Write a literature review that clearly answers a defined medical question to demonstrate your ability to use the evidence base to support decision making in medicine.

Literature Review

Task:

Write a literature review that clearly answers a defined medical question to demonstrate your ability to use the evidence base to support decision making in medicine.

Task in more detail

Choose a topic that you would like to explore in more detail and decide on a specific question which you wish to answer within that topic. The question should be relevant to your programme of study. You should discuss the question with your programme leader before starting so that you are sure that your topic is focused enough to write a level 7 literature review on.  For example, it is not appropriate to write about ‘Alzheimer’s disease’. This is not a clearly focused review topic. Remember you are considering a question and you are reviewing/evaluating the literature that discusses the question. The evidence in the research you will review should support any decisions you make at the end of the review.  For example a more focused and suitable title would be ‘efficacy and widespread use of herbal remedies for treating early Alzheimer’s disease’.  You should consider the quality of the evidence throughout but don’t be tempted to write a portfolio of critical appraisals.

Use online databases such as PubMed to source relevant primary literature so that you are using the most up to date and relevant literature to answer your question.

Watch the video showing examples of level 7 literature reviews in the asynchronous sessions which you can find on the online lesson at the top of the moodle page for MD7001.  When writing remember that with all level 7 assessments, you must show in depth knowledge, the use of appropriate sources for evidence, evaluation of the literature and clear communication (see the marking criteria for this assessment for details).