Clinical Research Methods and Evidence-Based Medicine (Taught)

This part-time MSc programme gives you the opportunity to complete a personalised and relevant master's-level degree that requires minimal study time away from clinical practice. It makes use of motivated and experienced clinical academics to deliver a programme that will translate to excellent, individualised academic surgical practice. The programme complements your clinical career, will expand your academic skills and offers the flexibility to focus on areas of practice that are relevant to your career plans.

The programme is divided into clinical, research methods and research project modules, all of which are completed on a part-time basis. The clinical component is designed with practical clinical relevance in mind. You will direct your own learning towards topics that you are interested in and are relevant to your career. You will choose one of the following sub-speciality areas of medicine based on the clinical specialty of the specialist doctor and surgical trainees:

• Trauma and Orthopaedic surgery

• Anaesthetics and intensive care

• Renal medicine

• General surgery

• Obstetrics and Gynaecology

• Vascular surgery

• Oncoplastic surgery

You will be registered on the overarching degree, and then transfer onto the pathway title of your chosen sub-speciality area of medicine.

Learning is assessed through oral presentations, poster presentations and reflective writing, which requires minimal time away from patient care and mirrors the professional activities of a specialist doctor and surgical clinician scientist. The research methods component comprises seminars in techniques of critical appraisal, trial design, data manipulation and analysis. A combination of formative and programme-level assessment will be used to demonstrate what you have learned.

The research project module offers an opportunity to carry out and deliver a high-quality study with academic supervision; the expectation is that this work would be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

https://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/media/postgraduate/admissions-statements/2025/msc-clinical-research-methods-and-evidence-based-medicine.pdf