Are you keen to help build knowledge that will make a positive difference to people’s health? Want to get paid while you do it?

Find out what clinical research is all about from five undergraduate Medical and Health Science students currently interning at the Liggins Institute. This lunchtime seminar is your chance to hear what they’ve discovered, find out what an internship involves, and see if it's the right fit for you.

About the speakers

Gordon Liu is a fourth year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) student. He’s been looking at neonatal hypoglycaemia and how to manage it with oral dextrose gel. He’s also looked at quality of life in preterm children and attrition in long-term follow-up studies.

“Part of learning how to conduct research is learning how to analyse and critique it, and that’s a really important skill for aspiring clinicians to have. Plus, it’s really fun to do, and gives you a chance to contribute towards improving the care that health professionals provide.”

Olivia Hofer is also a fourth year MBChB. She’s been analysing whether there are any differences in infant health outcomes after exposure to antenatal corticosteroids between normal weight mothers and overweight mothers. She’s enjoyed the opportunity to spend a lot of time on one project and to build research skills that are relevant to her studies.

Sophie St Clair is in her third year of an MBChB. She’s just about to submit a paper on whether the use of prophylactic dextrose gel for neonatal hypoglycaemia alters the infant gut microbiome.

“The internship is an invaluable experience where you get exposure to many different aspects of research, and you can gain the knowledge to be able to write your own research papers.”

Soana Motuhifonua is also in her third year of an MBChB. She’s updating a Cochrane review on antenatal supplementation of myo-inositol for preventing gestational diabetes. She visited the University’s Research Farm in Rotorua as part of her internship and finds the process of including/excluding studies through the inclusion criteria interesting.

Thomas Wright is a third year MBChB student. He’s been looking at neonatal nutrition – in particular neonatal Refeeding Syndrome and vitamin status in extremely low birthweight babies, and the effects of these on health outcomes in the NICU.

“The internship is a fantastic, hands-on opportunity to conduct research that has the potential to influence clinical practice within New Zealand and around the world. The experience I have gained as an intern is invaluable and I cannot imagine a better job!”

This seminar is hosted by Distinguished Professor Dame Jane Harding.

Eager to apply for an Undergraduate Clinical Research Internship now? Find all the details here.