Record number of summer students complete research studies

Friday 20 January, 2017

Record number of summer students complete research studies

A record number of students have provided invaluable support to medical research projects across the Bay of Plenty during their summer breaks.

Fourteen students, from all over the country, took part in the 2016/2017 Summer Studentship Programme run by the Bay of Plenty District Health Board’s (BOPDHB) Clinical School.

This is the seventh year of the programme, which offers scholarships during the summer semester break. The students worked across a range of specialties at both Tauranga and Whakatāne hospitals to complete research projects submitted by clinicians.

Eight of the students presented their findings to an audience of doctors, nurses, allied health and other health professionals at Tauranga Hospital’s ‘Grand Round’ on Tuesday (17 January).
Head of the BOPDHB Clinical School Professor Peter Gilling said the standard of the research had been excellent.

“We’re very pleased with the standard and it’s testimony to the hard work of the mentors and supervisors, as well as the students themselves of course. We’re also very happy with the number of sponsors this year with some, like the Bay of Plenty Medical Research Trust (BOPMRT), sponsoring more than one student. We’re very grateful for that.”

In its first year the programme started with just two students and has grown steadily since then to this year’s record number of 14. The students are typically medical students who work on a mix of five and 10-week projects.

Clinical School Manager Sarah Strong said the students were undertaking important research and at the same time sampling hospital life.

“Senior clinicians put forward research proposals and supervise the students,” she said. “The students’ work is invaluable. There’s a lot of data gathering, and the results inform the way services are delivered.

“It’s a real win-win as the students also sample hospital life and get to know the clinicians. That’s very important because longer term we anticipate that they might apply for placements or work here.”

This summer’s research topics included: chronic occupational noise induced hearing loss; safety in the workplace; virtual fracture clinics; patient discharge information; behavioural problems in young people with autism spectrum disorder; and red blood cell usage in surgery.

The majority of funding was provided by external organisations. This year’s sponsors were BOPMRT, the University of Auckland, Grace Hospital, Venturo Ltd, Priority One and the BOPDHB Provider Arm.

The students who took part in this year’s programme included: Joshua Read, Lou Daly, Katheryn Ball, Sam Boggiss, Kacey Gritt, Lucy Shilston, Lauren Whitworth, Cara Sturman, Meg Morbey, Alexandra Lawrence, Joshua Read, Naomi Looker, Vince Wilkinson and Abigail Bokor.

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