Clough Sally, Fenton James, Harris-Joseph Helen, Rayton Leesa, Magee Caroline, Jones David, Cotterill Lisa Ann, Neilson James
NIHR Trainees Coordinating Centre, Leeds Innovation Centre, Leeds, UK.
NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre and Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
BMJ Open. 2017 Jun 12;7(6):e015722. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-015722.
The Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) was introduced to support the early career clinical and research training of potential future clinical academics in England. The driver for the model was concern about falling numbers of clinical academic trainees. This study examines the impact of the ACF model, over its first 10 years, in developing clinical academic careers by tracking the progression of ACF trainees.
Retrospective analysis of National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) ACF career progression. This was performed using mixed methods including routine data collections of career destination, analysis of application rates to doctoral level fellowships and supplemented by survey information that captured the perceived benefits and challenges from previous ACFs and their current career activities.
1239 NIHR ACFs who completed or left their posts between 2006 and March 2015.
ACFs are perceived by the candidate population as attractive posts, with high numbers of applications leading to high fill rates. Balancing clinical and academic commitments is one of the reported challenges when completing an ACF. We have found that undertaking an ACF was shown to increase the likelihood of securing an externally funded doctoral training award and the vast majority of ACFs move into academic roles, with many completing PhDs. Previous ACFs continue to show positive career progression, predominantly in translational and clinical research. The knowledge acquired during the ACF continues to be useful in subsequent roles and trainees would recommend the scheme to others.
The NIHR ACF scheme is successful as part of an integrated training pathway in developing careers in academic medicine and dentistry.
引入学术临床研究员项目（ACF）以支持英格兰未来潜在临床学术人员的早期临床和研究培训。设立该模式的驱动因素是对临床学术培训学员数量下降的担忧。本研究通过追踪ACF学员的职业发展，考察了ACF模式在其首个十年中对发展临床学术职业的影响。
对英国国家卫生研究院（NIHR）ACF职业发展进行回顾性分析。采用了混合方法，包括对职业去向的常规数据收集、对博士水平奖学金申请率的分析，并辅以调查信息，该信息收集了往届ACF学员所感知到的益处和挑战以及他们当前的职业活动情况。
2006年至2015年3月期间完成或离职的1239名NIHR ACF学员。
候选人群认为ACF职位很有吸引力，申请人数众多导致职位填充率很高。完成ACF时，平衡临床和学术任务是所报告的挑战之一。我们发现，参加ACF显示出增加获得外部资助的博士培训奖的可能性，并且绝大多数ACF学员转向学术岗位，许多人还完成了博士学位。往届ACF学员继续呈现积极的职业发展态势，主要集中在转化医学和临床研究领域。在ACF期间获得的知识在后续工作中仍然有用，学员们会向其他人推荐该项目。
NIHR ACF项目作为学术医学和牙科学职业综合培训途径的一部分是成功的。
