MSc Trauma Sciences Year 2 Student Handbook 2020-21

Masters in Trauma Sciences Masters in Trauma Sciences (Military & Humanitarian) Year 2 Student Handbook 2020 – 21 Centre for Neuroscience, Surgery and Trauma Blizard Institute Queen Mary University of London

Welcome back to the Blizard Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine at Queen Mary University of London. Congratulations on completing the first year of the Masters in Trauma Sciences (Military & Humanitarian) Programme.

This handbook provides an overview of your dissertation year and includes the assessment criteria which should be used to structure your project plan and dissertation. If you have any questions in relation to the content of this handbook, please email Dr Elaine Cole - Year 2 Lead: e.cole@qmul.ac.uk.

This handbook should be used together with the Academic Regulations and www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students. This handbook provides information specific to the Blizard Institute, while arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students gives information common to all students at Queen Mary. The Academic Regulations provide detailed information on progression, award and classification requirements.

Nothing in this handbook overrides the Academic Regulations, which always take precedence.

The Academic Regulations are available online at http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/policy/

The information in this handbook is correct as of September 2020.

In the unlikely event of substantial amendments to the material, the Blizard Institute will inform you of the changes via QMPlus and/or email.

QM cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy or reliability of information given in third party publications or websites referred to in this handbook.

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CONTENTS Page Year 2 Dates

4

Dissertation Overview & Outline

5

Dissertation Supervisors

12

Communication

14

Appeals and Complaints

15

Disability and Dyslexia Service

17

Advice and Counselling

17

IT Services

18

Library

19

Assessment Procedures

21

Extenuating Circumstances

23

Plagiarism

25

Campus Maps

33

APPENDIX: Publication and Presentation Guidelines

35

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YEAR 2 DATES Semesters 1. 21st September – 18th December 2020  4th October 2020 23.59 BST – Dissertation topic submission deadline  29th November 2020 23.59 GMT – Project plan submission deadline 2. 4th January - 16th April 2021 3. 19th April – 2nd July 2021  27th June 2021 23.59 BST – Dissertation submission deadline College closure dates for the 2020 -21 Christmas & New Year period:  24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31 December 2020  1 January 2021 Additional UK Bank Holidays - & Queen Mary Closures in 2021: Good Friday

2nd April

Easter Monday

5th April

Early May Bank Holiday 3rd May Spring Bank Holiday

31st May

Summer Bank Holiday

30th August

Key Queen Mary dates are available on the ARCS homepage (www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk) and here: http://www.qmul.ac.uk/about/calendar/ Centre Location and Contact Details The Centre for Neuroscience, Surgery and Trauma Ground Floor of the Blizard Institute 4 Newark Street London, E1 2AT (Whitechapel Campus) MSc Trauma Sciences (including Military & Humanitarian) Course Director: Prof. Karim Brohi Email: k.brohi@qmul.ac.uk MSc Trauma Sciences Dissertation Lead: Dr. Elaine Cole Email: e.cole@qmul.ac.uk MSc Trauma Sciences (including Military & Humanitarian) Co-Course Director: Prof. Susan Brundage Email: s.brundage@qmul.ac.uk MSc Trauma Sciences Teaching Fellow: Jack Rappoport Email: j.rappoport@qmul.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0)20 7882 2293 (please note not available by phone for Semester 1) MSc Course Administrator: Krys Gunton Email: traumamasters@qmul.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0) 20 7882 6532 (please note not available by phone for Semester 1) 4

Dissertation overview The focus of year two of the MSc Trauma Sciences (including Military & Humanitarian) is your dissertation. This will take the form of a small research project or Systematic Review (+/- meta-analysi). The dissertation submission must be 3,500 words in length (+/- 10%).

The relatively limited dissertation word count was specifically chosen so that students will produce a focused dissertation, which once graded should only require minor adaptation for journal publication.

The weighting for each section of the 60-credit dissertation module (ICM7061): Dissertation Topic Submission: 4th October 2020 23:59 BST (via QMPlus only) *This is not assessed but enables the programme team to match you with a suitable supervisor and approve the topic you have chosen (to be confirmed by 16th October)

15% of Final Year 2 Mark

1) Project Plan Submission Deadline: 29th November 2020 23:59 GMT

2) Dissertation Manuscript Submission Deadline: 27th June 2021 23:59 BST

85% of Final Year 2 Mark

Students are to submit their Project Plans and Dissertations as follows: 1) Upload via appropriate submission link on QMPlus, and 2) Email to traumamasters@qmul.ac.uk NOTE: QMPlus sometimes has issues with Word documents that have been created with Endnote or Mendeley so we recommend saving your assessments as a PDF before submitting.

Choosing your dissertation topic You may have already thought of a subject area to focus your dissertation on. However if you haven’t, please consider the suggestions in the lecture posted to QMPlus in August 2020.

Talk to your work colleagues/seniors to see if there is a project or subject that requires investigation which may help your professional progression. Do a literature search to see what is already known about a potential subject and where the gaps in the evidence are.

Check the PROSPERO website (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/#searchadvanced) for registered Systematic Reviews.

Your project does not have to be totally groundbreaking but there is little point in repeating work that has already been published.

Methodology Once you have chosen a subject area for your dissertation, please consider the most appropriate methodology. It is usually helpful to write out a research question/objective and think about your aims. This will then guide you to select the correct methodology to ‘answer’ 5

the question and achieve the aims. You will be allocated a dissertation supervisor based on the subject matter and methodological approach.

If you wish to conduct a research project It is unlikely that you will have time to do a prospective study or trial that requires informed consent. Within the timeframe of year two, it is more achievable to conduct a retrospective observational study of previously collected data. If you work within the United Kingdom, see the link below for further advice: http://www.hra-decisiontools.org.uk/ethics/. All Queen Mary MSc dissertations that require ethical approval must be reviewed and approved by the QMUL Research Ethics Committee. Please refer to the following website for Queen Mary ethical approval: http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/research-degrees/research-degreestudents/ethics/ Additional approval MAY ALSO need to be obtained from your local Research Ethics Committee/Institutional Review Board (IRB).

For ethical queries please contact Jack Rappoport - j.rappoport@qmul.ac.uk.

Supervision You will be allocated a dissertation supervisor who is experienced in either your subject area or methodology (or both). The role of the supervisor is to provide academic advice during the dissertation process. It is essential that you connect with the supervisor early after allocation to establish preferred methods of contact, timeframes for the dissertation milestones etc. The supervisor will review ONE DRAFT of the dissertation. The final date for submission of this draft to your supervisor is 30th May 2021.

Lectures or Collaborate sessions on subjects such as writing a project plan, ethics applications, conducting small scale research projects and Systematic Reviews will be made available on QMPlus for year 2 students. Please contact Jack Rappoport if you could benefit from one to one support with academic writing.

Project plan You are required to submit a dissertation project plan by 23.59 GMT on 29th November 2020.

This plan should clearly demonstrate your proposed project and is worth 15% of the final year two mark. The plan should ONLY contain the following: PROJECT PLAN ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Marks

Notes

Working title.

2

The title can be altered prior to the final submission

Presentation: clearly written in a 5 chronological order, accurate spelling and grammar.

Research question or Overall objective of the study/review.

3

Either provide a research question or an overall objective for your project

Specific aims (2-3 maximum). Hypothesis to be included if appropriate to the methodology.

10

Provide clear, measurable aims. You may wish to provide a hypothesis if this fits with your methods/subject

6

Methodology overview for the type of study or systematic review (SR) with rationale for choice.

5

Which methodology are you using? For a SR remember to include protocol registration

Access to sample or data.

10

Study: site and sampling techniques SR: Data sources

Inclusion and exclusion criteria.

5

Primary outcome +/- secondary outcomes. (Qualitative studies: describe the phenomenon under evaluation)

5

Data collection.

15

These should clearly link to the aims

Study: Processes to collect the data SR: Searching techniques, selection and extraction processes, data management

Data analysis.

15

Study: Statistical tests or qualitative techniques to analyse the data SR: Quality assessment, qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques (as appropriate)

Risks of bias and mitigation of these.

10

What are your projects risks? How will you aim to avoid or reduce these?

Target audience & potential journal for future publication.

5

Which journals might you target and why?

Gantt Chart

10

Timeline for project (which is achievable within the dissertation remit).

Ethical considerations

No marks awarded

QMUL Ethics Approval Letter & Local Ethics Approval Letter Or

Potential of minus 20 Points if Ethical approval is required and not addressed.

Current Status of Ethics Application Process Or

Note: Ethical approval is NOT required for a Systematic Review.

A Statement that Ethical Approval is not required.

Concise – Not more than FIVE pages long.

No marks awarded

Relevant Appendices only (ethics documents).

Total Marks

100 7

Potential of minus 20 Points for unasked for info & for every page > five!

Gantt Chart Example (please feel free to choose your own style but milestones are helpful!)

2019 Sept

2020 Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

June

Dissertation topic development and literature search. Submit 6.10.19 Discuss PP with local leads, MSc staff, subject experts, colleagues Write (and refine) project plan MILESTONE 1 - project plan submitted (1.12.19)

M1

Permissions and data collection Write up methods Data cleaning and analysis Write up results Write up discussion and introduction MILESTONE 2 - submit draft dissertation to supervisor (agree date)

M2

Finalise dissertation, check tables, figures and references, write abstract MILESTONE 3 - dissertation submission (28.06.20)

M3

Once the Project plan marking feedback has been received, students should focus on completing their dissertation project, working with their supervisor as negotiated. The following dissertation criteria should be used to structure the project – either research or a systematic review: DISSERTATION MARKING CRITERIA: RESEARCH PROJECT

Marks Available

Notes for students

Word limit 3,500 (+/‐ 10%).

Students should state the overall word count at the front of the dissertation (minus abstract, references, tables, figures and appendices).

The following penalties will be applied to those students who exceed the 3,500 (+/‐ 10%) word limit.

Up to 10% above word limit = no penalty 11%‐20% above word limit = up to 10% penalty taken from gross agreed internal mark.

21%> above word limit = assignment will not be marked and student asked to resubmit.

Presentation. Spelling, grammar, punctuation, academic style, clear definitions and abbreviations, contents list.

Layout. Formatting, typography, contents list, clarity and labelling of tables and figures.

Referencing. References are cited accurately using the Vancouver format.

Abstract. Well‐structured abstract of no more than 350 words including: Background, aims, methods, results, conclusions.

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5

5

5

5

The abstract is not included in the overall dissertation word count.

Background (or you may choose to call this ‘Introduction’).

This section should clearly introduce the subject area and relevance to contemporary trauma management.

Demonstrates that the subject is contemporary, novel or worthy of study Identifies the current knowledge about the subject and gaps in the evidence.

Provides a clear rationale for the study.

Overall objective or research question The overall objective (or research question) of the study is clearly stated and relates to the background section.

Study aims and hypothesis.

Two-three study aims are clear and appropriate to the subject area.

Hypothesis (if applicable) is stated and appropriate for the subject area and methodology.

Methods This will differ depending on the chosen methodology however should include: Study site and participants (including data sources if a retrospective data study).

Sampling processes.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Primary & secondary outcomes (or for qualitative studies a clear description of the phenomenon under evaluation).

Definitions where required.

Appropriate data collection processes.

Clear description of data analysis techniques.

Ethical considerations.

Results Results are reported systematically and coherently with supporting tables and figures and accurate statistical findings (where appropriate).

Discussion Critical discussion of the findings.

10

10

15

20

15

Limitations of the study are clearly identified and discussed.

Results should be presented in the order of the aims. Qualitative results may include anonymised illustrative quotes.

We recommend an introductory ‘overview’ paragraph, then a paragraph to critically discuss each key finding using other references to support the discussion or compare with your findings.

5

Conclusion of the key findings of the study.

Appendices.

5

No new information or references.

No Points awarded.

Appendices are not awarded a mark; however if used, should contribute to the dissertation as supplemental material would used in a publication and be signposted to within the text.

100

Total Marks

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DISSERTATION MARKING CRITERIA: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Marks Available

Notes for students

Word limit 3,500 (+/‐ 10%).

Students should state the overall word count at the front of the dissertation (minus abstract, references, tables, figures and appendices).

The following penalties will be applied to those students who exceed the 3,500 (+/‐ 10%) word limit.

Up to 10% above word limit = no penalty 11%‐20% above word limit = up to 10% penalty taken from gross agreed internal mark.

21%> above word limit = assignment will not be marked and student asked to resubmit.

Presentation. Spelling, grammar, punctuation, academic style, clear definitions and abbreviations, contents list.

5

Layout. Formatting, typography, contents list, clarity and labelling of tables and figures.

5

Referencing. References are cited accurately using the Vancouver format.

5

Abstract. Well‐structured abstract of no more than 350 words including: Background, aims, methods, results, conclusions.

Background (or you may choose to call this ‘Introduction’).

This section should clearly introduce the subject area and relevance to contemporary trauma management.

Demonstrates that the subject is contemporary, novel or worthy of study Identifies the current knowledge about the subject and gaps in the evidence.

Provides a clear rationale for the systematic review.

Research question.

The research question is clearly stated in a PICOS format and relates to the background section.

Study aims and hypothesis (where appropriate).

Two-three review aims are clear and appropriate to the subject area.

Hypothesis (if applicable) is stated and appropriate for the subject area.

Methods Review registration.

Data sources – databases, grey literature, reference lists, contacting authors.

Literature searching – search terms, study types, dates, languages etc.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

10

5

The abstract is not included in the overall dissertation word count.

10

10

15

PICOS (participants, interventions, comparators, outcomes, and study design) – or equivalent (e.g. PEOS).

Primary & secondary outcomes (sometimes called endpoints).

Data management, screening and data reduction.

Data extraction.

Data analysis to include:Quality appraisal.

Risk of bias.

Meta-analysis: method and which measure of effect will be reported.

Qualitative (narrative) analysis.

Results Results are reported systematically and coherently with supporting tables and figures and accurate statistical findings (where appropriate).

Discussion Critical discussion of the findings.

If a meta-analysis is not possible then a statement explaining the rationale for this should be included

20

15

Limitations of the Systematic Review are clearly identified and discussed.

Results should be presented in the order of the aims.

We recommend an introductory ‘overview’ paragraph, then a paragraph to critically discuss each key finding using other references to support the discussion or compare with your findings.

5

Conclusion of the key findings of the Systematic Review.

5

Appendices.

No Points awarded.

Total Marks

100

No new information or references.

Appendices are not awarded a mark; however if used, should contribute to the dissertation as supplemental material would used in a publication and be signposted to within the text.

INITIAL TUTORIALS 5th October at 2pm BST – Ethical considerations and application processes 7th October at 6pm BST – Project Plans – Q&A (Elaine Cole) Other lectures/tutorials relating to dissertation methods and writing will be provided.

If you have a specific project plan related question prior to being allocated an academic supervisor, please email Elaine Cole on e.cole@qmul.ac.uk.

Dissertation reading list - https://rl.talis.com/3/qmul/lists/3045E8F2-159B-A5FE-EBC7CEE3244764C2.html

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Dissertation Supervisor Each student will be followed throughout the second year by the Dissertation Lead and by a personal supervisor.

Please note that final feedback from dissertation supervisors will not be given after 30th May 2021.

Supervisor Contact List Name and Title

Title

Prof. Karim Brohi

Professor of Trauma Sciences – k.brohi@qmul.ac .uk Queen Mary University of London

Prof. Susan Brundage

Professor of Trauma Education – Queen Mary University of London

Dr. Elaine Cole

Email

Senior Lecturer, MSc Dissertation Lead Director of Research, London Major Trauma System

s.brundage@qmul.ac.uk

e.cole@qmul.ac.uk

Dr. Nikki Allorto

Consultant Burn Surgeon

n.allorto@qmul.ac.uk

Mr. Ross Davenport

Senior Lecturer, Consultant Vascular and Trauma Surgeon

ross.davenport@qmul.ac.uk

Mr. Henry De’Ath

Consultant Surgeon

henry.de-ath@qmul.ac.uk

Dr. Christos Giannou

Military and Humanitarian Lead

c.giannou@qmul.ac.k

Mr. Simon Glasgow

Specialist Registrar in General Surgery

s.glasgow@qmul.ac.uk j.henning@qmul.ac.uk

Dr. Jeremy Henning

Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine

Dr. Brent King

Professor of Emergency Medicine

brent.king@qmul.ac.uk

Prof. Karen Kwong

Associate Professor and Director of International Surgery

k.kwong@qmul.ac.uk

Dr Sumitra Lahiri

Consultant Anaesthetist

sumitra.lahiri@qmul.ac.uk

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Dr. Patrick MacGoey

Specialist Registrar in Surgery

p.macgoey@qmul.ac.uk

Dr. Grรกinne McKenna

Consultant Neurosurgeon

grainnesusan.mckenna@nhs.net

Mr. Niall Martin

Consultant Burns Surgeon

n.martin@qmul.ac.uk

Dr. John McKenna

Consultant Anaesthetist

j.mckenna@qmul.ac.uk

Mr. Zane Perkins

Consultant Surgeon

z.perkins@qmul.ac.uk

Dr Barry Schyma

Consultant Anaesthetist

b.schyma@qmul.ac.uk

Dr. Daphne van Embden

Consultant General and Trauma Surgeon

d.embden@qmul.ac.uk

Mr Paul Vulliamy

Specialist Registrar in Surgery

p.e.d.vulliamy@qmul.ac.uk

Other supervisors may be introduced dependent on your subject area and chosen methodology. This will be coordinated by Prof Brohi, Prof Brundage and Dr Cole.

Please liaise with your supervisor early in the dissertation process re. your planned methodology and see important Year 2 dates for key milestones and submission deadlines.

Submission for each component of assessment is via an Assignment link on QMPlus as well as by email to traumamasters@qmul.ac.uk by the required deadline as above.

Guided Support Sessions Students are encouraged to contact the Trauma Sciences Teaching Fellow (Jack Rappoport) with regards to issues related to their academic studies and pastoral concerns.

The purpose of this support is to provide students with the opportunity to discuss concerns that may not be appropriate for their dissertation supervisors but may not warrant a referral to the counselling service.

Regularly scheduled Blackboard Collaborate sessions will be provided to students who express concerns relating to their course, whether that be personal or academic.

Students are also able to request telephone calls, online sessions or drop in sessions at the Whitechapel Campus (from January 2021).

Students will be provided with resources related to a variety of challenges faced when attempting a postgraduate degree as well as be referred onto additional support services where appropriate.

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Communication Queen Mary will communicate with you in a variety of ways but most formal university correspondence will be sent to you by electronic mail. It is important that Queen Mary has up to date personal details for all students. You will be able to update your address and contact details online using MySIS, however a change in name must be done in person at the Student Enquiry Centre with accompanying identification. You can find out more information on the Student Enquiry Centre website. http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/mysisrecord/index.html.

Generally, Queen Mary will contact you at your Queen Mary email. You are assigned a university e-mail address when you enrol, and you are responsible for checking this account regularly. You can access your email account via the following link: https://mail.qmul.ac.uk.

For information on how to forward QM emails to a personal account please visit the IT website http://www.its.qmul.ac.uk/support/self-help/email_setup/howto/161297.html.

Our virtual learning environment, QMPlus (http://qmplus.qmul.ac.uk/), will be used for announcements regarding group discussion times/dates, general updates etc. so please ensure you check this site regularly too. This is also how the online content of the programmes will be delivered to you. More information on our VLE can be found at https://elearning.qmul.ac.uk/application/qmplus/.

Personal Information and Data Protection During application and at (re-)enrolment you provide us with personal information about yourself such as relevant contact details and information about your background, which is held in systems such as MySIS. It’s important that you ensure this information is accurate and keep it up to date.

Throughout your studies (or after you graduate) you may also provide, or we may collect, other personal information and you should be aware that this also includes any work you submit for assessment in the course of your studies. Tutors may occasionally use anonymised student essays (or portions from them) as part of the teaching process. We hope you will be willing to support your fellow students by allowing this, but you may opt out by contacting your school office. Other markers of engagement are monitored to help support students. If you engage with your Advisor or other support services, notes may be kept and shared with appropriate individuals.

We ensure that all personal data is held securely and not disclosed to third parties without your consent, unless we are obliged to do so by law - for example the annual student record that we submit to the Higher Education Statistics Agency - or other conditions allow.

HESA requires us to collect details of our students’ ethnicities and disabilities as a means of monitoring the success of equal opportunities policies at a national level. This information is kept confidential and helps us to provide you with support and information on facilities and services that may be useful.

When you enrol or re-enrol online you will be asked to read a privacy notice about the purposes for which we use your personal data and to whom we may disclose it when required. You must read this carefully. All personal data is maintained in accordance with data protection legislation. For more information, visit: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/privacy/ and/or contact Queen Mary’s Data Protection Officer via data-protection@qmul.ac.uk 14

Conduct The Code of Student Discipline applies to any action of misconduct whether it takes place on or off Queen Mary premises. The Code also applies to actions that are electronic and occur via electronic means such as (but not limited to) the internet, email, social media sites, chat rooms or text messages. http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/student-appeals/misconduct/ Report and Support campaign Report + Support: tackling harassment, gender-based violence and hate crime Queen Mary is committed to creating an environment for work and study where staff and students are treated with dignity and respect. We have no place for bullying, harassment and hate. We recognise that these behaviours can take many forms. Any allegation of harassment, hate crime, bullying or victimisation will be treated seriously, regardless of the seniority of those involved, and anyone found to have behaved unacceptably may be the subject of disciplinary action subject to the processes detailed in the relevant Queen Mary policies.

Report + Support is our secure online platform for anyone at Queen Mary to report harassment, gender-based violence or hate crime, and find out about support options. If you have experienced or witnessed any form of bullying, harassment, violence or hate crime, please see reportandsupport.qmul.ac.uk.

All members of Queen Mary have a collective responsibility to: encourage a culture of dignity and respect; to treat others fairly, with courtesy and consideration; and to challenge inappropriate behaviour when it is safe to do so. More information can be found here: https://reportandsupport.qmul.ac.uk/campaigns/our-commitment Feedback Your views are important to the Blizard Institute and Queen Mary. There are a variety of ways in which you can tell us what you think and share your ideas for improvements. Student representatives, elected by fellow students, also speak on behalf of the student body at the School, Faculty and Queen Mary-wide level via various committees, groups and meetings. More information can be found at https://www.qmul.ac.uk/tell-us/ The Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) is conducted every year. It gives you, as a postgraduate taught student, an opportunity to give your opinions on what you like about your time at Queen Mary, as well as those aspects that you feel could be improved. Please do complete the survey; your feedback really is invaluable and will help us make a difference for future generations of Queen Mary students. http://my.qmul.ac.uk/your-voice/feedback/postgraduate-taught-experience-survey/ Queen Mary Charter The Queen Mary Charter contains a list of expectations for both staff and students to help create a community that is mutually supportive and works to further knowledge creation and dissemination. http://www.qmul.ac.uk/ourcommunity/ Appeals An academic appeal is a request to review a decision about progression, assessment or award.

Before you submit an appeal, speak to your School/Institute about the decision you wish to appeal as many issues can be resolved without the need for an appeal.

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Your School/Institute will be able to provide you with feedback on your marks, or degree classification, and to answer any queries. Please note that an appeal cannot provide feedback on academic work.

Appeals against academic judgment are not permitted, this means you cannot appeal simply because you think the mark you have received is too low.

There are two grounds for appeal: 

procedural error: Where the process leading to the decision being appealed against was not conducted in accordance with Queen Mary’s procedure, such that there is reasonable doubt as to whether the outcome might have been different had the error not occurred.

Procedural error shall include alleged administrative or clerical error, and bias in the operation of the procedure.



that exceptional circumstances, illness, or other relevant factors were not made known at the time for good reason, or were not properly taken into account.

An appeal must be received within 14 days of the notification of the decision you want to appeal and should be submitted from your Queen Mary email to appeals@qmul.ac.uk.

Further information about how to appeal and the appeal form can be found on the Queen Mary website: http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/student-appeals/appeals/index.html If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your appeal you may submit a Final Review for consideration by the Principal’s nominee. Once a Final Review is complete you will be sent a Completion of Procedures letter which outlines the final decision of Queen Mary and the reasons for the decision.

Complaints Before submitting a complaint you are advised to speak to a member of staff in your School/Institute as most issues can be resolved informally without the need for a formal complaint.

If your issue is not resolved through the informal process then you will need to complete the Stage 1 complaint form and submit this to the relevant School/Institute/Professional Services Head for investigation under the Student Complaints Policy: http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/student-appeals/complaints/index.html Most complaints are resolved at Stage 1 but if your matter is still not resolved then there are two further stages to the policy, which are the institutional level and review stage.

When the complaint process is finished you will be issued with a Completion of Procedures letter explaining the final decision and the reasons for it.

Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) If you are unhappy with the outcome of an appeal or complaint then you may submit a complaint to the OIA within 12 months of receiving your Completion of Procedures letter. The OIA is the independent body set up to review student complaints and is free to students. For further information regarding the OIA please visit their website: http://www.oiahe.org.uk/ 16

Disability and Dyslexia Service The university’s Disability and Dyslexia Service (DDS) offers advice, guidance and support for students with disabilities, including specific learning difficulties like dyslexia and dyspraxia, as well as mental health difficulties, from application through to graduation. The range of support that the DDS is able to provide includes: • • • • • • • • • • •

Support and guidance in applying for the Disabled Student’s Allowance (DSA) Support for international disabled students Liaison with staff in Queen Mary’s Schools regarding ‘reasonable adjustments’ Support in ensuring that course materials are fully accessible Diagnostic assessments for students who think that they might have specific learning differences Specialist one-to-one study skills support for students with dyslexia and other specific learning differences Specialist mentoring support for students with mental health difficulties and autism On-site DSA needs assessments Access to non-specialist human support, e.g. note-taking Access to assistive technology Guidance in accessing examination concessions such as additional time

Telephone: 020 7882 2756 Web: www.dds.qmul.ac.uk/; Email: dds@qmul.ac.uk Student Enquiry Centre We provide support to all Postgraduate Taught students and we can help with a wide variety of queries. If you are not sure about something or do not know who to contact, ask us!

We are located on the ground floor of the Queens’ Building, CB01, Mile End. Student Enquiry Centre Online (accessed via MySIS http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/sec/sec-online/) Email: studentenquiry@qmul.ac.uk; Telephone: 020 7882 5005 Follow us on twitter @QMULSEC https://twitter.com/QMULSEC Please find information about obtaining an official student status letter here http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/sec/official-letters/.

Advice and Counselling Service The Advice and Counselling Service offers confidential, professional support services to all Queen Mary students. We have helpful advice and guidance for financial, immigration and other practical issues as well as emotional support on our website (welfare.qmul.ac.uk). You will also find information there about our services and contact details.

Financial, Immigration and Welfare Advice Our Welfare Advisers can advise you on solutions and options relating to financial, immigration, practical and welfare issues. We provide specialist advice and support on all aspects of student finance (loans, grants, bursaries), hardship funds and welfare benefits. We can help you plan your budget and find out how to reduce your spending. If you are an international student we 17

can advise you on your immigration rights. We can advocate on your behalf if you need help resolving an issue, for example with Student Finance England or the UK Home Office.

We offer dedicated support for students who no longer have contact with their family (estranged), and students who have experience of local authority care, and students from a refugee background. We also provide support for students experiencing domestic abuse or forced marriage.

Counselling Life can seem like a struggle at times, and it is normal to sometimes feel a bit low or anxious.

Sometimes, though, emotional and psychological issues can become too challenging, and may have a negative effect on your studies and well-being. Our Counsellors can help you to make sense of difficult experiences and feelings by providing the opportunity to think and talk reflectively, which can bring relief and meaningful changes.

The first step is meeting confidentially with one of our Counsellors to discuss what type of support might be most useful to you. This might be short term counselling, group therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy or a referral for longer term support or specialist services outside Queen Mary/in the NHS. For many students, just one or two sessions can really help. Our Counsellors are all highly experienced in working with students, and all types of issues.

Contacting the Advice and Counselling Service For more information about available services and contact details please visit the Advice and Counselling Service’s website: www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk Email: via website online form

IT Services Our services to support students range from email and internet access, to state-of-the-art teaching and learning facilities and high performance computing in support of research. There are a number of rooms around the campus that contain computers which students can use. You sign in using your Queen Mary username and password. In general, any computer you use will have all the applications that you need for your course available to you.

Your IT Account: Details of your Queen Mary username and password will be emailed to your personal address before you enrol.

The IT Service Desk is the first point of contact for all IT help, support and advice You can Live Chat with the Service Desk 24/7 https://qmul.bomgarcloud.com/, call on 020 7882 8888 or raise a ticket via the Self Service portal https://servicedesk.qmul.ac.uk/. Visit us in the Queens' Building on the Mile End Campus. Our opening hours are Monday to Friday, 8am-6pm.

Find an available PC on campus: an interactive map showing which rooms have empty seats http://availability.stu.qmul.ac.uk/ Print, Copy, Scan: There are printers in the computer rooms and in the Library. The larger devices in the Library also offer copying and scanning facilities alongside printing. We also offer a wireless printing service. You are charged for printing and copying by clicks (one click = one side of paper). The cost of a single side is 4p but drops to 3.5p when you print double-sided. All 18

students get £10 each year through your iPay account for printing and copying.

The CopyShop: A quick, professional and cost-effective photocopying and printing service. We can print a range of items for you, including: Theses/Dissertations, Lecture notes, Posters and much more.

Book Scanning Service: The CopyShop offers students a professional scanning service. If you wish to retain a section of a publication for study use, the CopyShop produce a clear image without fingers tips, black areas and poor results for you.

We can also scan materials you wish to include in your research materials in the correct format you need, for example Research Posters for William Harvey Day….no more fuzzy images.

Wi-Fi: The wireless network you use to connect your devices is eduroam. Halls of residence are fully networked with Wi-Fi and a wired socket in each study bedroom. Access to e-mail, QMPlus the online learning environment and other services relevant to your study at Queen Mary is available from the internet as a whole.

Mobile app: Queen Mary’s mobile app is available as a native app for Android (version 2.3.3 or higher) and iOS (version 6.0 and above) devices. The app allows you to do a number of things on the move, including: check your course timetables, log into QMPlus and your Queen Mary email, search for and renew library books directly from your phone.

Policies: The use of IT facilities is covered by University regulations prohibiting, among other things, software piracy and unauthorised computer use. IT Services policies are published here: http://www.its.qmul.ac.uk/governance/policies/index.html The IT Services website contains information on a number of our services and includes a range of self-help guides http://www.its.qmul.ac.uk/support/index.html Contact the IT Service Desk Telephone: 020 7882 8888 (24/7) Self Service: https://servicedesk.qmul.ac.uk/ IT Services on the web: www.its.qmul.ac.uk

Library Services The Libraries at Queen Mary provide the study environments, resources and staff you need to support your learning during your time at the university.

For 2020 we are providing as many e-books and other e-resources as we can, so you can gain access to online readings from wherever you are. Also we have a team answering emails at library@qmul.ac.uk who we will help you use the e-resources and answer any questions you may have. For subject support please see the Library Subject Guides available from the Library Website. For support with finding, using and evaluating information and information about the academic skills services, please see our Find it! Use it! Reference it! module on QMPlus [https://qmplus.qmul.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=6819] You will find more detailed information for new students on the library’s welcome page.

The online services are backed up by some socially distanced service points who will provide drop-in help. We will be offering socially distanced study space in our 3 libraries at Mile End, Whitechapel and West Smtihfield, each with a character and ambience of their own. As this is 19

such an unusual year, we will be offering some click and collect borrowing services, and some self-service borrowing. You will find up to date details of the library services for the new academic year on the library website [https://www.library.qmul.ac.uk/ Archives & Special Collections Archives & Special Collections manage institutional and personal archives dating from the 18th Century to the present day, as well as collections of rare or special materials.

Digital Archives are accessible via our website. To get started exploring the collections, try searching the archives catalogue: https://www.library.qmul.ac.uk/archives/ Visits to the Archives Reading Room on the 2nd floor, Mile End Library, are by appointment in advance; these appointments are limited for the start of 2020/21 due to social distancing in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, but this will be reviewed and updated during the course of the year. The Archives Reading Room provides silent individual study space in which to access and research using these collections. For more information, see the Archives website: http://www.library.qmul.ac.uk/archives.

Other libraries As a college of the federal University of London, Queen Mary students have access and borrowing rights at Senate House Library: https://www.senatehouselibrary.ac.uk/ Contacts General: Telephone: 020 7882 8800; Email: library@qmul.ac.uk ; Website: www.library.qmul.ac.uk Twitter: QMUL Library (@QMLibrary) Medicine and Dentistry: Email: library-smd@qmul.ac.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/SMDlibQMUL

20

Assessment Procedures Awards will be classified according to the 2020-21 Academic Regulations.

The Classification Mark is the mean average mark for the full programme of study . The classification of the degree shall be made according to the following scale: Classification Mark

Classification

70.0 – 100.0

Distinction

60.0 – 69.9

Merit

50.0 – 59.5

Pass

Examination boards may use a borderline policy when making recommendations for final degree classifications. The following criteria are used: 1. Students with Classification Marks within one per cent of a borderline (except at the pass/fail border) shall be determined to fall within the ‘zone of consideration’; 2. Students with Classification Marks within 1.5 per cent of a borderline and with significant extenuating circumstances in the final year not taken into account elsewhere may be determined to fall within the zone of consideration. However, if this approach is taken then the extenuating circumstances may not also be used as a reason to raise the classification itself; 3. All students falling within a zone of consideration shall be considered as possible cases for application of the borderline policy; 4. Students falling within the zone of consideration and with at least half of their final year credits (half of all credits at PG level) with marks at the level of the upper classification (or higher), shall be raised to the higher classification. The credits at the higher level may include the dissertation or project, but this is not a requirement. Where a student studies on a part-time basis, all modules comprising the full-time equivalent final year shall be used in the borderline policy.

5. Students falling within the one per cent zone of consideration and not meeting the requirements of point 4, but with significant extenuating circumstances in the final year not taken into account elsewhere shall be raised to the higher classification provided the SEB is confident that – without the effect of the extenuating circumstances – the student would have achieved the higher classification.

The award of the degree will be made only when all modules are satisfactorily completed. In the event of a candidate achieving <50% in a Year 1 module or writing assignment, the candidate may take a single re-sit of the required module(s) during the same academic year. Re- sits will be capped at 50%.

If you are required to re-sit the dissertation you will be classed as ‘re-sitting out of attendance’ during the following academic year with a submission deadline of 27th March 2022.

21

Grades To view your assessment marks, login to MySIS with your Queen Mary username and password, where they will be listed. These marks are provisional and subject to change until they are agreed by the appropriate Subject Examination Board. MySIS will indicate whether the results are provisional or confirmed. Guides on checking your results on MySIS are available on the Student Enquiry website (http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/mysisrecord/provisional-results/index.html) Year 2 marks and awards will be formally released by the end of October 2021.

Penalties for Late Submission If an assignment is submitted after the specified deadline it shall be recorded as late and a penalty shall be applied, unless there are valid extenuating circumstances: i. For every period of 24 hours, or part thereof, that an assignment is overdue there shall be

ii.

iii.

iv.

v.

a deduction of five per cent of the total marks available (i.e. five marks for an assessment marked out of 100). After seven calendar days (168 hours or more late) the mark shall be reduced to zero, and recorded as 0 NS (zero, non-submission).

A student may submit work of passing standard but fail the module because of the late submission penalty. Where the student is eligible for a resit attempt in such a case, the student shall not be required to resubmit the assessment; instead, the pre-deduction mark from the first attempt shall be entered for the re-sit. Where a student is not eligible for a resit, this provision does not apply. Re-sits are capped at 50%.

Certain assessments may cease to be a valid measure of a moduleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s learning outcomes prior to the seven working day cut-off. For example, where feedback has been provided to the class, any submission made after that point would not be an accurate measure of attainment. In such cases, the late submission policy shall apply as normal up to the day on which feedback is given; at that point, a mark of zero shall be applied, even if this is within seven calendar days of the deadline. Schools and Institutes must make clear to students in advance where this variant policy applies, or else the general policy shall be applied.

A late work penalty may be removed where a student provides good reason for the late submission under the extenuating circumstances policy. A student must submit a formal claim with supporting evidence in line with that policy in order for the circumstances to be considered.

Schools and Institutes may award extensions to submission deadlines. This is at the discretion of the school/institute. Where a school/institute does consider the award of an extension, a student must apply before the submission date with an extenuating circumstances claim and supporting evidence. In no circumstances shall an extension set a new deadline beyond the next meeting of the relevant Subject Examination Board.

A student who is unable to submit a coursework assessment by the required completion date must notify the course administrator by emailing traumamasters@qmul.ac.uk as soon as possible. If late submission is with good reason such as illness, close family bereavement or closely related compassion grounds, the student may be granted a short extension provided there is an extenuating circumstances form (see below) completed and submitted with supporting evidence prior to the assessment submission date.

22

Word Count The following penalties apply to those students who exceed the 10% +/‐flexibility limit on essay word count. Word limits do not include referencing, tables and appendices, as is standard Queen Mary practice: Up to 10% above word limit = no penalty 11%‐20% above word limit = up to 10% penalty taken from gross agreed internal mark, at markers discretion 21%> above word limit = assignment will not be marked and student asked to resubmit, at markers discretion.

There is no fixed penalty for submissions that are under the specified word length. In these cases, students will have displayed skill in covering the material concisely, or else have failed to fully address the material; in either situation the normal marking conventions should take this into account.

Guided Support Sessions Students are reminded to contact the Teaching Fellow with concerns about the course prior to situations resulting in fails, re-sits, and extenuating circumstances as support is available.

Extenuating Circumstances Extenuating circumstances are defined by Queen Mary as: Circumstances that are outside a student’s control which may have a negative impact on a student’s ability to undertake or complete any assessment so as to cast doubt on the likely validity of the assessment as a measure of the student’s achievement.

Extenuating circumstances are usually personal or health problems. Health problems include your emotional wellbeing and mental health, as well as your physical health. Extenuating circumstances do not include computer problems, misreading your exam timetable, planned holidays or events, or local transport delays.

Queen Mary operates a fit to sit policy, which covers all assessments including coursework and exams. If you sit an exam or submit a piece of coursework, you are deemed to be fit to do so. In such instances, a request for extenuating circumstances will not normally be considered.

To submit an extenuating circumstance request you must fill out the relevant from which can be obtained from QMPlus (General course resources) or by emailing traumamasters@qmul.ac.uk.

The form should be completed and returned to traumamasters@qmul.ac.uk along with supporting documentation. All claims must be received by 3rd September 2021 at the latest for consideration at the September examination board but preferably as soon as possible further to the missed assessment.

Your form must be accompanied by relevant supporting evidence (for example medical certification, death certificate, police report and crime number, or other written evidence from a person in authority). Please note that although accompanying documentation can be submitted after the form, claims without any evidence cannot be considered. It is in your best interest to provide evidence and supporting documentation that is as comprehensive as possible You are entitled to self-certify on up to three occasions each academic year. This means 23

completing and submitting the Queen Mary self-certification form in place of independent evidence. Please note that self-certification does not mean automatic approval of a claim – your school/institute will consider it in the normal way and will need to be satisfied of the validity of the claim, and satisfied that it justifies the outcome.

All extenuating circumstances claims are kept confidential until they are considered by a subcommittee of the Institute’s Subject Examination Board. All proceedings of the subcommittee are strictly confidential, and will not normally be discussed at the full examination board meeting.

It is your own responsibility to submit any claims for extenuating circumstances, not that of your supervisor. Please ensure that if you have what you believe is a valid case, you complete the submission process in accordance with the Blizard Institute guidelines and deadlines.

It is not possible to make a retrospective claim for extenuating circumstances, specifically once you know your results. Therefore claims submitted after the deadline (3rd September 2021) will not be considered by the examination board. Please refer to the full guidance notes on extenuating circumstances from the Advice and Counselling service or online at https://www.welfare.qmul.ac.uk/student-advice-guides/.

Interruption & Withdrawal of Studies Permission to interrupt from your studies on the grounds of illness or another good cause may be granted by your academic school or institute. You may only interrupt for a maximum of two years in total and from the beginning of a particular semester – final Registry deadline is 30th April 2021. You will return to the course at the same point in the following academic year and will be unable to have support from your supervisor in the interim.

Please contact Fees on feesdl@qmul.ac.uk to discuss your tuition fee liability prior to submitting the interruption or withdrawal form.

Information on interruption and withdrawal of studies, including links to the relevant forms, is found here: http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/study/interrupting/index.html http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/study/withdrawing/index.html

Graduation This takes place in the December after you have completed the programme. Dates are announced in September/October of that year. Please see the website for more information https://www.qmul.ac.uk/graduation/index.html.

24

Queen Mary Blizard Institute Plagiarism Information Queen Mary defines plagiarism as: “Presenting someone else’s work as your own, irrespective of intention. Close paraphrasing, copying from the work of another person, including another student, using the ideas of another person without proper acknowledgement or repeating work you have previously submitted – at Queen Mary or at another institution - without properly referencing yourself (known as ‘self-plagiarism’) also constitute plagiarism.” http://www.arcs.qmul.ac.uk/students/student-appeals/assessment-offences/index.html Plagiarism is a serious offence and all students suspected of plagiarism will be subject to an investigation. If found guilty, penalties can include failure of the module to suspension or permanent withdrawal from Queen Mary. It is your responsibility to ensure that you understand plagiarism and how to avoid it. The recommendations below can help you in avoiding plagiarism:  Be sure to record your sources when taking notes, and to cite these if you use ideas or, especially, quotations from the original source. Be particularly careful if you are cutting and pasting information between two documents, and ensure that references are not lost in the process.  Be sensible in referencing ideas – commonly held views that are generally accepted do not always require acknowledgment to particular sources. However, it is best to be safe to avoid plagiarism.  Be particularly careful with quotations and paraphrasing.  Be aware that technology, such as Turnitin, is now available at Queen Mary and elsewhere that can automatically detect plagiarism.  Ensure that all works used are referenced appropriately in the text of your work and fully credited in your bibliography.  If in doubt, ask for further guidance from your supervisor.

Turnitin is a web-based plagiarism prevention system used by most universities in the UK. This statement describes how Turnitin is used within the school and the data it creates about your work.

1 How Turnitin works 1.1 A Turnitin assignment is set up by a member of staff on QMPlus. You then access this assignment online and upload your work before the due date. Turnitin will analyse the submitted work to identify text matches with other sources and will compare the work against: o the current and archived web; o previously submitted work; o books and journals.

1.2

2 2.1

For each piece of submitted work Turnitin provides two things: o A similarity index, which indicates the percentage of the submitted paper that Turnitin has identified as matching other sources. o An originality report, which shows each of these matches in more detail, including the source(s) that Turnitin has found.

How we use the information provided by Turnitin Only academic staff will make a judgement on whether plagiarism has occurred in a piece of work. An academic may interpret the originality report to help but Turnitin itself does 25

2.2 2.3

2.4

3 3.1

3.2 3.3

3.4

3.5

not make this judgement.

We do not use a threshold percentage to identify whether plagiarism has occurred and may review any originality report in detail.

Turnitin will highlight matching text such as references, quotations, common phrases and data tables within work that has no plagiarism issues at all. Those interpreting Turnitin reports will discount such matches and so initial percentages are often irrelevant.

Where it is suspected that plagiarism has occurred in a piece of work, the originality report may be submitted to the Head of School and possibly to an Assessment Offences Panel for further investigation.

How you can use the information provided by Turnitin There will be an opportunity for you to see a Turnitin report on your work before Turnitin is used on your assessed work. You will be able to see the report almost immediately after initially submitting (this can take up to 24 hours during busy periods).

No other student will be able to see an originality report on your work.

To help you understand what the report is telling you, please ensure you have followed the guidance on the E-Learning Unit’s website (http://www.elearning.capd.qmul.ac.uk/guide/interpreting-your-originality-report/).

You may find it helpful to resubmit your work after reviewing the originality report – you are given repeat opportunities to do this up to an assignment deadline. Where this is the case, the idea is to use the report to help you identify any potential issues you may not have spotted before, and not to change individual words to avoid a match.

If you have a question about your originality report that is not answered by the material linked to in 3.3 above, please direct these to your supervisor in the first instance.

Try the plagiarism quiz at http://sites.cardiff.ac.uk/ilrb/resource/is-it-plagiarism-quiz/.

4

Other things you should know

4.1

Turnitin stores a copy of most work submitted to it in its repository. This does not affect the ownership of or any copyright in the original work.

4.2

Staff may configure a Turnitin assignment such that copies of submissions are not stored in its database. This will be done for all test-runs or any ‘dummy’ assignments used for training or demonstration purposes.

Staff on your course will ensure that no commercially or otherwise sensitive documents are stored in Turnitin’s repository.

4.3

Learning Development Learning Development works in a number of ways with students at any level, undergraduate or postgraduate, from any subject discipline, to develop the skills and practices they need to become more effective in their academic work. Areas covered include writing for academic purposes, effective reading, presentation skills, time-management, critical thinking and avoiding plagiarism.

Writing & Study Guidance is offered by Learning Development Advisors in the form of one-to-one tutorials, workshops, drop-ins, retreats and downloadable resources. We also offer a programme of PhD writing development events. In addition, tutorials on writing are offered by the Royal Literary Fund (RLF) Fellows, who are hosted by Learning Development.

Writing & Study Guidance and RLF tutorials are based in the Library on the Mile End Campus.

26

For more information on the range of services we offer, and to book a tutorial or workshop, check www.learningdevelopment.qmul.ac.uk.

Further information on referencing and plagiarism can be found on the library website: http://www.learningdevelopment.qmul.ac.uk/sources-referencing

Note that any copying from a source text, without acknowledging the source or indicating the copied section by placing it in inverted commas, constitutes plagiarism. The following pages show an actual example of plagiarism, taken from a student essay. The student has copied a number of blocks of text from a New Zealand university thesis, without attribution.

Please also note that using your Project Plan again within your dissertation would constitute selfplagiarism so do ensure that information is re-worded from one assessment to the other.

See next pages for illustration as to how plagiarism is detected in Turnitin.

27

See below for an example of how plagiarism is detected in Turnitin.

Trauma System Components Assignment Excerpt The Sultanate of Oman is located on the south-eastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula occupying an area of 309,500 km2 (12.77% of GCC), the second largest of the GCC countries after Saudi Arabia. It shares borders with the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the west, the Omani Gulf and Arabian Sea to the east, the United Arab Emirates to the north and the republic of Yemen to the south(2).The population of Oman being 2,782,435(World Bank 2011 data).(3).

According to the latest census which was carried out by the National Center for Statistics and Information, in 2010 Oman had a population of 2.77 million people, a density of 9.0 persons per square kilometre. However, 816,143 residents, nearly 30% of the population were expatriates. Males exceeded females at a ratio of 138 males to every 100 females, compared with 128 males to every 100 females in 2004.(4).

Prior to the establishment of the current government in 1970, the main health care providers were the British Embassy Hospital and a few missionary hospitals in Muscat with no existing national health care system (6).This government made major investments in improving the health care system which resulted in Oman being the first in the world in regard to the WHO Health System Attainment and Performance Estimates [40].

These health institutions are divided into extended (primary) health care centres which are situated in villages and small local communities, secondary care hospitals which are located in cities and, finally, tertiary care hospitals mainly in the capital Muscat, but there are a few in major cities within each region (e.g. Sohar).

The extensive growth in the global economy in the last century has changed many aspects of peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lives including their use of various means of transportation.(8). Continuous expansion in road network construction has accompanied a rapid increase in the population, with a corresponding increase in vehicle numbers (9). The growth in motor vehicles that follows economic growth usually results in an increase in RTC and consequent injuries and deaths (10). As a consequence, road traffic injuries have become a major public health problem globally with a large increase in the number of casualties and fatalities (9).

According to WHO data, road traffic crashes caused about 25% of all deaths from injury worldwide in 2004 (11).

The main victims of road traffic crashes are young adults. More than 50% of all deaths due to RTCs are among young adults within the age range of 15-44 years(12).

The year 2010 witnessed one million more deaths from injuries than 1990; this 24% rise was attributed to the increase in RTCs by almost 420,600 crashes claiming the lives of 1.3 million people (13,14).

Road traffic crashes are recognized as a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the GCC countries and many developing countries. The large number of traffic crashes has caused these countries a substantial wastage of life and national resources(16).

Oman has the highest rates of mortality and injury compared with the neighbouring Gulf countries.(15) There is a relatively new system of emergency care which follows the Anglo-American system of Emergency Medicine Services (EMS). It is only a land based system and does not include aeromedical services (6). During 2012, a plan was set in place by the Royal Oman Police for the EMS services to cover the whole country and to incorporate aeromedical services. The EMS currently does not cover all cities and responds mainly to trauma cases with limited coverage of other emergency cases. Under a joint provision from the ROP and the Ministry of Health committee for the development of a modern EMS system, It officially started to provide its services in April 2004, covering approximately 70% of the population with 23 permanent ambulance units. Over a period of four years, the service attended to 5,501 cases of which 83% were trauma cases and the rest were medical emergencies (17%) (6).

28

New Zealand Student Thesis Excerpt

1.6

Overview of the Sultanate of Oman

Table 3: Overview of the Sultanate of Oman: Information

Statistics

Total Area of the Sultanate of Oman

309,500 km2

Total length of Roads

59363 km

Note: Data obtained from Ministry of Tourism, Oman [37].

Arabian Sea to the east, the United Arab Emirates to the north and the republic of Yemen to 9IPage

29

[37]. The country is divided into ten governorates as follows (numbered from 1-11 according to the map above): 1. Muscat Governorate which contains the capital city Muscat.

2. Musandam Governorate 3. Al Buraimi Governorate 4. Al Dakhilya Governorate 5. Al Batinah north Governorate which contains the prospective study city Sohar.

6. Al Batinah south Governorate 7. Al Sharqiyah north Governorate 8. Al Sharqiya south Governorate 9. Al Dhahira Governorate 10. Al Wosta Governorate 11. Dhofar Governorate Note: Data obtained from Ministry of Tourism, Oman [37].

Figure 1 below describes the distribution of the population within the different governorates in Oman. It can be seen that most of the population resides in the governorates of Muscat and Al Batinah. This is markedly different from the 2003 governorates percentages of the total population where most people resided in Al Batinah {31.7%) followed by Muscat (21.4%) [38].

10

30

I Page

Figure 1: Total Population of Oman by Governorate:

28.00%

27.90%

25.00%

20.00% 12.60%

11.80%

9.00%

10.00% 5.50%

5.00%

2.60%

1.50%

1.10%

0.00% 7

Note: Data obtained from 2010 National Census, National Centre for Statistics.

Oman has been ruled by Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said since 23 July 1970; His Majesty also heads the Defence Council, the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council and the Supreme Judicial Council

[39].

1.6.1.

Health care in Oman

There has been a major change in health care provision in Oman in the past four decades.

[40]. Providing free health care which is available to the whole population was the main objective for the new government that came into power in 1970 under his Majesty Sultan Qaboos (Sultan of Oman).

[40].The Ministry of Health provides free health care to all Omani citizens through multiple 11 1 P a g e 31

institutions situated throughout the country.

(e.g. Sohar). In addition, alongside the Ministry of Health, many government organisations and private institutions provide medical care to their employees.

1.6.2. Emergency care in Oman

system of Emergency Medicine Services (EMS). It is only a land based system and does not include aeromedical services [40].

During 2012, a plan was set in place by the Royal Oman

services. The EMS currently does not cover all cities and responds mainly to trauma cases

with 23 permanent ambulance units. Over a period of four years, the service attended to 5,501 cases of which 83% were trauma cases and the rest were medical emergencies (17%) [40]

12

32

I Page

33

34

APPENDIX

35

36