PRIMARY CARE AND MULTIMORBIDITY RESEARCH GROUP

Clinical Academic Opportunities for General Practitioners at all stages of your career

Early Career Clinical Academic Pathways for General Practitioners

If you are a GP who is interested in exploring the possibility of an academic career, then please do get in touch. Academic careers are varied and flexible, incorporating both research and teaching, and spanning the spectrum from clinicians supporting undergraduate teaching to full-time roles. We are always happy to discuss the possibilities. Key opportunities are summarised below.

Bruce Guthrie (Professor of General Practice) bruce.guthrie@ed.ac.uk

Stewart Mercer (Professor of Primary Care and Multimorbidity) Stewart.Mercer@ed.ac.uk

David Weller (James Mackenzie Professor of General Practice) David.Weller@ed.ac.uk

Karen Fairhurst (Senior Clinical Lecturer) Karen.Fairhurst@ed.ac.uk

Research Opportunities

GP SCREDS (for GPs in clinical training)

The Scottish Clinical Research Excellence Development Scheme (SCREDS) gives protected time to clinicians in specialist training to develop research skills. GP SCREDS posts are usually appointed in the middle of the GPST2 year to start at the beginning of GPST3. For GP SCREDS, your training programme is extended to four years and you do 50% clinical and 50% academic work in ST3 and ST4 giving you one year of protected time to develop academic experience (in practice, the time split is often more like 60% clinical in ST3 and 40% in ST4 to fit around clinical training and MRCGP). The aim of this post is to give you enough experience to decide if an academic career is right for you, and if it is, to prepare you for an application for a research fellowship to complete a PhD. You will typically therefore spend time doing methods and skills training, collaborating on existing projects, and developing and running your own work. We do expect you to contribute to teaching, but the focus is on clinical research. We currently have one GP SCREDS post, which is therefore only available every second year.

Post-CCT Clinical Academic Fellowships (for GPs in ST3 or who have recently completed training)

NHS Education for Scotland fund post-CCT Clinical Academic Fellowships across Scotland. These are appointed in a single annual process where you nominate where you would like to work (Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow, or St Andrews), and how many academic sessions (ie half-days) you would like to work (minimum 4 sessions, maximum 8 sessions). These normally advertise between late March and end of April and start in August. You are eligible provided that you have fairly recently completed GP training, although the time limit applied varies with individual circumstances. You organise your own clinical or other work in the rest of the week. The posts are for one year, although you can apply for a second year in open competition. Like GP SCREDS, the aim of this post is to give you enough experience to decide if an academic career is right for you, and if it is, to prepare you for an application for a research fellowship to complete a PhD. You will typically therefore spend time doing methods and skills training, collaborating on existing projects, and developing and running your own work. We do expect you to contribute to teaching, but the focus is on research, although for Clinical Academic Fellows it is possible to focus on educational or workforce research if that is your primary interest. Across Scotland, there are normally around 6 GPs appointed annually to these posts.  

NHS Research Scotland Fellowships (for GPs who are more established in practice)

NHS Research Scotland (NRS) fund fellowships intended to bring established practitioners into research. These are funded at the consultant scale for one day per week for two or three years, and as of 2020 there is a single annual national appointment process for GP applicants (consultants, nurses and allied health professionals are also eligible but are appointed separately). They typically advertise in the final quarter of the year, with interviews in January or February, and two GPs were appointed in the 2019/2020 round. The application involves completing a form that includes a project proposal, so if you are interested in one of these then please get in touch to discuss.

Teaching opportunities

General Practice Undergraduate Medical Education

Teaching in the community delivered through general practice constitutes a substantial part of the core undergraduate medical curriculum at the University of Edinburgh.

Community based education provides excellent opportunities for medical students to:

  • Understand epidemiology of disease i.e. the true prevalence and nature of disease
  • Develop skills in clinical problem solving because of the undifferentiated nature of many patient’s presentations in primary care
  • Understand the social and psychological aspects of health, illness and disease
  • Understand the concept of continuity of care
  • Understand the concept of team working
  • Understand the concept and value of generalism

Community based education ensures that all medical graduates whatever their eventual career path have an understanding and appreciation of primary care and practising medicine in the community. However it is increasingly recognised that students who have greater exposure to general practice at undergraduate level are more likely to choose a career in general practice.

Interested in teaching Edinburgh Medical Undergraduates?

If you work in a practice there are a number of opportunities to teach undergraduate medical students:

Year 1

Students undertake 2 community based practical modules as part of their Health and Society module. Students are attached in groups of 10-12 to a GP tutor and conduct interviews in pairs with a patient with a long-term condition and an adult in a family.  Interviews are preceded by preparatory tutorials and followed by review tutorials. Through the practicals students apply and develop their knowledge and understanding of health and illness, develop interviewing and communication skills and develop reflective learning. 

Contact: Jeni Harden for more information: jeni.harden@ed.ac.uk

Year 2

Students are attached in groups of 6-7 to a GP tutor for one afternoon a week throughout year 2 in their Introduction to Clinical Practice module. They are introduced to history taking and examination in four systems (cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal and neurological) in the context of exemplar diseases. They are assessed by 2 written case reports and an end of year Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE).  

Contact Hilary Young for more information: h.young@ed.ac.uk

 Year 3

In their intercalated year around 15 students take a Primary Care course. As part of this, and to illustrate their theoretical learning, they are attached to a practice for 10 half day sessions spread throughout the year.

Contact Clare Macrae for more information: clare.macrae@ed.ac.uk

Year 4

Students are attached on a one to one basis to practices for 6 half days per week during their general practice module. There are 8 attachments per year each of 4 weeks duration. The overall aim of this attachment is to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to holistically diagnose and manage patients’ problems in the general practice setting.

Contact Clare Macrae for more information clare.macrae@ed.ac.uk

Year 6

Students are attached on a one to one basis for 4 weeks to practices.  There are 6 attachments per year. The overall aim of this attachment is to allow students to further develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to holistically manage patients in the general practice setting in an apprenticeship model.

Contact Alix Rolfe for more information: alix.rolfe@ed.ac.uk

Gaining teaching experience

We support GP development fellows (post ST3 combined LUCS/ in hours GP posts) to gain teaching experience by providing structured experience in small group teaching in years 2 and 4.  GP development fellows have often gone on to develop an active role in teaching afterwards within the undergraduate programme. 

We would be happy to provide similar opportunities for GP trainees who have an interest in teaching and could commit to some sessions.  Contact Hilary Young for further information: H.Young@ed.ac.uk

We would also encourage you to participate in the clinical educator programme or to consider a postgraduate certificate in medical education if you would like to develop teaching skills.

Clinical Educator Programme website