Writing a Literature Review for Medical Decision Making

Submission Details

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.

Submission details: Assessment deadline:

Submit a word (.doc or .docx) document with your literature review on the MD7001 moodle page in the tile ‘Assessment 2021-2022’ using the submission link ‘Assessment 2 October 2021’. You should name your file with your programme name and your J number (for example ‘gastroenterology 190876’).  

Work submitted after the deadline will be recorded as late, unless an extension or deferral has been obtained before the deadline. This applies to work that is even 1 minute late. The penalty for late work is 5 marks for work submitted up to 24 hours after a deadline, and 5 marks per day after this, including weekends. Because the system gets very busy you should consider submitting well in advance of the deadline (the day before is recommended). If you have technical difficulties submitting you should contact LIS. If you are having other difficulties you should contact to the module leader. 

Length: Maximum 2400 words (in-text citations are included in the word count but references in the reference list, and table and figure legends are not included in the word count).

Learning outcomes assessed:-

Critically evaluate the evidence base that supports decision making in medicine

Integrate material from a variety of relevant sources to form a literature review    

Drafts: You can submit part of your literature review for feedback to the MD7001 moodle page in the tile ‘assessment 2021-2022’ using the Turnitin link ‘Draft submission for assessment 2’ by 09:00 on the 29^th November.  Late submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances.    Your file should be a Microsoft word document (file extension .doc or .docx) and you should name your file with your programme name and your J number (for example ‘gastroenterology 190876’).  

Importantly the draft should contain your title, the subheadings that you will be using for your assessment and one section of writing in the main body. The section of writing should be no more than 500 words and should clearly explain a key point that you want to make using evidence from the primary literature.  

You will be provided with feedback on your choice of topic, your critical writing (if enough is present) and may be signposted to access support where needed.  You will not be given a mark or suggested mark.

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).

Suggested structure

Title of the literature review

It should be clear what your literature review is about from your title.