Getting Involved In Research
Fiona Mcquaid
What is research?
Think about your last week at work: what questions would you most like answered?
“Which baby needs to have a lumbar puncture? How can I tell if this is a bacterial or viral infection? What can we do to best support young people with mental health conditions? Where is this patient best cared for; at home or in hospital? How can we improve retention of paediatric trainees?......”
Broadly speaking, research is about asking questions and trying to find the answers in a systematic way. It encompasses a vast range of settings and methods, from working in lab trying to discover a new bioactive molecule, to clinical trials of a new vaccine, to interviewing children about their experience of hospital. You don’t have to be a full-time academic with a PhD to get involved in research, in fact, the RCPCH is clear that all paediatricans should have knowledge and experience of key research skills.
Why should I get involved?
In order to get the best outcomes children and young people, we need evidence to guide how we assess, manage and treat and support them. We also need to be able to appraise the available evidence. As paediatricians at all levels of training, we have a fantastic insight into the needs of our patients and are therefore in a very strong position to drive the research agenda and advocate for those under our care.
The RCPCH recognises this and at each level of training [FM1] there are a variety of key capabilities which must be achieved (see future post on advice on how to achieve these!):
In 2012 the RCPCH released a report looking at the research landscape in paediatrics called “Turning the Tide”, which was updated in 2018. This found that paediatric research capacity in the UK needs to increase; in 2015 an RCPCH survey found that over 80% of paediatric consultants had no time in their job plan for research, though almost half said they were involved in research in some capacity.
‘Turning the tide’ 2018 identified key areas for paediatricians to engage with:
As trainees, the best time to get involved in research is now!
Sounds great - how can I get involved?
You don’t have to commit to a lifetime of academia to get involved with research! I’ve suggested 3 ‘levels’ of involvement below which vary in terms of the pathways and proportion of time spent doing clinical and academic work.
As trainees, the best time to get involved in research is now!
Sounds great - how can I get involved?
You don’t have to commit to a lifetime of academia to get involved with research! I’ve suggested 3 ‘levels’ of involvement below which vary in terms of the pathways and proportion of time spent doing clinical and academic work.
1. Paediatrician involved in research
As discussed above, all paediatricians are expected to be able to appraise evidence and be able to discuss research with children and families at an early stage of training. If you have your Good Clinical Practice (GCP) certificate (see below) and appropriate training, you can be involved in recruiting patients to clinical studies. Other ways to get involved:
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Do GCP training- this will give you insight into the practical, ethical and legal requirements of clinical research. Online courses are free eg. from NIHR
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Participate in journal clubs/evidence appraisal and review the evidence when developing local guidelines. For examples, see https://dontforgetthebubbles.com
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Contribute data to national surveillance studies eg BPSU
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Look out for interesting cases and consider writing them up for presentation/publication (with appropriate patient consent, etc).
2. Research active paediatrician
These paediatricians may or may not have formal academic training (e.g. a PhD) or allocated time in their job pan for research, but they make an vital contribution to paediatric research. For example, they may be the local lead doctor for a clinical trial or generate important and clinically relevant systematic reviews or national guidelines. If you’re interested in getting more research experience without committing to a formal academic training pathway, consider:
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Get involved with a systematic review. For example through the RCPCH, or Cochrane reviews
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Consider setting up your own project with support from SPRINT. For example, Rhianna, an ST5 trainee in the Northwest Deanery, set up research survey with support from her local Trainee Research Network (PRIME).
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A Masters degree (online and part time options available), which often have a research component.
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Out of programme experience as a clinical research fellow (CRF). See here for a video of Dr Thom O’Neill speaking about his experience as a CRF in Edinburgh
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The Oxford Vaccine Group often recruits paediatric CRFs.
3. Clinical academic
Clinical academics work in both academia and clinical medicine, though the proportion of time spent in each can vary. For example, some clinical academics may do a couple of outpatient clinics a month and dedicate most of their time running their own laboratory, while in the SCREDS clinical lecturer scheme (see below), the split is 80% clinical and 20% research. Often, clinical academics will be employed by a University and have an honorary contract with the NHS.
Clinical academics will have had some formal academic training, usually a PhD or MD and some might have followed an academic training pathway. See the “Formal academic pathways” post for more details but there are many different routes to clinical academia outside these pathways.
