Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) rates are increasing worldwide, with high mortality and a high proportion of patients asymptomatic at diagnosis – so should we be screening for RCC? Patients with kidney cancer, their caregivers and clinicians alike, define the study of early detection and treatment of RCC as one of their top research priorities. The […]
Five tips for medical students starting their first piece of medical research
Follow Ben Paxton’s journey into clinical research in his blog and read his five top tips for medical students who are exploring research opportunities. Ben is a medical student at the University of Cambridge. When it came to choosing a Student Selected Component (SSC) at the start of clinical school in year four, it […]
COVID-19 research in progress at the Primary Care Unit
During the COVID-19 pandemic, our members are developing research to address COVID-19 related challenges. New projects are described in summary here. Further details will be published as soon as possible. Meanwhile our staff have taken on extended clinical roles. See this post for details. New COVID-19-related research at the Unit 1. Using linked primary care […]
New guideline for colorectal cancer screening prioritises informed choice over maximised uptake
A new BMJ Guideline on colorectal cancer screening, prepared by a panel including Dr Juliet Usher-Smith at the Primary Care Unit, is the first to avoid a blanket recommendation for colorectal cancer screening for all above a specific age. Instead the guideline suggests a personalized and risk-based approach for people aged 50 to 79 with […]
Case study: boosting the involvement of medical students in research at Cambridge
A new and innovative Medical Student Systematic Reviews Group, at the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, enabled 53 medical students to contribute directly to ongoing systematic reviews in 16 different research groups during 2018/9. The Group is launching for its second year this week and more details are available here. Systematic reviews are […]
My research journey: how Madi Fairey and Max Bayne, medical students, explored the effect of provision of personalised cancer risk information to individuals
Blog by Madi Fairey and Max Bayne, both final year medical students at the University of Cambridge Madi and Max set out to perform a systematic review synthesising the literature on the effect of provision of personalised cancer risk information to individuals at population level risk on accuracy of risk perception and psychological responses; the […]