Are you a Nurse, Midwife, Allied Health Professional, Pharmacist or Healthcare Scientist, looking to embark on a clinical academic career and make a difference through undertaking high quality clinical research? If so, this programme is for you. NHS R&D North West are pleased to announce that in collaboration with the University of Salford from January 2020, we will be delivering the Integrated Clinical Academic Internship Programme across the North West region of Health Education England. These highly prestigious internships are funded by Health Education England providing the first step onto a clinical academic career pathway.
If you’re curious about the nature of research into practice or are already engaged in this in a limited way, then the Internship programme will be of interest. Read on!
How will an internship support my clinical research development?
The internship provides a dedicated period for you to consider and contribute to research capacity and research capability building within NHS services. It will:
- provide the opportunity for you to engage in and develop a network of clinical academics to develop, promote and evaluate research into learning, best practice and innovation both regionally and nationally
- support the development of both your clinical and research skills
- enable you to explore research into areas prioritised within HEE’s mandate or to the education and training of the NHS workforce more widely
- offer you an insight into the world of the clinical academic
- access to relevant learning resouces at the University of Salford
- provide you with significant developmental opportunities to enable you to begin to realise your research potential.
Eligibility
The scheme is open to nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, pharmacists and healthcare scientists who meet the following eligibility criteria. Applicants must:
- Be employed by an NHS organisation in the North West.
- Be a health or social care professional (non-medical clinical role) registered with one of the ICA approved regulatory bodies listed here.
- Have no prior formal training in research or DO NOT hold a research qualification such as a Masters degree by research, PhD or professional doctorate.
- Have clear potential for engaging in research that will be of benefit to patients and/or the public. This could include data from patients; members of the public/carers; health technology assessment; health services research; and research into clinical education and training.
What is involved?
The key components of the programme are:
- 30 days’ clinical academic research experience supported by supervision from an experienced academic
- Participation in a 6-day residential educational programme to increase your knowledge and understanding of research and its place in the wider NHS research community. The 6 days are made up of 3 x 2 day residentials spread out over the duration of the 6 months.
- Exploration of your personal and career development goals
Is funding available?
A single payment of £7,000 will be offered to the intern’s employing organisation to facilitate release from their duties and cover travel and other reasonable expenses.
A fee of £1,000 will be paid to the organisation hosting the internship to cover the costs of supervision and mentorship.
What do I need to do?
An application form can be downloaded here along with the guidance notes. These require input of your proposed supervisor (if you have identified one) and your line manager, so we advise you not to leave it until the last moment to request a pack. Please note that if you do not have a supervisor, the University of Salford will assist you.
How do I find out more?
After having read the guidance notes, if you have further questions please contact Jo-Anne Simpson, joanne.simpson@researchnorthwest.nhs.uk.
In addition, to inform potential applicants about the programme and the application process, we will be holding an online Q&A session open for anyone to join who wishes to know more about the scheme and ask any questions. This will be an hour in duration, 1pm – 2pm, and held on MS Teams, the date of these session is;
17th November 2021
Those wishing to join these online sessions can do so here.
What is the deadline?
Following the submission deadline, all applications will be checked for completeness and eligibility and eligible applications will be sent to the selection panel for consideration at the Funding Recommendation Meeting.
- Deadline for applications Friday 10th December 2021
- Funding recommendation meeting w/c 10th January 2022
- Internships start March 2022
Applicants will be notified of the outcome of their application via email as soon as the funding decision is finalised. It can take up to 10 working days following the funding recommendation meeting for application outcomes to be issued. Feedback will be sent to applicants after the funding decisions have been made.
If you require further information, please contact Jo-Anne Simpson joanne.simpson@researchnorthwest.nhs.uk.