tutors and how this has impacted my practice. This has also made my study more efficient as I am consolidating my learning by using my new skills on a daily basis and so cementing the learning – or at least that’s the theory!
Take a shot at online learning with MOOCs Due to being widely available and freely accessible, Massive Online Open Courses have recently gained large popularity throughout the world. MOOCs are open-licensed short courses that anyone can take and are usually delivered to large cohorts of learners. To date, more than 2 million people have signed up to University of Edinburgh courses across a broad range of subject areas. There are some really interesting courses out there - you can learn about understanding obesity to animal welfare and behaviour. Although MOOCs do not have formal university credits assigned to them, Statements of Accomplishment will be available to any learner who completes a course. They typically require 1-2 hours of study each week for around 5 weeks and are self-directed, meaning you follow the course materials, complete the readings and assessments and get help from a large community of fellow learners through online forums. Sounds fun? Sign up for one here!
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Academic Matters
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Sarah Henderson reveals what it takes to do well in Clinical Management of Pain and gives us a snapshot into life as the leader of an online distance learning programme. Sarah Henderson, Programme Director, Clinical Management of Pain. Tell me a little about yourself. My initial training in psychology was at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. Following the completion of my PhD focussing on the barriers to effective pain assessment at Queen Margaret University in 2005, I began my post at the University of Edinburgh. I have research interests in educational development, technologies for learning, the translation of education into clinical practice and pain management in underresourced nations. Outside my academic job, I work on the stage in musical theatre, and have previously worked in television, film and commercials and have taught ballet, tap and jazz to both children and adults. I also sing in a 1940s jazz trio and choreograph for local musical theatre companies. When not treading the boards, I can be found enjoying the outdoors, road cycling and travelling (often all three together!).
and helping to plan strategy for the development of online distance learning across the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. Various times of the year are more focussed on certain areas - for example during the academic year - from September to May - is very busy teaching and managing students; however, over the summer months, the focus shifts to my own research projects and development for future years. What is unique about the Clinical Management of Pain programme? One of the key features of the Clinical Management of Pain programme is that it is truly international - we have students from nearly every continent - and from a very broad range of healthcare professions, which adds significantly to the richness of their educational experience. The programme is based on the curriculum from the International Association for the Study of Pain and contains courses applicable to all healthcare professionals, such as assessment and measurement, pharmacology, and neurophysiology as well as specialist courses in areas such as cancer pain, medical pain and neuropathic pain.
What is your average day like? Probably the best words to describe an ‘average’ day is “varied”. It can be anything from overseeing the development of new programme courses, supervising students’ projects, and liaising with external course tutors to managing my own research projects, collaborating with international partners on new developments Page 7
“One of the key features of the Clinical Management of Pain programme is that it is truly international - we have students from nearly every continent - and from a very broad range of healthcare professions.”
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Academic Matters (continued)
What do you hope your students will get out of the programme to help them in their future career path? There are many and diverse prospects for employment depending on where students work, the area of the world where they live and their previous experience. A degree in the Clinical Management of Pain demonstrates to employers that they have specialised, theoretical knowledge in pain management to supplement and support their on-going and developing clinical careers. Graduates will have gained skills which may, depending on background and strengths, have prepared them for employment in a wide variety of areas including research establishments, educational facilities, government or political organisations, charity and welfare organisations, and even within the pharmaceutical or production industry or clinical organisations. What is your idea of an ideal student of your programme? How much time does your student need to dedicate to their studies? For the most part, our students are graduates in medicine, dentistry, nursing, psychology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and other healthcare professions with a clinical interest in the management of pain. Equally, we consider applications from those with non-university professional qualifications such as RGN with appropriate clinical experience on individual basis. We find that students who are willing to learn with others, are keen to explore clinical areas outside their own profession, open to new ways of learning, and have an enthusiastic and genuine interest in education and learning do well on our programme. Additionally, it is important that students have time to dedicate to the programme as the programme can take up a considerable amount of time - up to 20 hours a week are reported by some of our students! Page 8
Helping your Academic Development
Online Pre-sessional Academic Language course The English Language Teaching Centre offers a free course for international Online Distance Learning students to help prepare for their studies. The course is opened to those who: • accepted an unconditional offer of a place on an ODL Masters programme • achieved an IELTS (or equivalent) Writing score of no more than 0.5 above the minimum level required for your programme The course is run for 5 weeks from August till September. If you are interested, apply for the tutored course by sending an email to ODL-English@ed.ac.uk. You can also access an Independent Study version of the course via Learn, and you don’t need an unconditional offer to get enrolled on this one. Click here to find out more about the course.
Institute for Academic Development The Institute for Academic Development (IAD) provides University level support for teaching, learning and researcher development. Save this link to find out more about how the IAD can help you during your postgraduate studies.
Postgraduate dissertation tips It’s never too early to start thinking about your dissertation. The Institute for Academic Development is here with courses, tips, and training to help you minimize stress and sail into your research with confidence. Get the tips now!
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A community where we encourage offer-holders speak to each other online. Keep up to date with the latest news from the Graduate School. We have our own channel and are adding student experience films all the time. Take a sneak peak at postgraduate life through our students. View our e-zines featuring interviews and key information for applicants.
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Discover the University community through films, blogs and social media. Click on the icons below:
LinkedIn Group for Online Distance Learning students We have set up an Edinburgh University MedVets Online Learning group on LinkedIn so that all online distance learning students can meet each other and exchange their tips, tricks and experience. Join the group by clicking on the link above or click here.
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Sights to see if you ever visit Edinburgh Edinburgh is celebrated as one of Europe’s most beautiful capitals, enjoying a unique blend of architecture, monuments and extraordinary natural setting. It also possesses a wonderful range of attractions, museums, bars and restaurants to sample throughout the year.
Whilst the city environs offer enough to amply fill your time we still recommend that you also explore a little further afield in order to make the most of your time if you visit this wonderful country. Therefore here are a couple of other places, easily explorable from Edinburgh that we are sure you will enjoy experiencing!
...here are some other places, easily explorable from Edinburgh that we are sure you will enjoy experiencing! Cramond Island Situated less than an hour from the city centre via local bus Cramond is a delightful fishing village perfect for escaping from everyday hustle and bustle! Its picturesque harbour of sailing boats and welcoming local pub provides a relaxing atmosphere but many visit to explore its famed tidal island which is a great picnic location for a sunny day. Adding to the islands rugged charm is that you can only reach it by foot but make sure you check the tide times carefully as it is only safe to cross at certain times. Many a visitor has in fact been temporarily marooned on the island!! Cramond Island
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Sights to see if you ever visit Edinburgh (continued)
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Whilst the city environs offer enough to amply fill your time we still recommend that you also explore a little further afield...
Glasgow
Perthshire For a true taste of Highland adventure why not take a trip into Big Tree country to the north of the city in Perthshire. Perthshire is a great area to try new pursuits such as abseiling, white water rafting or even zorbing at places like Nae Limits near Dunkeld. Or If you want to do less and just appreciate the beautiful surroundings then Glen Lyon is the longest Glen (Valley) in all the country and offers true isolation and wilderness to recharge your batteries! Perthshire also has a range of whisky distilleries such as the Famous Grouse near Crieff if you want to sample a drink of Scotland’s own ‘Uisce beatha’ water of life.
Glasgow For something totally different to Cramond why not visit Scotland’s largest city Glasgow, also under an hour away but this time by train. This bustling metropolis is described as offering the UK’s best shopping outside of London and has a fantastic range of shops, bars and nightlife. Glasgow is also a fantastic city to catch some live music, holding on average around 300 gigs a week and being the UK’s only Unesco recognised city of Music! Like Edinburgh Glasgow also offers wonderful free access to many museums including Kelvingrove which has over 8000 objects in its 22 themes galleries including Salvador Dali’s iconic Christ of Saint John of the Cross. Perthshire
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The City of Edinburgh
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We hope that all of our online distance learning students will at some point get a chance to visit Edinburgh - whether it’s during your studies or if you come for your graduation ceremony – here are some reasons why you should visit: • Edinburgh was recently voted the 4th most beautiful city in the world • Spoiler: 53 Reasons Why Edinburgh Ruins You For Life!
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