Chair: Luca Bertolaccini, IT

Introduction
This course will delve into the essential skills and techniques required to conduct and communicate medical research effectively. Medical research plays a crucial role in advancing healthcare and improving patient outcomes. The ability to write a clear and concise research paper is fundamental for researchers, physicians, and healthcare professionals.

Course Overview
This course is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the methodology involved in medical research writing. We will explore various components of the research process including literature review, study design, data collection and analysis, the interpretation of results, and formulation of scientific manuscripts. You will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to produce high-quality research papers through a combination of lectures, practical exercises, and real-world examples.

Course Objectives

1. Understand the fundamentals of medical research methodology: we will discuss the key principles and concepts related to medical research including study design, ethical considerations, and data collection techniques.

2. Conduct an effective literature review: you will learn how to conduct a thorough literature review to identify knowledge gaps, critically appraise existing research, and build a strong foundation for your studies.
   
   
3. Develop a research question and hypothesis: we will guide you through the process of how to formulate a research question and hypothesis that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
   
   
4. Design a research study: you will gain insights into different study designs, sampling methods, and data collection strategies, enabling you to choose the most appropriate approach for your research objectives.
   
   
5. Analyze and interpret research data: we will explore various statistical methods which are commonly used in medical research and teach you how to accurately analyze and interpret your data.
   
   
6. Write a scientific manuscript: you will learn about the structure and critical components of a scientific manuscript, including the abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion sections. We will provide guidelines on how to organize your research findings, present data effectively, and ensure clarity and coherence in your writing.
   
   
7. Ethical considerations in medical research: we will emphasize the importance of ethical conduct in research, including obtaining informed consent, protecting participant confidentiality, and adhering to ethical guidelines and regulations.
   
   
8. Publication and dissemination of research: You will gain insights into publishing research papers in reputable medical journals and explore strategies for effectively disseminating your findings through conferences and other scientific platforms.

Course Delivery
This online course will be delivered through pre-recorded lectures available on demand.

Prerequisites
This course has no strict prerequisites. However, a basic understanding of methodological terminology and familiarity with scientific research concepts would be beneficial.

Conclusion
By the end of this course, you will have acquired the necessary skills and knowledge to embark on your medical research journey and effectively communicate your findings through high-quality research papers. We hope you find this course insightful and engaging, and we look forward to supporting you in your pursuit of excellence in medical research writing.

Accreditation
Participants will be issued a certificate of attendance (minimum attendance: 75%). An online evaluation questionnaire and learning assessment test will need to be completed in order to get the certificate that will be sent by email.
Application for CME recognition has been submitted to the Accreditation Council of Oncology in Europe (ACOE) and 8 CME credits have been granted to this event. The American Medical Association (AMA) and the Accreditation Council for Continuous Medical Education (ACCME) designate this type of educational activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA category 1 credits per hour of activity.
CME credits will be assigned until 13 November 2024.
     
   ESCO - The ESO College

The course enables ESCO students to earn ESCO credits and therefore access more ESCO benefits. Full and active participation in the Course earns participants 8 ESCO credits.

Visit www.ESCO.org for more information on how to join ESCO.

SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY

Deadline: 29 February 2024

Requirements: Completion of the online course and one of the top ten grades during the respective learning test.

On 29 February 2024, 10 students who have completed the online course with the highest exam grade will be invited to participate in an additional activity dedicated to systematic reviews and meta-analyses with Experts in the field who will make themselves available for three dedicated online meetings organized by ESO via Zoom platform:

Phase 1. Participants will create questions (according to PICO methodology) that will be emailed to Experts who will then select the most clinically relevant one to be used to start the scientific research work;

Phase 2. In accordance with PRISMA, this phase will include the development of the search on PubMed, extraction and selection of papers for inclusion and the creation of a summary of findings tables;

Phase 3. The final phase foresees the processing of results and writing of a paper (to be published in a journal with impact factor and visible on PubMed/Scopus).

Congratulations to the following participants who have been selected to participate in the extra Writing Methodology Course activities thanks to their excellent scores in the learning test:
Artur Bandura, Poland
Eleonora Coviello, Italy
Andrew Dooley, United Kingdom
Hailemichael Welekidan Gebreslase, Ethiopia
Mirela Hategan, Romania
Divetiya Khanduja, Armenia
Eleonora Lai, Italy
Andreea Lescaie, Romania
Sofia Ramalho, Portugal
Aung Thiha, United Kingdom