| Unit name | Preparing for Publication in Healthcare Ethics and Law |
|---|---|
| Unit code | BRMS30019 |
| Credit points | 40 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Deans |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
N/A |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
N/A |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
N/A |
| School/department | Bristol Medical School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Health Sciences |
This unit gives you the opportunity to explore in depth a topic of your choosing within healthcare ethics and law. You will harness the skills and knowledge you have developed so far and will build on these further as you work independently to focus on a targeted research question. You will engage in activities that are central to academic ethics and law, and that you can expect to take part in as a clinical professional with a specialist interest in ethics and law. By the end of the unit, you will have authored a paper that conforms to the formatting requirements of an academic journal, and you will have conducted in-depth, independent desk-based research and writing on a specific topic. This may serve as a launching point for publishing after graduating.
The summatively assessed paper you submit for this unit is the peak of your learning on the iBSc Healthcare Ethics and Law programme. Here you will use the skills and knowledge you have developed on the units in TB1 and in the Contemporary Bioethics unit in TB2, and you will push this learning further still as you conduct independent research to develop a paper that follows the conventions of publication.
An overview of content
Some of the content of this unit will be orientated around skills and conventions in publishing, so that you are familiar with, for example, the peer-review process, journal expectations, and academic integrity.
The academic content of this unit is dependent on your interests. We can help with a list of suggested topics, but students usually formulate their own questions to pursue. You will likely decide on a topic after inspiration from the course, academic literature, and through discussions with teaching staff and your peers. Teaching staff and your supervisor will be on hand to make sure you select a suitable topic, and will continue to offer guidance over the course of the unit. You will work with fellow students to explore your respective ideas, but you will largely be engaged in self-directed, independent study.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of this unit?
You will finish this unit with in-depth knowledge of a topic in healthcare ethics and law in which you are particularly interested. You will also have experience of giving detailed feedback (‘peer-review’) to your peers. On successful completion, you should have confidence that you are able to apply your skills in research, analysis and synthesis of arguments to any given topic in healthcare ethics and law. You will have the language for deliberating important ethical issues concerning your professional practice and identifying the relevant philosophical and/or legal questions to pursue to reach a rational and reasonable decision.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you should:
1. Be able to approach problems in healthcare ethics and law with a creative and enquiring mindset and be able to undertake independent research;
2. Use sound knowledge and analytic skills to take a critical approach complex questions in healthcare ethics and law;
3. Be able to demonstrate a good command of the theory, language and practice of your subject;
4. Understand the publication process and be able to write in a style suitable for an academic journal;
5. Be able to demonstrate you are an effective communicator through your writing and oral presentation skills.
Much of your learning will happen during the process of research and writing, the oral presentation, and through the peer review of others’ work. Throughout this unit you will attend regular research seminars, delivered by internal and external academics working in healthcare ethics and law. This will give you the opportunity to learn through role modelling and exposure to current research. At least one of the research seminars will be a ‘work in progress’ presentation, as a demonstration of the stage of research you will be at when you deliver your oral presentation on the topic you have chosen for your paper.
You will support your peers over the course of their projects (for example in the peer review exercise, and attending the oral presentations), such that you will learn more about the topics they are pursuing. You will all start to specialise in your chosen topics and as a group you will learn from each other.
You will develop your ideas over the course of the unit by responding to peer feedback and comments from teaching staff. You will be assigned a supervisor for your work on your paper. They will help you decide the structure of your paper and will comment on your written work. You will develop your ideas in part through regular discussions with them.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
The formative tasks are designed to help you recognise what you are doing well, identify any areas for improvement, and work on making those improvements. This is achieved through responding to feedback from your peers and teaching staff. The formative assessments are a combination of oral and writing tasks, so you can practice the skills that are tested in summative work.
Written proposal for paper, 500 words: This is the first step in putting your ideas for the paper into writing. From this point, you will receive feedback from teaching staff on the appropriateness of your chosen topic and further avenues to explore (for example suggestions for further reading).
Detailed written plan for paper, 2000 words: You will use this piece of writing to lay out the central ideas of your paper, citing relevant sources from the literature, and indicating the main lines of argument. At this point, you will have done a substantial amount of reading and writing, and will have given a lot of thought to your own views on the topic. You will receive constructive written feedback from your supervisor to help you progress to the next stage.
Section of paper, 1500-2000 words: You will likely have written a greater volume than 1500-2000 words, but can select up to 2000 words that you would like feedback on.
Written peer review of section of paper, 800 words: You will be asked to peer-review a section of another student’s paper. This mimics the academic practice of peer reviews of journal article submissions, giving you the opportunity to practice a peer review, while giving helpful feedback to a fellow student. Peer review will also help you see your own work from another perspective both by reading comments you receive about your work, and by swapping places so that you shift from ‘student’ to 'assessor’.
Students will receive written formative feedback from teaching staff on both the section of their own paper and the peer review.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Oral presentation, 10 minutes: You will give an oral presentation on the topic of your paper. This will form 20% of the summative assessment for the unit. This is an excellent formative opportunity, as you can use the feedback you receive from peers and teaching staff to strengthen the arguments in your paper. You will give your presentation part way through the unit so that it serves as a formative exercise. In other words, you can use the feedback from your peers and teaching staff to recognise the strengths and make improvements to your work on your paper. The presentation is billed as ‘work in progress’, which is a recognised stage of work in academia.
Paper prepared for publication: You will submit a paper addressing your chosen question in healthcare ethics and law. This will form 80% of the summative assessment for the unit. The paper will conform to the conventions of an academic journal in the field. You will not be expected to produce work of publishable standard, though this is a possible outcome for work achieving exceptionally high marks. You will receive written feedback on your paper.
When assessment does not go to plan
If you fail a summative assessment, you would not ordinarily be allowed to re-sit that assessment as all assessments sit in the final year of the programme.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. BRMS30019).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
