Course on Clinical Research and
Scientific Writing in Dentistry
The University Medicine Greifswald is offering a Clinical Research and Scientific Writing in Dentistry course as preparation to improve your skills, e. g. in order to qualify for an academic career or a research project such as a doctoral thesis.
The course is a collaboration between all departments of the Dental School in Greifswald including Restorative Dentistry, Prosthodontics, Surgery (Facial-Maxillary, Oral & Esthetic), Orthodontics, Periodontology, Pediatric Dentistry, TMJ Disorders, Epidemiology, Dental Radiology and Digital Dentistry.
Course Overview
Program aims
To provide an introduction into basic skills required in clinical and dental research.
Objectives
By the end of this program the participants will have a clear understanding of research principles, methodologies, quality assurance and ethics. Participants will learn how to submit work to journals and how to present scientific findings at conferences. They will be able to obtain and critically review scientific papers and educational material.
Learning outcomes
By the completion of the three program modules, the participants will be able to conduct literature searches, be familiar with large cohort datasets, different study designs and related checklists. Participants will be able to critically read and summarize a scientific paper, have a clear understanding of how to present data and papers at scientific journals and meetings, understand the processes involved in submitting a paper for publication and have a basic understanding of research ethics, statistical methods and instruments. At the end of the course, participants will be able to generate a research idea and follow through with it in an individualized supervised structure.
Program Modules
Module 1: Basics of Clinical and Dental Research (20 hours, 10 days)
Participants will be introduced to the following learning objectives:
- research in (dental) medicine and generating a study idea
- literature review and reference management
- variables, distributions and descriptive statistics
- study designs and types of check lists (Consort, CASP..etc.)
- SHIP (Study of Health in Pomerania), design and data collection standards
- bias and instruments for assessment
- (dental) scientific English
- scientific presentations
- scientific writing/communication
- journal club: different studies and publication types
At the end of this module, participants will individually receive online homework assignments and projects, with available weekly consultations according to the needs of the participant.
Module 2: Research Project Idea outline (Individualized, 1 month)
At the end of this module, Participants will work on the development and presentation of their research idea including submitting an ethics proposal. This includes literature overview, materials & methods, sample size calculation, analysis plan and risk/benefit evaluation, with a final task defending their proposal in a simulated ethics committee
Module 3: Data analysis, Publication submission (Individualized, 1 month) with final tasks
- Development of data sheet
- Overview of analytical statistics
- Publication draft and submission
Admission requirements
The course takes place as an online seminar. Substantial parts are performed as homework with individualized guidance. In modules 2 and 3 there will be an individual one-to-one supervision.
- Dentists with a German license to practice dentistry or an equivalent degree are eligible for admission
- International colleagues with interest in dental research
- Undergraduate students of the dental medicine program at the University of Greifswald may be admitted as guests for Module 1a
Registration must be made in writing to the course director (Prof. Splieth) and must include:
- Letter of application/motivation
- curriculum vitae incl. photo
- previous list of publications (if available)
After the application, an interview will be organized online to exchange the interest in research followed by an official registration.
Guidelines
- The qualification of the applicant will be checked in an online interview with the course director or a representing UMG professor.
- Withdrawal from the course is only possible before the beginning of the course, but participants can opt out after every module.
- Individual modules may be waived by the course director after recognition and assessment of prior qualification.
- Modules 1, 2 and 3 can be extended by 1-2 months by the course management upon request of the participant.