Ibrahim Shadid

Ibrahim Shahid

MDRP Student 2019

I am currently in MD4, undertaking my MDRP at Western Health, working with the colorectal surgical department on surgical education. Originally from the Royal Melbourne Hospital I initially felt hesitant about doing my MDRP at a different hospital however, three weeks into my project I am loving every week so far. I feel very well supported at Western Health. I have a supervisor who replies to my emails in less than an hour, weekly in person meetings with my supervisor to discuss progress, a clinical research fellow to help me with the ethics application, a statistician available for data analysis, research tutorials and lectures once a week and much more. I have been welcomed into the department and the team. They have given me a new and profound respect for the time and effort required for research which the usual MDRP student would underestimate.

My project relates to surgical education and is looking on whether online videos can improve student performance in OSCE’s and clinical skills. I am grateful to have Professor. Justin Yeung as a supervisor who is very prompt in providing feedback which I feel is a core component of an effective supervisor student relationship. I have weekly in person meetings with Justin and Reuben to discuss the progress of our project. It is a friendly environment where we can float ideas on how to best approach our research.

I have also been encouraged me to spend time in clinics, surgery and on the wards once the administrative side of the project is underway, which is great to help keep your clinical skills up to scratch. The sense of teamwork at Western Health has really rubbed on me and I feel part of the community. The facilities in the research department at Sunshine hospital are state of the art. We have lectures and tutorials organised once a week on conducting our research, statistics and literature reviews to ensure we are up to date with it all. All students have access to a shared office space as well as the Western Health library, in which the librarians are always available to help with generating a literature search. I cannot think of one reason to complain.

This year at the University of Melbourne Students Society, we will be making a list of research departments and factors to consider when applying for your MDRP. Western Health is the only department to tick all the boxes. I would strongly recommend everyone to consider doing your MDRP at Western Health, especially those that have not had a chance to experience the wonderful community that is the Western Health hospital.