My Experience as the Professor William Campbell Scholar 2021

It has been a great honour to be selected as the Professor William Campbell Scholarship student for the Summer of 2021.

With guidance from my research supervisor, Mr Michael Sugrue, Surgeon, I undertook a 9-week research project at Letterkenny University Hospital. This was part of a dynamic research experience in which I received the opportunity to work as part of a team with two other summer research students.

This fantastic experience helped enhance my research skills and offered invaluable insight into the field of medical research. The skills I have developed, and experience I have gained, will stand to me in my future career in medicine.

My research project was a systematic review entitled “PROMs – A key to understanding laparoscopic cholecystectomy outcomes?” This is an important research topic as patient reported outcome measures have gained traction in recent years as a means of measuring outcomes subjectively from the patient’s perspective and assisting patients and physicians in shared decision making.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a very common procedure worldwide and we aimed to investigate the current state of PROMs in laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

With the help of the team at the Donegal Clinical Research Academy, and the expert guidance of both Mr Sugrue and Alison Johnston, I completed a systematic review that adhered to PRISMA guidelines. I also gained an understanding of the importance of evidence-based medicine in providing answers to clinical questions.

Conducting the systematic review was challenging at times; however, I always felt supported by the research team and the lectures provided by past summer research students guided me through some of the difficult aspects of the process.

The clinical experience and expertise provided by Mr Sugrue ensured that we produced a high-quality research project.

The Professor William Campbell Scholarship has been a wonderful opportunity and a fantastic learning experience.

I would like to thank Professor William Campbell for providing this opportunity and for his continued support of Donegal medical students’ research.

I would also like to thank everyone at the Donegal Clinical Research Academy for all their time over the summer and for their continued support.