Writing MD thesis for postgraduate medical student

how to write a good MD thesis
how to search the internet for a scientific papers
dealing with your guide and improving your skills in review of literature

1. Medical writing Hussein Elkhayat , MD

2. “If you didn’t invent/create it and you weren’t born knowing it – then you MUST reference it .” - This lecture material are collected from previous lectures and courses of : Prof.Omar M Shaaban Prof.Rabab A. Ahmed Prof.Dalia G. Mahran Dr.T.V.Rao MD THESIS WRITING FOR ( POST GRADUATE MEDICAL STUDENTS ) Faye Hicks - author

3. Writing your thesis where to start?

4. WHO SELECTS THE THESIS TOPIC supervisor OR STUDENT? On many occasions supervisor suggest some topics with better understanding , knowing very well the facilities available in the Laboratory / Hospitals . The student has also important role in accepting what has been suggested, Impracticable outdated ideas of supervisors is catastrophic both to the students and to the department

5. Your supervisor will expect that: You have identified a worthwhile problem or question which has not been previously answered ? You have solved the problem or answered the question or at least contributed some facts for better understanding on the topic selected.

6. CONFLICTS IN supervisor AND STUDENT RELATIONS A non committed students and a irrational supervisors are the real areas of conflict what we see in the working environment . Todays youth too are intelligent wise and well informed they can understand strengths and weakness of the supervisors in few days of joining the Department Even supervisor should practice the policy of Humble to learn and wise to teach.

7. Obviously your external examiners will read the thesis. They will be experts in the general field of your thesis but, on the exact topic of your thesis, you are the world expert. Keep this in mind : you should write to make the topic clear to a reader who has not spent most of the last three years thinking about it.

8. How to review the literature

9. CAN INTERNET SEARCH SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF WRITING A GOOD THESIS Many postgraduates usually search on the internet to find out information for any thesis. They find it interesting and obviously there is no place better than internet where they can find all the relevant information. However , the students are not aware of the contents and patterns and often end up writing down something absolutely meaningless.

10. Questions you must have asked when you have chosen the topic for your study · What is the problem? · What is the relevance of this problem? · What information is already available? · What do you hope to achieve by your study? · What additional data are needed to meet the objectives? · How these data are collected? · Is it ethical to conduct the study in the way you want to do? · How these collected data are going to be analyzed? · What is the expected outcome and how much it is useful?

11. Whenever you read an article your must have answered following questions: What are the principal findings · Strength and weakness of the study. · How does the article compare in relation to other studies, discussing particularly any differences in results. · Meaning of the study: possible mechanism and implications for clinicians or policy makers. · Unanswered questions and future research.

12. You should have written these answers in paper and attached it to every article you read and started filing according to the alphabetical list.

13. Organization Make an ‘outline’ describing what you want the report to look like. Decide what objectives you will address and what information you wish to present. Think about your reader Decide what materials you will need to have on hand to write the report. You should assemble all necessary information before you start to write. This includes preparation of all of your figures and tables. Now you are ready to start writing!

14. The “four drafts” approach to speed writing Draft 1 –this is the ‘outlining’ stage.  In this draft I list down the complete table of contents, from chapters right down to the lowest sub-sections Draft 2 – This is the ‘brainstorming’  draft.  The idea here is simply to dump all your thoughts and ideas.  Don’t worry about sentence order, grammar, spelling or punctuation – that will just slow you down and interrupt the creative flow .

15. Draft 3 – this is the ‘sifting and sorting’  stage, where the first seeds of paragraphs germinate, grow and flourish.  First, go through everything you dumped during the brainstorming session(s) and collect ‘like’ ideas into groupings.  Next, start thinking about topic sentences for these groupings.  Then, flesh out the supporting facts into full blown sentences.  Organize these supporting sentences into a logical order under their respective topic sentences.  Don’t waste any time trying to get the wording absolutely perfect

16. Draft 4 the ‘preening’ draft.  This is where you turn your excellent technical content into excellent technical prose.  Check your grammar, spelling and punctuation.

17. How to write a paragraph !

18. Organization Open a word-processor file for each chapter in a computer, which is available Do not forget to keep a copy with you on a flash disk or skydrive . You can put notes in these, as well as text.

19. Organization Make a back-up of these files and do so every day Never keep the back-up disk close to the computer If you are not competent in typing and with computer you should have a physical filing system

20. A timetable sit down with your guide and making up a timetable for writing it. If you have told your adviser that you will deliver a first draft of chapter 3 on Wednesday, it focuses your attention.

21. Beginning to real work Do not be upset if a chapter - especially the first one you write - returns covered in red ink. Your adviser will want your thesis to be as good as possible, because his/her reputation as well as yours is affected.

22. It is often helpful to have someone other than your adviser(s) read some sections of the thesis. It may also be appropriate to ask other members of staff to read some sections of the thesis which they may find relevant or of interest.

23. Your thesis may also be used as a scientific report and consulted by other residents, future workers who will want to know, in detail, what you did. More and more theses are now stored in an entirely digital form www.eulc.edu.eg

24. Dishonesty in scientific research you must usually state where in the scientific literature that result is reported. If you don’t invent it , you have to cite it The only exceptions are cases where every scientist in the field already knows it: tachypnoea in pneumonia, oedema in congestive heat failure.

25. Fraud: Turning in someone else's writing as your own; inventing statistics or sources that do not exist; falsifying evidence Plagiarism is the theft of other people’s words and ideas . Plagiarism happens when you claim (or appear to claim) that an idea, or the expression of it, is your own when in fact it is someone else’s. This either Intentional (deliberate) or unintentional (accidental)

26. Plagiarism is the use of another author's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions, and the representation of them as one's own original work ( Ref: From the Oxford English Dictionary ) بالغة العربية : السطو الاكاديمي

27. Examples of Plagiarism… Copying and pasting text from online encyclopedias Copying and pasting text from any web site Using photographs, video or audio without permission or acknowledgement Using another author’s or your parents’ work and claiming it as your own even with permission Using your own work without properly citing it !

28. How to Avoid Plagiarism… Begin the writing process by stating your ideas; then go back to the author's original work. To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit (i.e. to mention references) whenever you use another person’s idea, opinion, or theory. You take any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings or any pieces of information in your own research writing.

29. How to Avoid Plagiarism… If you are going to take the exact words from another source use quotation marks and then credit the source (author) If you are going to take a scientific fact from a research article, write it in your own words not the exact copy of the authors words…this is called “Paraphrasing”. ….of course this should not change the scientific fact. Even when you paraphrase another author's writings, you must give credit to that author.

30. References: Diana Hacker's A Writer's Reference, 4th ed. (Boston & New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999) Examples of plagiarism detection servers and software http://www.ithenticate.com/ http://www.plagscan.com/ http://searchenginereports.net/ http://www.duplichecker.com/

31. Style The text must be clear. Good grammar and thoughtful writing will make the thesis easier to read. Scientific writing has to be a little formal Some use : "at this point in time" instead of "now" precisely because it takes longer to convey the same meaning. THIS IS WRONG !

32. deadline A thesis is so large a work that you cannot make it perfect in a finite time. There will inevitably be things in it that you could have done better. There will be inevitably be some typos.

33. Structure of the thesis

34. title Adequately describes the contents of the thesis in the fewest possible words. 10–12 words No unnecessary words, nor waste space with phrases such as “Observations on” or “A study of” No abbreviations

35. Problems of titles Too short Too long Ambiguous or inappropriate for a journal article Poor syntax or careless grammar Use of abbreviations or jargon

36. Acknowledgements Most thesis authors put in a page of thanks to those who have helped them in matters scientific, and also indirectly by providing such essentials as food, education, genes, money, help, advice, friendship etc. If any of your work is collaborative, you should make it quite clear who did which sections.

37. Structure of the thesis Introduction: Why did the authors start? Review of literature Methods: What did they do? Results: What did they find? Discussion: What do the results mean? conclusion

38. Introduction

39. Tell the reader why the research was started Make clear what question the research was designed to answer.   Raise the interest of the reader.

40. Gives background or context of study Reviews knowledge on topic Justifies need for the study Provides information on study objectives and hypothesis

41. Justifying Need for Study The justification follows the general and immediate problems and a review of current knowledge that supports the need for the study: “Because no studies to date have reported outcomes, we examined.…” “Evaluation of the results of the program was necessary to develop future programs.”

42. General Type and Objectives of Study General type of study, such as experiment or survey: “We conducted an experiment…” “We surveyed the attitudes and practices…” Objectives or hypotheses immediately following study type: “The objective was to determine if availability of VATS resulted in higher minimal invasive operation.”

43. What Not to Include Do not include information that is not directly relevant to your study: Problems other than the one being examined General information about the country Details of the research design

44. What to Cite Do cite the papers written on your specific research topic. Do not cite well-known facts (“Maternal mortality is higher in developing countries than in Europe”) or articles not read.

45. The introduction should not: Explain what can be found in any textbook in the field   Be over-referenced; it should give only strictly pertinent references   Include data or conclusions from the work being reported

46. Write an introduction section for: Giving 60 year old men a cup of green tea every day reduces their risk of heart disease

47. Methods

48. A detailed exposition of the research design. A reader of the methods section should be able to repeat the study and to validate the findings. A methods section less than two double-spaced pages is probably inadequate.

49. Study Group and Design Contents and Sequence: 1. Participants 2. Informed consent 3. Design used 4. Method of assignment to groups

50. Materials and Procedure Contents and Sequence: 1. Interventions 2. Information about study implementation 3. Provide parallel information for each group

51. Do Not Include Background Information Examples of materials used in study Results

52. In General Be precise: Specify the exact number of days and hours of training, for example Be concise: Use short simple sentences. Can use standard jargon such as “randomized block design” and acronyms like “ANOVA”

53. Established methods should be referenced but no description is necessary. For published but not well known methods, a reference as well as a brief description should be given. New or substantially modified methods should be clearly described, with reasons given for using them and with their limitations outlined.

54. The methods section should not: Refer to patients and animals as material. Use trade names of drugs; generic names should be used.

55. Ethics Indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards When reporting experiments on animals, authors should indicate whether the institutional or national guidelines or laws on the care and use of laboratory animals were followed.

56. Statistics Described in sufficient detail. Any computer programs used should be identified. Statistical terms, abbreviations, and symbols should be defined. Details about randomization, concealment of allocation to treatment groups, and the method of masking (blinding) and losses to observation .

57. “A P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant”, since the choice of this cut-off point is arbitrary. Avoid non-technical uses of technical statistical terms, such as “random” “significant”, “correlation” and “sample” in non-statistical contexts.

58. Results

59. The objective of the research should be kept in mind. Results that do not relate to the research objective should not be mentioned. Statistics should not take over the paper

60. Overview Ways to Present Data Text Tables Figures and illustrative graphs Data always appears in the results section!

61. Overview - Text Do not present data in table or figure if able to present in text Use text whenever there are small amounts of data to be summarized Do not repeat data presented in table or figure in text

62. Overview - Tables Tables are arrangements of numbers or words in columns and rows that display data or relationships Allow presentation of exact values Present large amounts of data in a small space

63. Parts of a Table Title begins with a table number and describes the contents Field is the space filled by rows and columns Column headings describe column contents

64. Parts of a Table (cont.) Heading straddle rule : Put a line over grouped columns Rows and sub-heads: Indent to create sub-headings Footnotes provide details that cannot be included in title

65. Tables - Titles Precise Eliminate unnecessary words Avoid repetition of headings of columns and rows

66. Tables - Columns and Rows Arrange columns and rows in logical sequence Round the data as much as possible Include summary statistics for making comparisons

67. Figures and Charts Figures and charts give visual descriptions of relationships between groups or numbers Emphasize one point Easily understood Preferred for presentations

68. Chart Types and Uses Bar chart: Values of a single item over multiple units (e.g., dependent variable over time periods) Pie chart: Importance (in %) of categories as part of whole (100%) Stacked bar chart = Vertical Pie chart

69. Chart Types and Uses (cont.) Line graph: Shows a variable over time (e.g., trend line) Scatter plots/X-Y plots: Show association between two or more variables (e.g., correlations)

70. Common Problems in Charts Too many pie slices, bars, or segments Ambiguous labels Lack of contrasts between bars Axes of unequal length

71. Presented in a logical sequence in the text, tables, and illustrations. Tables and graphs are often extremely helpful in summarizing large amounts of data. Numerical data contained in figures and tables should not be repeated in the text.

72. Big or little? Readers should not have to reach for a magnifying glass to make out the details. Color or no color? Title or no title? Never use a title for Figures included in a paper ; the legend conveys all the necessary information and the title just takes up extra space. CONSIDERATION ABOUT A GRAPH

73. Discussion Good papers have a targeted discussion, to keep it focused. Structured to include the following six components (Docherty and Smith, 1999)

74. Statement of principal findings   Strengths and weaknesses of the study   Strengths and weaknesses in relation to other studies   Meaning of the study, possible mechanisms and implications for clinicians and policymakers   Unanswered questions and future research Conclusion  

75. Statement of principal findings Start with a sentence that clearly shows that the paper includes new information. Reviewers often presume that the paper does not add anything new.  

76. Strengths and weaknesses of the study Equal emphasis should be given to both strengths and weaknesses. Don’t let the reader discover your weaknesses A subheading such as “limitations of the study” or data is useful.  

77. Strengths and weaknesses in relation to other studies All evidence bearing on the argument, with or against, should be considered. Discuss the opposing point of view Avoid ignoring studies with similar results.

78. Strengths and weaknesses in relation to other studies Critically evaluate other papers’ methodology, findings and conclusions. Differences in results should be discussed and possible explanations offered. If you do not know why your results are different say so.

79. Meaning of the study Possible mechanisms Implications for clinicians and policymakers Do not move beyond the limited evidence provided by the study. Emphasize, not only what the results mean, but also what the results do not mean.  

80. Unanswered questions and future research New research may be proposed to provide the answer to questions that are still not answered. Be specific.  

81. Conclusion The body of a good paper is a “thunderbolt in reverse”: it begins with thunder (introduction) and ends with lightning Avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not completely supported by the data.

82. REFERENCES HARVARD VANCHOUVER

83. REFERNCE MANAGER ENDNOTE Mendeley

84. Endnote orientation

85. Hussein Elkhayat [email protected] Thank you