RESEARCH PROPOSAL MEMORANDUM

Date: February 10, 2021

To: Professor Steffen Guenzel
From: Renel Marcelus Jr.
Subject: Research Proposal: How does the environment of COVID-19 affect pre-med students
who wish to get work/hands-on experience as a prerequisite for grad school?
Topic description: For this topic I want to see how COVID-19 is particularly affecting pre-med
students (as I am one myself) who are trying to fulfill prerequisites for their grad school.
Documentation Style: The documentation style that I will be using is MLA. I MLA over APA
because this isn’t necessarily scientific research.
Purpose: My college major is biology and I plan on becoming a physician assistant. To become
a physician assistant, you have to attend a physician assistant program (PA school); and if you
want to attend one there are some prerequisites that you must fulfill, including job experience in
the medical field. So this is why I want to do research on the subject that I chose. I want to
investigate how it’s being handled. Things like how college seniors, who are pre-med during the
pandemic, are being affected are of interest in this research. I say seniors in particular because I
know there are a couple of seniors who would probably like to attend a PA program but might
find getting work experience hard during this time.
Intended audience: My intended audience is pre-med students who wish to be in the medical
field.
Research Question / Preliminary Thesis / Argument: How does the environment of COVID-
19 affect pre-med students who are working to fulfill their prerequisites for grad school?
Keywords: COVID-19, pre-med students, prerequisites
Types of research areas: I will conduct scholarly, internet, and possibly field research for my
topic. I say possibly for field research because we are in a pandemic and face-to-face interviews
is not really a safe option; so I might have to figure out a way to do it online.
Tentative List of References:

Alsoufi, Ahmed, et al. “Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical Education: Medical
Students' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Electronic Learning.” PLOS ONE,
Public Library of Science, https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?
id=10.1371/journal.pone.0242905

Dowd, Brianna, et al. “The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Medical School Admissions:
Challenges and Solutions.” The Journal of Surgical Research, Elsevier Inc., Feb. 2021,
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7492063/.

Farber, Orly Nadell. “Medical Students Can Help Combat Covid-19. Don't Send Them Home.”
STAT, 16 Mar. 2020, www.statnews.com/2020/03/14/medical-students-can-help-combat-covid-
19/.
Gaur, Uma, et al. “Challenges and Opportunities of Preclinical Medical Education: COVID-19
Crisis and Beyond.” SN Comprehensive Clinical Medicine, Springer International Publishing, 22
Sept. 2020, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7508422/.

Murphy, Brendan. “With Volunteering Limited, Med Schools Adjust Admissions Expectations.”
American Medical Association, 8 July 2020, www.ama-assn.org/residents-students/preparing-
medical-school/volunteering-limited-med-schools-adjust-admissions.

Visuals, graphs or charts:

Source: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0242905

Research Schedule:

Assignment Due Date

Inquiry and Researching Writing in the Feb 22
Disciplines

Digital Paper Trail (DPT) Feb 24

Responding to other Students' Writing Mar 1

Workshop Draft Research Dossier Mar 3

Peer-Review Workshop 1 Mar 8

Toulmin Mode of Argumentation Mar 8

A Rhetorician's View: Rhetorical Analysis 1 Mar 10

Final Draft Research Dossier Mar 10

Rhetorical Analysis 2 Mar 15

Revision Strategies of Experienced Adult Mar 17

Writers

Rhetorical Analysis 3: Reverse Outline Mar 17

Rhetorical Analysis 4 Mar 22

Workshop Draft Rhetorical Analysis Mar 24

Peer-Review Workshop 2 Mar 29

Pitch your TED Talk Mar 31

Final Draft Rhetorical Analysis Mar 31

Workshop Draft 1 Research Paper Apr 5

Peer-Review Workshop Draft 1 Research Apr 6

Paper

Workshop Draft 2 Research Paper Apr 6

Workshop Draft 3 Research Paper Apr 19

Course Evaluation Apr 21

Peer-Review Workshop Draft 3 Research Apr 21

Paper

Workshop Draft Self-Assessment / Apr 21

Reflection
Peer-Review Workshop Draft Self- Apr 22
Assessment /Reflection

Extra Credit Opportunity - Writing Apr 23

TED Student Lounge Apr 23

Final Draft Argumentative Research Paper Apr 26

E-Portfolios Apr 29

TED Talk Presentations Apr 29

Feedback to Research Presentations Apr 30