30 AprilSince 2002, HealthSense has presented a total of £24,900 in cash prizes to winners and runners-up in this unique and highly-praised essay competition.

Now the 2024 HealthSense Student Prize is open! Starting now, students have until the end of April to write, refine and perfect their entries.

The challenge

The HealthSense Student Prize is a unique opportunity for students of health care to hone their skills in critically assessing new research.

They are challenged to decide which of four hypothetical research protocols is most likely to produce gold-standard evidence.

Entrants must rank the protocols, explaining their choices in no more than 600 words.

Our medically qualified board of judges looks for students showing they understand the principles of sound research, including how to frame questions, construct a suitable research methodology, and know the importance of ethics and consent.

Past winners all remark how they enjoyed the task. Some comments:

“an opportunity to test my critical appraisal skills whilst improving my knowledge of clinical trial protocols for my research job”

“gave me a real appreciation for how research should be carried out”

Entries must be submitted before 23:59 BST on Tuesday 30 April 2024. Entries received after that time will not be considered.

For further information, to download the terms and conditions and protocols and for the online entry form, click here:

Entry form

 

 

Share the news on your student and department noticeboards by printing and displaying this poster.

Cash prizes

There are two first prizes of £500 each, one for medical and dental students and one for students of nursing, midwifery and professions allied to medicine.

Up to five runner-up prizes of £100 are awarded in each category.

Winners get to attend a grand autumn dinner event in London to receive their prizes from HealthSense’s president, the writer and broadcaster Nick Ross.

They can also add to their CV the honour of having received a national award — which could give them the edge in a competitive job market.

We are grateful once again to the Royal College of Surgeons of England for their sponsorship of this year's competition.

Free student membership

HealthSense is an independent charity that promotes good evidence and integrity in healthcare. It is run entirely by volunteers.

Full-time students, whether they enter the competition or not, can take advantage of free Student Membership of HealthSense and receive regular updates and get involved in activities by our volunteers and student committee to promote good evidence and integrity in health care.

Entry form

Helping hands

Can you do more to help us achieve the aims we share?

It is very pleasing — and also frankly remarkable — that we accomplish so much through the work of a small core of enthusiastic volunteers (see reminder list below). It's hugely rewarding, and it's fun.

However, we can't do nearly as much as we would like and our range of activities is threatened by the fact that several key people in HealthSense are getting older, some even older than the King and one or two nearly mature enough to be a candidate for US President.

So, could you help to strengthen and advance our campaigns?

No special expertise is necessary, just a little time every now and then, maybe to attend online meetings or help with any of our campaigns including:

  • Running the student prize competition, in which medical, nursing and allied students rank research protocols in order of quality;
  • Responding to consultations by the Department of Health and Social Care, NICE, the MHRA and other health-related bodies;
  • Writing to newspapers, MPs, parliamentary Select Committees etc on topics related to health care;
  • Badgering the Charity Commission about the need to take action on claims made by dubious or bogus charities pushing snake-oil cures (thanks, Les);
  • Help run the website and membership database;
  • Writing an article for the HS Newsletter;
  • Selecting a distinguished person to be the recipient of the HealthSense Annual Award;
  • Organising a gala event in London at which the winners of the student prize competition are presented with their prizes and the winner of our Annual Award gives a talk on their area of special interest;
  • Keeping in touch with sympathetic journalists and campaigners (for example, the Good Thinking Society) on topics of mutual interest.

You'd be most welcome if you felt energised by any of these and could help make HealthSense even more effective. If there are specific activities you would like to be involved with, based on your interests and experience, please let us know.

To discuss the work of HealthSense, without commitment, do please contact me.

Hands

The Winter 2023-24 issue of the HealthSense Newsletter, issue 125, is online now!

In fond memory of our founder members, the feisty journalist Caroline Richmond, and world-renowned insulin expert Vincent Marks, who died last year, we have two fascinating and very personal obituaries that are highly recommended. News in Brief this time announces some highly-praised new research published by our partners at Consilium, presents our new LinkedIn page and newsletter archive, as well as news of more successful actions by volunteers. Features include a report with photographs of prize winners from our recent Awards Night, a piece on the difficulties of saying "no" to overtreatment, a feature on last year's "Preventing Overdiagnosis" congress, the HealthSense annual report from our Chair, and some thoughts on medical research around the world.

Unless otherwise indicated, articles in the HealthSense Newsletter remain free to view, download and share. HealthSense members can opt to receive a personal printed copy of the newsletter as a benefit of membership. 

Links to the full newsletter and individual articles are below, or access a printable pdf format of the latest issue here.

Newsletter 125 – Winter 2023-24

Published January 2024

In this issue:

  • NEWS IN BRIEF  Remembering our founder members; latest research; prizes; and a new way to connect with us
  • OBITUARIES  Caroline Richmond, a force to be reckoned with; and insulin expert Vincent Marks
  • AWARDS NIGHT  Prizes for top students, and transparency leaders Till Bruckner and Nick DeVito
  • OVERDIAGNOSIS  Shavez Jeffers on researching the challenge of refusing breast screening
  • MEETING REPORT  Preventing Overdiagnosis conference opens eyes and new ways forward
  • CHAIR'S REPORT  A view of the past year from HealthSense chair Roger Fisken
  • LAST WORD  Where is Russia's medical research? Asks Colin Brewer

We thank the contributors of this latest issue; our solicitor Thomas West of Richard Slade & Co. who checks our newsletter pre-publication; and HealthSense Secretary Philippa Pigache for her careful checking and subbing of the draft.

Find past issues here. If you'd like to write an article for an upcoming issue of the HealthSense Newsletter, find out more here.

Support us by becoming a member of HealthSense and help to promote science and integrity in healthcare.

HealthSense’s year of achievement: 2023

HealthSense has over two hundred subscribing members. We have no salaried staff and all work is done by our volunteer trustees and members – people like you. As an independent charity we rely on members’ subscriptions and personal donations. Please consider a donation to support our work.

Here is just some of what HealthSense volunteers were doing in 2023 to promote evidence and integrity in health care:

Adding to the research base

We are blazing a trail in the use of AI to promote evidence in health.

A volunteer-led research team is using AI to detect misleading health claims online. We have also agreed to support postgrads at Oxford University who are testing a way that AI could cut the time taken to do evidence reviews – which could make new science faster and more relevant.

Transparency is another important research theme. We supported a TranspariMED investigation completed this year which generated a revealing snapshot of research waste in the UK, and rescued the results of 14 unpublished clinical trials.(1) We also supported a project by another non-profit, Consilium Scientific, who analysed clinical trials in 50 top UK public research institutes to find best practices for transparency in research.(2)

And finally, a new HealthSense study exploring the employment of ‘alternative’ practitioners in the NHS is on its way to being published.

Recognizing excellence

The overwhelming favourite for the 2023 HealthSense Award was Dr Till Bruckner of TranspariMED, for his hugely successful international campaign to rescue hidden medical evidence by driving greater transparency in clinical trial reporting. He shares the award with colleague Dr Nick DeVito, and they gave an inspiring presentation at this year's HealthSense Awards night at the Victory Services Club in November.

Supporting students of medicine and health care

Almost 100 students rose to the challenge of submitting an essay to the 2023 HealthSense Student Prize. Winners’ cheques totaled £1,500. The Royal College of Surgeons of England continues to support this unique and successful competition that promotes understanding of what makes high quality health science.

We used our 21-year experience with the Student Competition to launch a collection of online resources to support students learning to read and critically analyze health research.

We are giving young people a publishing opportunity that is cost-free and supportive. See our HealthSense Newsletter article by Lydia Shackshaft, last year’s student prize winner, on how evidence-based medicine is being taught in UK medical schools.

Making an impression

The British Medical Journal sought out HealthSense when the government published a new plan to register doctors’ financial interests. They quoted our concerns that the plan is “designed to fail”.(3)

The Times published our letter on the dangers of uncritical acceptance of the idea that ‘more means better’ when it comes to breast cancer screening. 

Partnerships promoting good evidence

Our trustee Les Rose has been collaborating with the Good Thinking Society to compel the Charity Commission to investigate registered charities that are involved with harmful health care practices.

Speaking up for evidence

We supplied expert input to two major calls for evidence from the Department of Health and Social Care: Major Conditions Strategy, and Disclosure of industry payments to the health care sector.

We asked the Parliamentary Health and Social Care Committee to re-think their emphasis on questionable screening programmes and instead focus on established indicators of ill health poverty, air quality, poor housing, insecure employment.

We called on the UK National Screening Committee to conduct an evidence review for all screening programmes with the aim of retiring those that have become obsolete.

We challenged the Department of Health and Social Care on their plans to expand the poorly-performing NHS Health Check programme on the basis of unpublished data.

Thank you for reading. We hope we can look forward to your continued support in 2024.

Season's greetings,

The HealthSense Trustees

 

References

  1. Bruckner T, Schuster A, Chavarría B, Cruz C, Lizárraga K, Borana R, Ishe Bvute T, Sánchez D. Major UK non-commercial sponsors’ efforts to reduce research waste: a mixed methods study. medRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.05.03.23289434 (version posted May 5, 2023)
  2. DeVito NJ and Lewis S. Evaluating clinical trials transparency policies at UK public research institutions. Available online: https://consilium-scientific.org/component/content/article/19-other/452-evaluating-clinical-trials-transparency-policies-at-uk-public-research-institutions?Itemid=437
  3. Wise J. Government consults on legislation to disclose industry payments to doctors. BMJ 2023; 382: p2049. https://www.bmj.com/content/382/bmj.p2049

Awards night 2023: recording now online

For those of you who could not join us last week, and for those of you who did and would like to re-live their favourite moments, we are pleased to announce that the video recording of the HealthSense Awards Night is now posted on our YouTube channel.

The 50-minute recording begins with the welcome by Nick Ross; the Student Prize presentations start from 12:30 minutes in; then the presentations by Till Bruckner and Nick DeVito from 16:30 onwards.

Please share on social media and with your fellow students and colleagues!

NickRoss NoelleYau ToniOduwole SaksheeRamakrishnanStudent Prize

We were delighted to welcome the winners of the HealthSense Student Prize, pictured (left to right): HealthSense president Nick Ross with Noelle Yau of University College London (first prize, Nursing, Midwifery & Professions Allied to Medicine); Toni Oduwole (runner-up, Medical & Dental); and Sakshee Ramakrishnan of Lancaster Medical School (first prize, Medical & Dental).

We also extended our congratulations to three runners-up in the Medical & Dental category who were unfortunately unable to attend in person: Lorenzo Verani of Imperial College London, Matthew Lim of the University of Glasgow, and Oyeyemi Opeyemi Victor, of Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria.

We are grateful once again to The Royal College of Surgeons of England for their generous support of this year's HealthSense Student Prize competition.

2023 HealthSense Award

NickRoss NickDeVito TillBrucknerAfter the presentations to students, the 2023 HealthSense Award was presented to clinical trial transparency campaigner Dr Till Bruckner for his outstanding and hugely successful campaign to rescue hidden medical evidence. At his request, he shared the Award with fellow transparency pioneer Dr Nicholas DeVito.

Their full presentations and Q&A can be enjoyed on the recording.

The 2023 HealthSense Awards were held at the Victory Services Club, London on Wednesday 15 November 2023.

From our President, Nick Ross

A message from our President, Nick Ross:

NickRoss15 November

Dear HealthSense member,

We rarely ask for your help but this is an exception.

Our Awards ceremony is next Wednesday, with prize winners travelling to London for the event.

For various reasons, we have some spare seats that we are anxious to fill.

If you are able to fit this into your commitments we would warmly welcome you.

Register button

Wednesday, 15 November 2023

6.30 Drinks reception
7.00 Welcome by our President, Nick Ross
7.05 Presentation of awards to the Student Prize-winners
7.20 Presentation of the HealthSense Award 2023 to Dr Till Bruckner
7.25 Talk by Dr Bruckner, followed by questions
8.00 Supper

Trafalgar room, Victory Services Club, 63-69 Seymour Street, London W2 2HF

Full details and registration form can be found here. Please register as soon as possible so we can inform the venue of the final numbers.

With many thanks and all good wishes.

~ Nick

PS Why not ask a partner or friend to register as well?

DEADLINE

The deadline for registration is noon tomorrow, Tuesday 7 November

We have to notify the Victory Services Club of the number of attendees and meal preferences for our Awards Evening by tomorrow so please complete your registration today!

Read the announcement: full details and registration are here:

Please register this evening and don't leave it till the last minute!

Register button

We look forward to seeing you there.

The Autumn 2023 issue of the HealthSense Newsletter is online now!

Read the latest news about the impact our committee, past award winners and volunteers are having on healthcare. There are features on ultra-processed foods, the study of placebos, screening and drug information, and from award-winning journalist John Illman we have a fascinating obituary of a modest pioneer of evidence-based care.

Unless otherwise indicated, articles in the HealthSense Newsletter remain free to view, download and share. HealthSense members can opt to receive a personal printed copy of the newsletter as a benefit of membership. 

Links to the full newsletter and individual articles are below, or access a printable pdf format of the latest issue here.

Newsletter 124 – Autumn 2023

Published November 2023

  • NEWS IN BRIEF HealthSense slams govt consultation on doctor's interests, and more
  • MEDIA Press coverage of new study on screening – not everyone gets the message
  • OBITUARY Ronald Bradley, pioneer of evidence-based intensive care, remembered by John Illman
  • OPINION Anti-cancer drug makers are not the only ones holding back on facts in patient-facing information
  • NUTRITION Why demonise ultra-processed foods? David Bender argues for more nuance and less puritanism
  • BOOK REVIEW Till Bruckner reviews a new book about the search for justice in the Monsanto trials
  • LETTER TO THE EDITOR The study of placebos is now a speciality in its own right, says Colin Brewer

We thank the contributors of this latest issue; our solicitor Thomas West of Richard Slade & Co. who checks our newsletter pre-publication; and HealthSense Secretary Philippa Pigache for her careful checking and subbing of the draft.

Find past issues here. If you'd like to write an article for an upcoming issue of the HealthSense Newsletter, find out more here.

Support us by becoming a member of HealthSense and help to promote science and integrity in healthcare.

15 NovemberWe are looking forward to welcoming friends old and new, members and non-members, to the 2023 HealthSense Awards Evening at the Victory Services Club, London on Wednesday 15 November 2023.

Attending in person

Registration is now open to join us in person at the HealthSense Awards Evening. Find out more, and complete the registration form, here. The registration process is the same for HealthSense members and for non-members.

Because all those attending will have the opportunity to enjoy the buffet, this year we are charging for registration to attend the Awards Evening in person. The cost for registration is £40 per head and includes the two-course fork buffet supper.

If you wish to join us at the Victory Services Club please register before midday on Tuesday 7th November. The Victory Services Club may not be able to add late requests to our list. 

Watching online

If you cannot attend in person you can watch the event as it happens, on our livestream starting at 7pm on Wednesday 15 November. Alternatively, you can catch it later on the HealthSense YouTube channel. No registration or payment is needed to watch online, whether live or on YouTube. Find out more about how to join here.

The order of events

The drinks reception will start at 18:30. The ceremony will begin at 19:00, when we meet and congratulate the winners of the HealthSense Student Prize. Next, the 2023 HealthSense Award will be presented to clinical trial transparency campaigner Dr Till Bruckner. Till was the overwhelming favourite to receive the 2023 HealthSense Award for his outstanding and hugely successful campaign to rescue hidden medical evidence. At his request, he is to share the Award with fellow transparency pioneer Nicholas DeVito. Till will give a talk before joining us for supper.

We look forward to seeing you there!

AGM 2023 arrangements

19 OctoberAs previously announced, the Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday 19 October 2023 via Zoom starting at 7.30 pm.

The Zoom details are:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85868565578?pwd=SFFUN0xHUUFraHZDVTFXZ3BuSW5xZz09

Meeting ID: 858 6856 5578

Passcode: 088249

Please make sure you join the meeting before 7.30 pm to make sure we are ready to start on time.

All HealthSense members are invited to attend. Apologies for absence may be sent to the Secretary.

Joining the AGM on Zoom

Many of you will already be familiar with Zoom but if you have not used Zoom before, you can download the Zoom application and install it on your device.

Alternatively, you can join the meeting just using your Internet browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, etc). Instructions on how to install the application and how to join a meeting are here: Joining a Zoom meeting.

To help the meeting run smoothly and to allow others to hear the proceedings clearly, please make sure your microphone is muted at all times unless you have been invited to speak.

We will also be using Zoom's Raise Hand feature when voting and at other times during the meeting to raise a point of order or to ask a question. See below for further details.

The meeting will be recorded to help the Secretary write the minutes but we are not planning to make the recording public.

Agenda

Welcome by Nick Ross, President of HealthSense

Formal proceedings:

(i) Minutes of last year's AGM are on the HealthSense website

(ii) Matters arising from the minutes

(iii) Chair’s report (Roger Fisken)

(iv) Membership report (Alan Henness)

(v) Treasurer’s report (Saba Ul-Hasan)

(vi) Election of Officers

Chair: Roger Fisken
Vice-Chair: Leeza Osipenko
Treasurer: Saba Ul-Hasan
Secretary: Philippa Pigache

(vii) Re-election of Trustees

Roger Fisken, Andrew Fulton, Alan Henness, Nathan Hodson, John Illman, Keith Isaacson, James May, Tom Moberley, Leeza Osipenko, Philippa Pigache, Nick Ross, Les Rose, Saba Ul-Hasan

Any other business

Voting

We need to make sure the voting procedure is clear, quick and painless so please make sure you know how to vote and if you are unfamiliar with Zoom, perhaps practice beforehand so we can swiftly move through votes.

A teller will be appointed. Where a vote is required, e.g., for approving the accounts, we will use the Raise Hand feature in Zoom. This makes it easy to count votes for, against and abstentions but to make this work effectively and efficiently, a few rules need to be followed.

When a vote is announced, the teller will ensure there are no raised hands. All those in favour can then raise their (virtual) hands and they will be counted. Once counting has been completed, all hands will have to be lowered. Then votes against will be called for and hands raised by those voting against. Then similar for abstentions.

Once these have been completed, the teller will announce the results and the votes recorded by the Secretary.

Note that this is not just putting your hand up on video: we need to use the 'Raise hand' feature of Zoom as this makes it very clear to the teller who is voting and makes it easy to count as all those participants who have raised their hand are automatically moved to the top and can then be easily counted.

Remember that only members can vote and if you wish to check that your membership is valid, please contact the Membership Secretary before the AGM.

Many will already be familiar with Zoom's Raise Hand feature but details on how to use it can be found here. How to do this depends on what device you use but for those on a Windows laptop or desktop, the following should explain what you need to do:

Click on Reactions at the bottom of the Zoom window:

 Raise hand 1

This will give reaction emojis and the Raise Hand button:

Raise hand 2

Click on Raise Hand and a hand will appear in the top left of your screen:

Raise hand 3

Your video will jump to the top on everyone's screen, making it easy for the teller to see your raised hand and count your vote.

When instructed, you must lower your hand by clicking on the Reactions button again and clicking on Lower Hand:

Lower hand

You are now ready for the next vote.

If two members are sharing a Zoom video, then please make sure the teller knows you are casting two votes by raising your hand on camera.

If you have any questions about this, please contact the Membership Secretary before the AGM.

Are you eager to share your insights and experiences with a wider audience? Professionals, new graduates and students are all expected to have a digital presence these days, and publications look great on CVs.

But getting your work published is time-consuming and laborious. It can be expensive if successful. But more often than not, it is unsuccessful.

This is where HealthSense can help! We are offering young students and writers some free editorial advice, and maybe a published article to add to your CV, and all at no cost. Writing for us is not only a fantastic opportunity to showcase your medical knowledge but also a chance to engage in meaningful discussions, share research ideas, and offer valuable advice to both your peers and the public.

This is how it works: we invite HealthSense members (paying or not) to contribute articles on health and evidence-related issues for publication on the HealthSense website and in the HealthSense Newsletter. You will benefit from having a critique or edit of your submission by one of our professional and experienced volunteer medical editors, plus the online exposure if your work is published. Whether you're passionate about evidence-based health care, want to sound off about bad practice, or want to share news about a great meeting you've attended or a new book, our platform could be your entry into the world of healthcare blogging.

For example, take a look at this article by Lydia Shackshaft, last year's HealthSense Student Prize winner, in our current issue.

Articles we publish are freely accessible on our website and you can share them online, via your own twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media – so you can flag your achievement to your colleagues and prospective employers and add it to your CV.

Guidance on the type of articles we are looking for and how to prepare them is here.

If you are interested in having a go, email the HealthSense editor.

Please share this invitation with your student and young professional friends, family and colleagues. Your voice matters here, and together, we can create a valuable resource for medical professionals and students alike.

This year we will again separate our AGM and our annual Awards presentations – a brisk, online AGM for the business part, and an in-person Awards night for the pleasure part. We hope that many HealthSense members and friends, old and new, will be able to join us for both.

Dates and times for your diary

The online-only Annual General Meeting of HealthSense will be held via Zoom on Thursday 19 October 2023, starting at 19:30.

Simple instructions on how to join the meeting on Zoom, and how any necessary votes will be taken, will be shared nearer the time on the HealthSense news page and to members' emails.

Anyone may join, but only members of HealthSense may vote. HealthSense members include paying subscribers, life members, patrons, and those who have taken up the offer of free student/recent-graduate membership. If you wish to check that your membership is valid, please contact the Membership Secretary before the AGM.

In accordance with the Constitution, nominations for office (i.e., Chair, Vice-Chair,  Secretary and the Treasurer) and for membership of the committee, must be submitted to the Secretary not less than 28 days before the Annual General Meeting, i.e., on or before Thursday 21 September. Such nominations shall be endorsed by at least two members of HealthSense.

Please submit nominations for office to the Secretary on or before 21 September 2023.

Please submit any motions to be considered to the Secretary on or before 21 September 2023.

HealthSense Annual Award

Following the popularity of last year's awards, we are returning to the Victory Services Club for our in-person HealthSense Award ceremony on Wednesday 15 November 2023 in the Trafalgar Room at the Victory Services Club, 63-79 Seymour Street, London W2 2HF.

The drinks reception will start at 18:30. The ceremony will begin at 19:00, when we meet and congratulate the winners of the HealthSense Student Prize Competition. Next, the 2023 HealthSense Award will be presented to research transparency campaigner Dr Till Bruckner. Till was the overwhelming favourite to receive the 2023 HealthSense award for his outstanding and hugely successful campaign to rescue hidden medical evidence.

The presentations will be followed by a two-course fork buffet (optional). Details of the cost of this and how to book will be shared nearer the time on the HealthSense news page and direct to members' email addresses.

The HealthSense Award ceremony will be streamed live on our youtube channel and a recording made available later, so it can be watched remotely by those unable to attend in person.

For those attending, the venue is fully accessible and the VSC says:

The entrance foyer allows for clear wheelchair access from pavement level into the foyer and has been upgraded to include a new platform lift to allow guests to descend into the Trafalgar Room.

If you have specific needs, please contact the VSC.

If you have any questions, please contact the Secretary.

The Summer 2023 issue of the HealthSense Newsletter is online now!

What's inside? Discover the identity of the worthy winner of this year's HealthSense Award. A bumper News in Brief section is packed with reports of media coverage our experts have achieved, and results of some brilliant campaigning work by volunteers like you. Features include a focus on Les Rose's work with the Charity Commission, a call from a Student Prize winner for more evidence in med school training, and some deep thought on placebos in general practice.

Unless otherwise indicated, articles in the HealthSense Newsletter remain free to view, download and share. HealthSense members can opt to receive a personal printed copy of the newsletter as a benefit of membership - they are in the post right now.

Links to the full newsletter and individual articles are below, or access a printable pdf format of the latest issue here.

Newsletter 123 – Summer 2023

Published August 2023

  • EVENTS This year's AGM and Awards Night plans
  • NEWS IN BRIEF Latest achievements and news from our brilliant volunteers, and opportunities to get involved
  • CHARITY HARMS Les Rose is keeping up pressure on the Charity Commission over charities that could harm
  • RESEARCH INTEGRITY Prison for trachea researcher but some deadly research is still not retracted
  • STUDENTS Lydia Shackshaft looks at the evidence base around how evidence is taught at medical school
  • PUBLIC HEALTH A complaint about an NHS screening leaflet produces a positive response
  • LAST WORD Placebos and regression to the mean – some thoughts on general practice, from James May

We thank the contributors of this latest issue; our solicitor Thomas West of Richard Slade & Co. who checks our newsletter pre-publication; and HealthSense Secretary Philippa Pigache for her careful checking and subbing of the draft.

Find past issues here. If you'd like to write an article for an upcoming issue of the HealthSense Newsletter, find out more here.

Support us by becoming a member of HealthSense and help to promote science and integrity in healthcare.

30 AprilThe deadline for submissions in the 2023 HealthSense student prize competition for critical appraisal of clinical research protocols is just a few days away!

For over 20 years, HealthSense has presented more than £20,000 in prizes, and this year it could be your turn to win up to £500.

You have just FOUR DAYS to write, refine and perfect your entry, but don't leave it until the last minute!

Cash prizes

There are two first prizes of £500 each, one for medical and dental students and one for students of nursing, midwifery and professions allied to medicine. Up to five runner-up prizes of £100 will be awarded in each category. Winners will be invited to attend the HealthSense Annual Award Ceremony in October to receive their prizes. If for any reason large gatherings or travel are restricted, the Award Ceremony may be held virtually, in which case prize-winners will be invited to attend remotely.

Winners can also add to their CV the honour of having received a national award — which could give the edge in a competitive post-Covid jobs market.

We are extremely grateful to the Royal College of Surgeons of England for their generous sponsorship of this year's competition.

How to enter

The competition consists of four hypothetical research protocols: your task is to rank the protocols in order from that most likely to provide a reliable answer to the stated aims of the trial to that least likely to do so. You then have to explain your ranking in no more than 600 words.

Please share with your fellow students, organisations, colleges and universities.

Your entry must be received by 23:59 BST on Sunday 30 April 2023. Entries received after that time will not be considered. Find out more and enter here. The full terms and conditions, with the competition protocols for you to read, can be found here

Free student membership

Whether you enter the competition or not, if you are a full-time student, please consider taking advantage of our offer of free Student Membership of HealthSense.

Enter now

The Spring 2023 issue of the HealthSense Newsletter is online now!

This time we feature a fascinating and moving obituary to our late patron, Professor Michael Rawlins, by award-winning journalist John Illman; some discouraging conclusions on polygenic screening; good news about transparency initiatives; strange news about religion and CAM; not one but two brilliant book reviews; and a thoughtful piece for ethical gardeners. And as usual there is news of the latest actions by our volunteers to support our charity's mission to promote evidence and integrity in health care.

Unless otherwise indicated, articles in the HealthSense Newsletter remain free to view, download and share. HealthSense members can opt to receive a personal printed copy of the newsletter as a benefit of membership. 

Links to the full newsletter and individual articles are below, or access a printable pdf format of the latest issue here.

Newsletter 122 – Spring 2023

Published April 2023

We thank the contributors of this latest issue; our lawyer Thomas West of Richard Slade & Co. who checks our newsletter pre-publication; and HealthSense Secretary Philippa Pigache for her careful checking and subbing of the draft.

Find past issues here. If you'd like to write an article for an upcoming issue of the HealthSense Newsletter, find out more here.

Support us by becoming a member of HealthSense and help to promote science and integrity in healthcare.

30 AprilThe deadline for submissions in the 2023 HealthSense student prize competition for critical appraisal of clinical research protocols is approaching!

For over 20 years, HealthSense has presented more than £20,000 in prizes, and this year it could be your turn to win up to £500.

You now have TWO WEEKS to write, refine and perfect your entry, but don't leave it until the last minute!

Cash prizes

There are two first prizes of £500 each, one for medical and dental students and one for students of nursing, midwifery and professions allied to medicine. Up to five runner-up prizes of £100 will be awarded in each category. Winners will be invited to attend the HealthSense Annual Award Ceremony in October to receive their prizes. If for any reason large gatherings or travel are restricted, the Award Ceremony may be held virtually, in which case prize-winners will be invited to attend remotely.

Winners can also add to their CV the honour of having received a national award — which could give the edge in a competitive post-Covid jobs market.

We are extremely grateful to the Royal College of Surgeons of England for their generous sponsorship of this year's competition.

How to enter

The competition consists of four hypothetical research protocols: your task is to rank the protocols in order from that most likely to provide a reliable answer to the stated aims of the trial to that least likely to do so. You then have to explain your ranking in no more than 600 words.

Please share with your fellow students, organisations, colleges and universities.

Your entry must be received by 23:59 BST on Sunday 30 April 2023. Entries received after that time will not be considered. Find out more and enter here. The full terms and conditions, with the competition protocols for you to read, can be found here

Free student membership

Whether you enter the competition or not, if you are a full-time student, please consider taking advantage of our offer of free Student Membership of HealthSense.

Enter now