The Master Thesis is comprised of the following parts:
- Written composition of a study protocol including patient information sheet
- Oral presentation of the study protocol
- Written appraisal of the study protocol by a colleagues
1. Written composition of a study protocol including patient information sheet:
- Approval to undertake the written Master Thesis is conditional upon the successful completion of the examinations set for Modules l to VI.
- The Master Thesis must be completed individually by each course participant. Partner and group work submissions are not permitted.
- The subject of the Master Thesis comprises the written composition of a protocol for clinical study, which is realistically implementable within the participant's field of research, together with the associated patient information sheet. The paper should contain details of the scientific background, the chosen study design, the selected methodology and the statistical analysis plan to the same extent as would be expected of a study protocol.
- The completion of the written Master Thesis will be supervised by a thesis supervisor who will conduct an initial appraisal. The course participants have a right of nomination in accordance with the available thesis supervisors. The thesis supervisors will be appointed by the course director.
- The final paper (incl. bibliography) should be at least 50 A4 pages in length (Arial 12-point, double line spacing) excluding any Appendixes. The time of submission is to be documented.
- The thesis supervisor is required to prepare a written report on the written composition of the study protocol. The course director is responsible for the awarding of grades.
2. Oral presentation of the study protocol:
The students will present their protocols and patient information sheets to the teaching staff in a setting of a simulated ethics commission meeting. The presentations will then be discussed from the perspective of applicants and committee members. The evaluation criteria are the relevance of the study, the methodological composition, concise presentation of content, presentation technique and the discussion of the written report.
3. Written appraisal of the study protocol by a colleague:
Each student is required to critically appraise the finished study protocol and accompanying patient information sheet prepare by another fellow student. This will be done on an anonymous basis. The quality of the course participant's appraisal will be included in the assessor's final overall assessment of the Master Thesis.
If the Master Thesis is negatively assessed by the course director the provisions contained in Section 17a para. 12 of the 2nd Section of the Constitution of MedUni Vienna will be applied.