If I am to be honest, one of the many reasons for my decision to enter geriatric medicine was that there was no requirement for significant research experience prior to obtaining a training number.

It was also clear that it would be possible to pass through the 5 years of training without having to publish or obtain a higher degree. At the time this seemed the perfect scenario. Oh how things have changed!

Contagious enthusiasm
Several things happened of course. I spent a couple of years in close proximity to a small academic unit which overflowed with energy and enthusiasm (something that can be contagious if one doesn’t take precautions). This was not a unit that had a track record in producing medical higher degrees. It had however, successfully produced MSc’s and PhDs from the ranks of the professionals allied to medicine. It was clear that these students had enjoyed their research time and, perhaps more important, the research was successful. Although not required to do research myself, I was surprised to discover that research became an increasingly attractive proposition. (I had clearly failed to take precautions against all that infectious enthusiasm!)

Taking it slow
Prior to a decision to search for funding to do a formal research fellowship I did two things. First, I attended a basic research methods course (run in Aberdeen) and second, I became involved in a couple of small projects within my local academic unit. These led to minor publications, some fun, and the realisation that I might wish to take things further.

Although my research is my own there is no doubt that it fits in with the research portfolio of my supervisors. To do something at a tangent, something that they might be less interested in, could be more difficult. The area of research was haemostatic function in cerebrovascular disease with a particular interest in the relationship between “sticky blood” markers and the risk of early neurological deterioration following acute ischaemic stroke. We developed a series of projects for me to undertake during the two years of research. As it turned out all of the projects “produced”. Nevertheless, I was warned, and I pass this warning on to you, it is best not to put all your eggs in one basket. If you focus on one large project only, and this project fails to “produce”, you may encounter difficulty submitting a successful thesis. It may be better to develop two or three themes so that even if one project throws up problems, there are other projects to redeem the overall work.

My fellowship was jointly supported by the Chief Scientist’s Office of the Scottish Executive Health Department and NHS Education Scotland. This was a competitive fellowship available to other medical specialities along with clinical psychologists, but not to basic scientists (something I most certainly am not!). If anything, I left things a little late. I didn’t begin until 3 ½ years through my training, and so have now returned for just 6 months of clinical “re-training” prior to my CCST. I don’t necessarily think that this has been a bad thing and I don’t feel disadvantaged by it.

Get writing
The most important piece of advice that I can give is about writing up, whether publications arising from research or the thesis itself. I was fortunate enough to have projects which finished in a stepwise order throughout my research time. I also set aside 3 months at the end of the fellowship for writing. In doing this I managed to hand in my thesis within 2 months of finishing the research post. All of the papers directly relating to the thesis had already been submitted, and most published. I say this because I realise, especially now that I have re-entered the clinical world, how difficult it is to get time to tidy things up. Being organised, and start to write as soon as possible is crucial. The research phase is the only period during which you will really get significant undisturbed writing time - so get as much done as possible as you go along.

As somebody who had no interest in research, and who does not want to pursue an academic career, I can highly recommend doing some research. I have learned a lot and my fellowship was amongst the most enjoyable times of my training in geriatric medicine. Pick your supervisors well and you can have a ball as well as improving your CV and job prospects no end.

Mark Barber
Specialist Registrar
West of Scotland Deanery
M.Barber@clinmed.gla.ac.uk