Introduction: Specialist Registrars in Palliative Medicine are required to complete research projects during their training often with no prior research experience.
Aims: The aim of this project was to provide a practical guide to undertaking a palliative medicine related research project, drawing on the experience and acquired knowledge of previous researchers. Its target was individuals with little or no previous experience.
Method: Information in the handbook was drawn from a number of sources. These included the personal experiences of the authors conducting their own projects, advice from experienced researchers, hospital research and development departments, Research Ethics Committees and Palliative Care Education Units.
Results: The information acquired was distilled into ten sections for ease of use. Each section represented a stage in the research process from developing a research idea to disseminating the results. Additional appendices contained information on resources including education, funding, research ethics committees and research and development contacts. The handbook is presented in a compact easily used format.
Conclusion: The handbook is now available to all North Western Deanery Specialist Registrars in Palliative Medicine via the Internet. It is also available to other researchers within the NorthWest of England via Research and Development departments and Intranet in their local hospitals. The handbook will be continually updated drawing upon feedback from the experiences of other researchers. The handbook has been well received by these parties and it is anticipated that it will be further developed into a tool to help all new researchers within clinical medicine.