Introduction

Research. Audit. Presentations. Publications. Conferences. All key buzzwords that you’ve probably heard flying about. But what’s the “take home”? Well, research can be primary (you collect data yourself, analyse and write it up) or secondary (review other people’s research and synthesise your own ideas based on it). Common to both is starting with an important, objective research question to add value and progress the field. Audits, in contrast to research, aims to evaluate a service, compare it to a standard and see if it can be improved. All of this can result in presentations at conferences (either a poster or oral) and even publications (the write-up of your research is published in a scientific journal). So why get involved? There are several reasons why people want to get involved in research. Let’s break it down:

1.You’re really interested in a particular field and want more exposure to it.

2.You’re very passionate about a particular field and want to contribute, progress it and leave your mark on the field.

3.You’re keen to get your name on a publication.

4.You’re keen to present work at a conference as a poster or as a talk. 

5.You want publications and presentations to boost your CV and secure the top jobs. 

These reasons are by no means mutually exclusive! Often people get involved because of all them! Whatever your motivation, we’re going to help you make sense of medical/ scientific research and hopefully help and inspire you to get involved!