Guidelines for fellowship by thesis

1. The Fellowship of The Caribbean Association of Medical Technologists (CASMET) is the Association’s highest qualification in Medical Laboratory Technology. For Technologists who wish to obtain this qualification by conducting original research, Fellowship by thesis is available to them.

2. Each thesis, submitted for Fellowship of the Association, should be an account of investigations performed by the candidate. It must form a distinct contribution to the knowledge of the subject and afford evidence of originality, shown by the discovery of new facts.

3. In his/her thesis a candidate is expected to detail such work and present his/her results and conclusions, demonstrating an ability to apply a disciplined and systematic approach to scientific investigations and to convey these findings in a logical, coherent and literate manner.

4. The greater portion of the work submitted for examination must have been done subsequent to the approval of the candidate’s application.

5. A candidate may not submit material previously entered for Examination for which an award has been given unless substantial further work, covering a new feature or incorporating a wider field of investigation, has been carried out. In such cases, prior approval must be obtained from the Regional Council before the resubmission of the work.

Entry Requirements

A candidate for examination by Thesis for Fellowship of the Association shall:

(a) Complete an application form for Fellowship by Thesis and return it to his/her Branch Secretary with the appropriate examination fee of $US300.00.

(b) Have passed the CASMET Diploma (or equivalent examination) in Medical Technology or a Bachelor of Science Degree in Medical Technology.

(c) Have completed at least two (2) years studies/research leading to the submission of thesis.

(d) Be a member of the Association for at least one (1) year prior to the date of application and must maintain membership.

(e) Submit a synopsis of the proposed thesis. This shall be 300 to 500 words and shall be submitted in triplicate. The synopsis shall contain:

- a title

- a short introduction, including objectives and rationale

- methodology

- references

(f) Nominate a supervisor, whose name shall be indicated on the application form and whom the candidate shall consult for advice and guidance on his/her research work.

(g) Provide evidence that facilities are available for conducting the intended research.

Procedure

Following the Regional Council’s approval of the thesis’ title and synopsis and the candidate’s supervisor, the candidate shall be informed of the Council’s decision.

At a later date a panel of three (3) examiners shall be selected. That panel shall comprise a Chief Examiner, one other examiner and the candidate’s supervisor. Candidates shall be examined under the regulations in existence at the time of approval of their titles and synopses.

A candidate may make application to the Regional Council for permission to change an approved title and/or synopsis.

The thesis shall be written in compliance with the stipulations set out in the document “Presentation of Theses”.

When completed, the thesis shall not be less than sixty (60) or more than one hundred (100) pages.

It is recommended that the thesis be submitted in an unbound form e.g. a ring-binder.

All submitted theses must be accompanied by a letter from the candidate’s supervisor indicating that in his/her opinion, the thesis is presented in a technically acceptable form.

The thesis must be submitted within two (2) years of the date of approval of the title and synopsis. One extension of six (6) months will be granted at no additional cost to the candidate. A second extension of six (6) months is allowed but a fee of $US50.00 will apply in that case. All applications for extension shall reach the Regional Secretary at least one hundred and twenty (120) days before the original deadline date. If a thesis is not submitted within three (3) years a candidate will be expected to submit a new application and pay the relevant fee.

Each thesis shall be examined in the areas set out in the document “Fellowship by Thesis – Areas of Assessment”.

With respect to the assessment of theses, there are four (4) possible outcomes:

(a) Acceptance as submitted.

(b) Referred for minor corrections – mainly typographical errors.

(a) Referred, pending re-writing of less than 30% of the thesis.

(b) Rejection.

Theses shall be graded as Honours, Pass or Fail, using the following marking system:

The author of the thesis may be asked to attend an oral examination, which shall be held within one hundred and twenty (120) days of the date of the submission of the thesis.

The Chairman of the Education Committee shall notify each candidate of his/her results.

The Association reserves the right to publish, if it so desires, the whole or any part of any thesis submitted.

A candidate wishing to publish any part of a thesis, either before or after submitting it for examination, must obtain permission from the Regional Council of the Association.

Role of Supervisor

(a) The supervisor shall ensure that the candidate’s thesis is prepared in conformity with the Association’s document “Presentation of Theses”, as theses which do not conform will be rejected.

b) It is also the responsibility of the supervisor to ensure that the candidate thoroughly understands the stages in his/her research and the relationship that each bears to the others. The supervisor’s role is that of guide and consultant, not of teacher since the candidate must exhibit originality and initiative if the thesis is to represent his/her own research.

No candidate should seek to represent work originated by others, or performed as part of a team project, as though it represents his/her own original research. It is the duty of the supervisor to see that this does not happen and of examiners to uncover any such attempt.

c) If the work begins to develop in a different direction, the supervisor must advise the candidate to submit a revised title and synopsis.

PRESENTATION OF THESES

All theses must conform to the following requirements:

Paper and Typing

Letter size (216mm x 279mm) or A4 size (210mm x 297mm) shall be used and typing should be on one side of the paper only and double-spaced. The type should be 12 pitch. The left hand margin shall be 40mm and the top, bottom and right-hand margins 20mm.

Generally, only one size and style type should be used throughout the thesis. However, bold type and italics for emphasis are permitted. All equations and formulae must be typed. Hand insertions are acceptable only where the symbol is not available on computer. Only permanent black ink should be used for such insertions.

The thesis must be free of typographical errors. Corrections made in ink or using opaquing fluid are not acceptable and it is advisable to re-type pages if corrections, deletions or additions become necessary.

QUOTATIONS

Quotations should be set off from the text in single spacing and indented four (4) spaces from the left-hand margin.

Single spacing is permitted with footnotes, bibliographic items and appendix items.

FOOTNOTES

Footnotes should be single spaced and placed preferably at the bottom of the appropriate page.

If footnotes are treated as numbered references in one sequence at the end of the work, such a list of references should precede the bibliography.

TABLES AND FIGURES

Tables and figures should be listed by number. Title and page numbers in the thesis, and the titles of tables and figures should correspond exactly to the titles which appear in the text.

A table or figure should appear in the text as close as possible following the point at which it is first discussed, usually no further than the page following and Arabic numerals should be used. Titles should appear at the top of tables.

PAGINATION

The title page is not numbered. All other pages should be numbered consecutively with page numbers placed centrally at the bottom of each page.

The pages before the start of the text must be numbered in lower case Roman numerals.

The pages of the text must be numbered in a new sequence of Arabic numerals consecutively throughout the thesis.

LAYOUT OF THESIS

The thesis shall contain the following components, set out in the order indicated below:

 Title page

 Abstract

 Acknowledgements (optional)

 Dedication (optional)

 Table of Contents

 List of Abbreviations

 List of Figures

 List of Tables

 Text of Thesis

 References

 Appendices (optional)

 Declaration

TITLE PAGE

The title page should have the following information in the order listed:

(a) The full title of the thesis, which should give an accurate and concise description of the project and shall not contain any abbreviations.

(b) The full name of the author, followed by current qualification(s).

(c) The name and address of the department in which the work was carried out.

(d) The qualification for which the thesis is submitted.

(e) The month and year of the submission.

ABSTRACT

Each thesis should contain an abstract of not more than three hundred (300) words, the pages of which should be numbered in lower case Roman numerals. It must include the title “ABSTRACT”, the thesis title, the author’s name and should identify briefly the purpose of the research, the methods used, the results obtained, the conclusions reached and the significance of the findings. The abstract shall not contain any abbreviations or references and should be capable of being published on its own as an adequate account of the thesis.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This section of the thesis is optional. When included, it is a record of the author’s indebtedness and should include acknowledgements of permission to use copyrighted material in the thesis. Where applicable, acknowledgement for funding should also be included.

DEDICATION

This section of the thesis, which is also optional, allows for the dedication of the author’s work to a person or persons.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

The table of contents lists in sequence, with page numbers, the titles of all chapters, sections and sub-sections, appendices and references.

ABBREVIATIONS

Abbreviations should only be used if they are internationally recognized (e.g. ELISA for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). The text should be written in full when first used, followed by the abbreviation in brackets.

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

These are separate lists identifying all tables and figures by number and in the order in which they appear in the text.

TEXT OF THESIS

The text of the thesis should comprise:

(a) Introduction/literature review

(b) Materials and methods

(c) Results

(d) Discussion/conclusion

The thesis should be divided into chapters, sections and sub-sections with a consistent system of headings. The headings recommended are:

(a) the main headings for chapters in full capitals and bold lettering and centered on the page.

(b) the main headings for sections in full capitals and aligned to the left of the page.

(c) the subsidiary headings for sub-sections, above the line of the text and aligned to the left of the page, using initial capitals and underlined.

REFERENCES

References should be listed in a separate sequence of pages and in the order in which they appear in the text. These should be cited using the following format.

Journal Article

Author, Year, Title, Journal, Volume, Issue, Pages

Example: Sanders PW, Herrera G, Chen A, Brooker BB, Galla JH(1993). “Differential nephrotoxicity of low molecular weight proteins including Bence Jones proteins in the perfused rat nephron in vivo.” J Clin Invest 92:2975-2983.

Book

Author, Year, Title, Series Editor, Series Title, City, Publisher, Volume, Number of Volumes, Number of Pages, Edition.

Example: Parks, W.C., Mecham, R.P. (1998). Matrix Metallaproteinases. Academic Press, San Diego.

Book Section

Author, Year, Title, Editor, Book Title, City, Publisher, Volume, Number of Volumes, Pages.

Magazine Article

Author, Year, Title, Magazine, Volume, Issue Number, Pages.

Newspaper Article

Reporter, Year, Title, Newspaper, City, Pages, Section, Edition, Issue Date, Type of Article.

Internet Article

Author, Year, Title, Producer Access Year, Access date, Edition, Last Update Year, Type of Medium, Short Title, URL Author Address.

Not all fields may apply but as many as possible should be cited.

Other References

Materials extraneous to the text, such as the full names and addresses of equipment manufacturers should be included.

If any part of the thesis is published before completion, this should be listed among the references.

APPENDICES

The purpose of an appendix is to contain research material which is pertinent to the thesis but which is not essential to an understanding of the work done by the candidate.

DECLARATION

In this section the author is expected to indicate any material contained in the thesis which he/she had used before.

Revised: October 23, 2002 by: Victor Farrell

Edited: May 13, 2003

Validated: May 13, 2003

Guidelines for fellowship by thesis