Academic Opportunities for Clinicians

After completing their medical degree, students in the UK can choose one of the two pathways: academic or clinical.

The diagram below summarises and compares these two pathways (green – academic, blue – clinical).

Clinical

Foundation training is provided by Health Education England. It is a two year (F1 and F2) programme for new graduates and is required for anyone wishing to practice as an NHS doctor in the UK. It can then followed by specialty training (CT1/ST1, CT2/ST2, ST3-8). Anyone undergoing this training is referred to as a ‘junior doctor’.

For more information on clinical training, please visit the Health Education East of England or the UK Foundation Programme websites.

Academic

Through the School of Clinical Medicine, the Department of Paediatrics offers a number of training programmes for clinicians wishing to undertake research as part of their academic and professional development.

Click on each of the stages below to find out more:

The Academic Foundation Programme (AFP) is aimed at doctors who are considering a career path as a clinical academic. It is very similar to the regular Foundation Programme and follows the same curriculum, however the AFP allows doctors to spend protected time on academic research (one 4 month rotation during FY2).

To read testimonials from those on the Academic Foundation Programme, please click here or here. For more information about the AFP, please consult the School of Clinical Medicine website

Following on from the AFP, The Academic Clinical Fellowship continues to provide a clinical (75%) and academic (25%) training. Similarly to the clinical route, this pathway consist of specialty training.

To find out more about one of our Academic Clinical Fellows, click here. For further information please visit the School of Clinical Medicine website or the NIHR guidance document.

The final step in the academic pathway is a Clinical Lectureship. This is aimed at those who already hold or have submitted a PhD/DPhil/MD and offers 50% protected research time, with the remaining 50% being clinical training.

For further information please go to the School of Clinical website. A list current vacancies is available through the University’s Job Opportunities listings.