Early Career Researchers
SAPC recognises the importance, as well as the challenges, of attracting and retaining staff from a range of disciplines to work within academic primary care.
SAPC is committed to supporting primary care researchers throughout their career, and especially at the early stages. We have early career researcher (ECR) representatives co-opted onto the SAPC Executive Committee. At the annual conference, we offer bursaries for non-medical ECRs attending for the first time. There is also a prize for the best presentation by an ECR. We run a buddying scheme for first time attenders to the meeting (whatever stage in your career!), as well as offering parallel lunchtime meetings for ECRs.
Concern about the opportunities for clinicians, including GPs, to develop academic careers contributed to the development of the ‘Walport’ scheme and a new training programme for clinical academics. Now supported by the National Institute for Health research (NIHR), these academic training schemes have been extended to include other health care professionals and now non-health professionals.
See the NIHR Trainees Coordinating Centre home page: http://www.nihrtcc.nhs.uk/
Dr Clare Taylor is the Early Career Researcher representative co-opted onto the SAPC Executive. She is a GP in Birmingham, and is the Royal College of GPs First5 CPD Fellow. She has written a paper describing the current situation around National academic GP training posts (NIHR posts) and other locally funded schemes.
SAPC has long been aware of the particular difficulties faced by non-clinicians in building an academic primary care career. In 2000, a working group report highlighted the need to addresses inequalities between medics and non-medics.
Work within the NIHR, including the Trainees Coordinating Centre and the establishment of Primary Care School, begins to tackle some of these issues. SAPC is also committed to ongoing work to support and develop the non-clinical academic work force. We are currently planning to follow up the career pathways of both non-clinical and clinical groups as part of a planned academic primary care workforce scoping exercise in 2011.
We are keen to hear about the experiences of ECR: both problems you have encountered, as well as any success stories you have experienced. Please contact our early career representatives: Joanne joanne.reeve@liv.ac.uk, or Clare clarejtaylor@doctors.org.uk
Prizes for early career researchers
Prize for best presentation by a young or early career researcher
There will be a prize (value £100) for the best early-career researcher presentation. To qualify, the main author and presenter should have no more than three years (whole time equivalent) research experience. Shortlisting for the prize will be based on the quality of submitted abstracts, and shortlisted presentations will be judged by a panel of senior academics.
RCGP/SAPC elective prize
An annual prize of £500 awarded for the best audit or research proposal by a medical student
http://www.rcgp.org.uk/about_us/prizes_and_awards_list.aspx#rcgpsapc
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