The Medical Research Council has an interactive career framework which can be used to explore career and funding options in more detail.
There is no one single route to a clinical academic career. The specific pathway of qualifications and job roles required will depend on your field, experience, and a bit of luck. Although some organisations do run structured schemes that set out a prescribed pathway, many more clinical academics end up in their posts through more informal and individual routes. The information in this chart is intended to illustrate some of the potential clinical academic career paths available, but it should not be considered to be definitive.
MB
The Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery is the standard qualification awarded upon successful completion of the undergraduate medical degree. It can have different abbreviations, such as MBBS or MBChB, but all result in the bachelor’s degree in medicine. After graduation you will be required to complete the two-year Foundation Programme.
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Intercalation adds an extra year on top of your medical degree, in which you can take another undergraduate or postgraduate degree. Using this time to gain research skills is excellent preparation for a clinical academic career.
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Some medical schools offer a MB/PhD programme that combines regular clinical training in medicine with biomedical research training. It typically lasts nine years (six years for the MB plus three for PhD). Clinical tuition is usually combined during the PhD.
Graduate Entry courses allows graduates to study Medicine via an accelerated postgraduate programme. This means that they usually take four years to complete the medical degree rather than five or six years on standard entry courses.
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The AFP provides an opportunity for foundation doctors to develop research, teaching and/or leadership/management skills in addition to the competences outlined in the Foundation Programme Curriculum. Year 1 includes protected academic time to undertake a research project.
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The AFP provides an opportunity for foundation doctors to develop research, teaching and/or leadership/management skills in addition to the competences outlined in the Foundation Programme Curriculum. Year 1 includes protected academic time to undertake a research project.
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In parallel with academic training doctors normally undertake further training in the competencies required to become principals in general practice or hospital medicine. Usually time spent gaining clinical versus academic competences is separate, prolonging training for those pursuing both. Some posts (e.g. ACFs and ACLs) allow both to be done together part-time.
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A Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree is a qualification on par with a PhD for medically qualified clinicians. Fellowships such as the Clinical Research Training Fellow (CRTF) support clinically active doctors to undertake a full-time research PhD/MD.
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The ACF is a clinical specialty training post in medicine that combines specialty training (75%) with research training and academic work (25%). The academic work can be arranged via one three-month block over each of the three years, or up to two days a week.
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Clinical lectureships are awarded for up to four years to clinicians in the third year of their specialty training or higher. Typically, there is an equal spilt between academic work and clinical training. Clinical lecturers are expected to finish their specialist training during this post.
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A Clinician Scientist Fellowship is a grant for clinicians who already have a PhD, typically used for full-time postdoctoral Out Of Programme Research (OOPR). A CSF provides funding for a challenging research programme, academic training, and accelerated development.
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NIHR offer 5-year awards that allow outstanding academics to work at professorial-level in a Higher Education Institution, in partnership with an NHS organisation, or other providers of health, public health and/or care services.
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Senior Clinical Lectureships support post-doctoral clinicians (normally with a CCT) already establishing themselves as independent clinical researchers but not yet recognised as leaders in their field.
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The MRC-funded SCF supports talented medically and other clinically qualified professionals, with an effective track record of internationally competitive independent research, to make the transition to research leadership.
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In-practice fellowships provide academic training for fully-qualified GPs, general dental practitioners and community dentists who may have had little formal academic training. There is the opportunity to complete a master’s degree or in some cases a PhD.
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In parallel with academic training doctors normally undertake further training in the competencies required to become principals in general practice or hospital medicine. Usually time spent gaining clinical versus academic competences is separate, prolonging training for those pursuing both. Some posts (e.g. ACFs and ACLs) allow both to be done together part-time.
Click here for details.