A closer look at our Introduction to Research Course
July, 2023
The Clifford Craig Foundation is continuing its commitment to education at the Launceston General Hospital, with more than 50 healthcare workers recently completing our 2023 Introduction to Research Course.
With the goal of providing clinicians in medicine, nursing and allied health with the skills to undertake their own medical research projects, the course was facilitated by Research Fellow Dr Sarah Young, Professor Nicholas Shackel and Dr Kath Ogden.
Held over six-weeks in the LGH lecture theatre, topics included research design and theory, qualitative and quantitative research methods, biostatistics, ethics, governance and tips for getting work published.
With different presenters each week, participants were also encouraged to collaborate - including break-out group sessions at the end of each presentation.
The course was open to anyone with an interest in medical research, with participants representing a broad spectrum of healthcare including medical students, registrars, interns, nurses, allied health and more.
With the course wrapping up earlier this month, we caught up with two participants – Clinical Nurse Consultant Fiona Taylor and Clinical Dietitian Soraya DiNuzzo – to find out what they thought.
“It was wonderful to see the passion for research within the THS and the possibilities.”
Fiona Taylor, Clinical Nurse Consultant
Fiona Taylor - Clinical Nurse Consultant
Fiona is a Clinical Nurse Consultant at the Tasmanian Specialist Immunisation and Allergy Clinic.
With a Master of Public Health, she has always had an interest in medical research, but said she’d never had the opportunity to explore it - until now.
“I did a Master’s in Public Health, with a focus on Indigenous research,” she explained.
“So, a lot of qualitative research and more looking at things through an Indigenous lens.
“But, I’ve never really had an opportunity to take that any further.”
Fiona said she signed up for the Introduction to Research Course with the hope of further developing her skills.
“I feel that through Clifford Craig, there is a real momentum for people to be encouraged to get involved in medical research. I think this course really emphasised that,” she said.
“The Introduction to Research Course presented an overview of research with a focus on how research can inform practice and the complexities of research in the health care setting.
“The course was interactive and the presenters were encouraging.
“It was wonderful to see the passion for research within the THS and the possibilities.”
Fiona commenced her role with the Tasmanian Health Service in 2020.
Soon, she will be assisting with an upcoming research project assessing the safety and impact on reducing the burden on penicillin allergy in hospitalised patients, and the subsequent effect on antibiotic prescribing and patient outcomes.
One of the most beneficial things was the opportunity to network with a range of different professions”
Soraya DiNuzzo, Clinical Dietitian
Soraya DiNuzzo, Clinical Dietitian
Soraya is an Accredited Practicing Dietitian at the Launceston General Hospital, currently working in oncology.
Originally from Brisbane, she has been at the LGH for about three-and-a-half years and in that time has worked across numerous workloads including inpatient, outpatient, surgical and rehab.
After being selected to take part in the Festival of Ideas program facilitated by the THS and UTAS, she was looking to brush up on her medical research knowledge and thought the Introduction to Research Course would do just that.
“Until recently, I hadn’t had much to do with research since university,” she said.
“Providing evidence-based care is the cornerstone of Dietetic practice. Being up to date with research and the evidence base underpins all that we do, and I thought it was time I also contributed to the research base.”
Soraya is exploring the link between malnutrition in hospitals and its impact on morbidity, mortality and patient complications - including length of stay and overall cost to the healthcare service and a patient’s quality of life.
“My project seeks to determine the barriers patients face to eating well in the hospital setting - perhaps they’re in a poor position to eat, food packages are too difficult to open, or meal trays are out of reach,” she explained.
“Once we’re aware of the major barriers patients face, we can work to minimise them, therefor improving food intake in hospital and helping to prevent malnutrition.
“I thought that learning more about research design, qualitative and quantitative methods of research and other areas would be valuable.”
Having now completed the Introduction to Research Course, she said one of the most beneficial elements was the opportunity to network with a range of different professions.
“Within allied health we have catch ups, but there is not really a lot of opportunities hospital-wide where you would get a med student, a dietitian, a physio, senior physio, consultant all together in one place,” she said.
“So, it was a really good way to network with people.”
She also found the content helpful to gain experience in a variety of areas relating to research.
“The presenting team were very approachable and knowledgeable and were able to relate these topics back to practical examples of study ideas we provided or areas they’ve previously worked in,” she said.
“Dinner provided by our awesome food service staff is also a nice incentive. I think most of us also appreciated that these sessions were recorded, so if we miss one due to having a busy week or need to revisit, the content is there to refer back to.”
The Foundation looks forward to providing further education initiatives like this in the near future.
The Foundation is proud to once again be offering two $12,500 scholarships for chosen participants of this course. Made possible by the philanthropic support of the Cuthill Family, the scholarships are aimed at supporting up-and-coming clinicians with translational research projects.
Watch this space!