MSc Occupational Medicine / Course details

The Critical Literature Review enables students to conduct a detailed critical reflection and evidence-based review relating to an occupational medicine, health or hygiene question or topic. It shares some similarities to the preliminary sections of a dissertation, but with a smaller word count (maximum 5000 words). This option is particularly attractive to students wanting to benefit from completing more taught course units, followed by a shorter written piece of work, rather than a larger dissertation. Students will use their own topic of interest relating to an occupational health problem to develop their critical review, which will still be embedded within a research framework.  

Students will have an allocated supervisor to guide and develop their academic work for the critical review, across approximately 10 hours of supervisor guidance over the year. The supervisor is allocated early in the year. Induction sessions are held at the beginning of the academic year to support the learning objectives of this unit, with emphasis on the development of a research question.  Students present a brief outline of their review proposal, for peer reviews. This is an opportunity for the student to meet the academic team and to discuss their ideas with the course tutors and other students. The expectations and assessment criteria for the Critical Literature Review are set out in the Critical Literature Review Handbook. 

The unit aims to develop critical analysis skills through the practical experience of conducing a detailed exploration of the evidence base relevant to professional practice and producing a literature review. The unit promotes the use of evidence-based practice for problem solving and solution generation. The Critical Literature Review unit prepares the student in respect of conceiving, preparing and submitting the Critical Literature Review. Students will develop a research question relevant to occupational health or hygiene, search for relevant literature and evidence, appraise the evidence and its value to the research question, and make conclusions and recommendation. 
 

The learning outcomes expect that students will be able to:  

• describe the principles and steps involved in critical literature review
• demonstrate practical skills in searching for evidence and critically appraising evidence
• synthesise information from disparate sources
• formulate evidence-based conclusions and recommendations
• create a written report to reflect their critical literature review

The unit is predominantly self-directed through independent learning. Relevant information and formative feedback are delivered through online synchronous workshops at the start of each semester. Information and support are also made available through a dedicated space on Canvas or other University central learning environment. 
Student progress is monitored by supervisors.

On completion, students should be able to:

• Describe a specific context, setting and/or problem and establish a coherent research-related question that forms the foundation of the written review
• Investigate a problem using the principles of critical literature review. 

On completion, students should be able to:

• Organise and critically analyse retrieved research evidence.
• Synthesise research evidence from disparate sources and summarise in a meaningful format. 
   

On completion, students should be able to:

• Design and implement an appropriate search methodology to obtain the existing information to address the aims of the critical review 

On completion, students should be able to:

• Critically reflect on learning in relation to critical literature review  
• Demonstrate the ability to be a self-directed learner, to accomplish written academic work  

Formative feedback is delivered through online synchronous workshops at the start of each semester

If you have any questions regarding the content of this unit, please contact the Course Unit Lead, Nicola Gartland, via nicola.gartland@manchester.ac.uk.

If you have any other queries, please contact the Programme Admin team via shs.programmes@manchester.ac.uk.