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Fundamental Skills for Medical Scientists

Module description

Designed to help you to get the most out of your BSc Medical Sciences degree, this module will take you through your first steps in developing essential scientific and professional skills that will be useful in your future career.  In this module, you will explore topics relating to safe and accurate laboratory work, data handling and presentation, communication in formal and informal environments, and employability.

You must complete the ELE (Exeter Learning Environment) module 'Academic Honesty and Plagiarism' prior to submitting your first piece of coursework and you will seek guidance from your Academic Tutor or the module lead if further advice is required. 

In order to take this module you must normally have an A Level (or equivalent) in Biology.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module introduces you to the key principles of safe laboratory practice, data handling and presentation, scientific writing and communication skills, and employability. You will gain a good working knowledge of scientific writing, critical appraisal and referencing, and effective visual representation and statistical analysis of experimental data. Further emphasis will be placed on personal development planning to make sure you have the transferable skills necessary to enhance your performance in all academic stages as well as to improve your Professional Training Year and your future employability prospects.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate knowledge of what it means to work safely in the laboratory and to gain competence in basic laboratory procedures supported by virtual on-line resources.
• 2. Communicate effectively and with probity to expert and non-expert audiences (by written, oral and visual means)

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Accurately analyse, interpret and present scientific data (data handling).
• 4. Use on-line literature databases to gather scientific information.
• 5. Synthesise and critically evaluate current scientific knowledge, with appropriate referencing.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Manage time, workload and information effectively, both independently and as part of a team.
• 7. Identify transferable skills acquired from academic and extra-curricular activities and apply these to future academic development and career planning through reflection and review processes.
• 8. Conduct yourself in a professional manner

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, an example of an overall structure is as follows: 

The module is broadly divided into three competency sections.  1)Developing your laboratory and data handling skills.  2) Working in small groups under the guidance of an expert facilitator to develop skills in literature searching, critical analysis,scientific writing and oral presentation. A series of supporting workshops will lead you step by step through this process.  3) Learning how to enhance your employability skills through undertaking a CV and cover letter writing assessment.

Throughout the module, you will be required to engage with the Translational Science Seminar series, Arena Seminars (clinician-scientist-patient forum) and other advertised academic and employability-focused sessions.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

In the event of you failing the professionalism award assessment component and failing the module overall, you will be required to meet with your Academic Tutor as soon as possible to remediate this failure as a referred assessment.  This will involve submitting any outstanding components required for this award, and, if necessary, undertaking any actions required by the Academic Tutor to remediate for any unprofessional behaviour. In the event of you failing the Professionalism Award component but passing the module overall, you will be required to meet with their academic tutor for an individual meeting to remediate this outcome at the beginning of the following academic year.

Please also refer to the TQA section on Referral/Deferral: http://as.exeter.ac.uk/academic-policy-standards/tqa-manual/aph/consequenceoffailure/

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Cottrell, S. Study Skills. Palgrave

Cottrell, S. Critical Thinking Skills. Palgrave.

Boyle, J. & Ramsay, S. Writing for Science Students. Palgrave.

Harris, M., Taylor, J. & Taylor, G. Catch Up Maths & Stats: for the life and medical sciences. Scion Publishing.

Rumsey, D. J. Statistics For Dummies. For Dummies Publishing.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

All basic material required for this module will be provided on the Exeter Learning Environment (ELE), which can be accessed here: https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=6294

Key words search

Safety, laboratory skills, statistics, research skills, scientific communication, scientific writing, presentation skills, experimental design, data analysis, employability, study skills, personal development