HEE is committed to enhancing clinical academic careers for all professionals and in addition has the responsibility to promote research in accordance with the government’s strategy ‘Developing the Role of the Clinical and Allied Health Professions’ and similarly for pharmacists, clinical psychologists, clinical scientists, dental nurses, hygienists and therapists and operating department practitioners.

With this aim in mind, we are continuing to seek to increase the numbers of staff across all clinical and public health professions with a proper understanding of research and its role in improving health outcomes, including an ability to participate in and utilise the results of research.

The internship programme is designed to assist successful applicants to provide a starting point on a clinical academic career pathway and to acquire pre-masters level experience in research methods, service improvement and innovation across many domains, including:

• Exposure to a range of research methods and applied research interventions;
• Experience of innovation in care delivery and service development;
• Implementation and evaluation of innovation;
• Opportunities to work alongside and to be supervised by recognised clinically focused research leaders and role models;
• Exposure to new models of care and to engage with change processes that shape the future of healthcare delivery in London;
• The acquisition of confidence and commitment to disseminating excellence in applied clinical research.

The internship application process is open to the following currently registered health care professionals:

• Healthcare Science professionals (Professionals that work in one of the following broad areas of practice, which together cover over 45 different professional specialisms: Life Sciences/Clinical Laboratory Sciences; Physiological Sciences; Clinical Bioinformatics; Physical Sciences (incorporating Medical Physics) and Clinical Engineering. These include clinical scientists, biomedical scientists, clinical physiologists, and clinical technologists

• Health and Care Professions Council, or the PSA accredited Academy for Healthcare Science register: www.ahcs.ac.uk)

• Non-Medical Public Health Specialty Trainees, Specialists and Consultants Specialty Trainees: Faculty of Public Health Specialists and Consultants: The UK Public Health Register

• Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors

• Allied Health Professionals

• Dental Hygienists, Dental Nurses and Dental Therapists

• Operating Department Practitioners

• Clinical Psychologists

• Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians

Applications will also be accepted on a case-by-case basis from other professionals who:

• Belong to a statutorily registered profession Provide NHS services in London
• Provide NHS services in London

The internship programme is a specialist education programme, targeted at individuals who can demonstrate relevant experience of working in in the NHS in London at Band 5, 6 or 7. However, in exceptional circumstances, candidates at a higher Band will also be considered.

Eligibility for the programme requires that applicants must:

• Be working currently within the NHS in London or employed by a provider of health and/or care services that is providing at least 50% of its services free at the point of delivery. Applicants must also be spending at least 50% or their current role delivering health and/or care services which are free at the point of delivery
• Be nominated by their manager
• Have an honours degree
• Be currently active in clinical practice or able to demonstrate that a significant part of their role involves direct contact with service users/patients.
• Not be enrolled or engaged in another course or programme of study during the internship.

General aims

1. To provide a starting point on a clinical academic career pathway
2. To support London’s commitment to developing excellence in research and evidence- based practice for non-medical professionals.
3. To develop clinical excellence, research, and research capabilities throughout all levels of the NHS in London in order to enhance and diffuse evidence-based practice and optimal patient care (by developing research champions).
4. To develop a network of research champions who, as clinical academics are able to disseminate best practice and to imbue a spirit of critical enquiry across practice settings.
5. To focus selected research topics in areas that are aligned and related to HEE’s Mandate or to education training as a whole.
6. To offer insight into a career in clinical academia and provide experience to Interns which would support applications into further formal research training.

1. To offer an introduction to all aspects and roles from trial design, data management through to exposure to preliminary practical research in a clinical environment.
2. To offer both clinical and academic supervised interventions that expose Interns to the practice skills and competencies required to produce a robust research proposal that is informed and supported by an expert clinical academic supervisor.
3. To provide interns with the confidence, capacity and capability required to apply their newly acquired research skills within their home base with the aim of becoming ‘catalysts’ as research champions.
4. To enthuse interns with the motivation, experience and skills required to consider a future clinical academic career to include enrolling on a formally accredited postgraduate educational research programme.

The programme will provide for a two-day per-week (or equivalent) secondment for successful applicants.

We will offer up to a total of ten internships across London. London South Bank University in partnership with King’s College, London has been selected to run the internship this year and will offer bespoke tailored experiences to the interns to enable them to meet the aims of the internship.

Funding will be made available to cover fees associated with the academic component of the programme. Some assistance, in the form of a training grant, will also be available for secondment / supervision costs. The funding will be as follows:

• University tuition fees: £5000 per intern
• Training grant to employers: £5000 per intern

The internship programme will run over a seven-month period from December 2023 to June 2024, during which interns will be required to be seconded from their workplace for a minimum of two days per week (divided between attendance at the intern’s designated University and the intern’s selected clinical learning environment – see below).

Interns will be required to identify a research project (in association with their employer) that demonstrates clear potential for benefitting patients/service users and the public and which accords with national health and social care policy. The project can involve samples or data from service users/patients; members of the public/carers; health technology assessment; workforce redesign; health services research; research into clinical education, simulation and training; service and workforce re-configuration. Due to the limited time available for the internship programme ‘live subject’ data will not be permissible for this stage of the learning programme.

Applicants will be required to identify and access a suitable clinical academic learning environment (other than their own Department or normal place of practice) within which to focus their internship with the aim of acquiring expert clinical academic supervision and exposure/access to best practice and applied research expertise.

Applicants will be required to produce a robust research proposal at the end of their period of internship. Applicants will also be required to present their research proposal to their employer with the aim of seeking permission to implement the same, as evidence of their commitment to furthering their clinical academic career in the future.

HEE is committed to evaluating the programme and to disseminating best practice and lessons learned following the conclusion of the programme.

There will be a cohort of up to 10 interns. The cohort will commence their studies in December 2023 and finish in June 2024.

Closing date is 30 September 2023

Please note the application process may require us to liaise with our education providers and forward any documents and personal data provided to us by you. We will do so in accordance with our privacy notice posted on our website.

Once applications are received candidates will be shortlisted and informed of the outcome from the shortlisting process.

Successful shortlisted candidates will then be invited to an online interview, interviews will take place weeks commencing 16 October 2023.

Candidates who are successful at interview will commence the internship with an introductory session in December 2023 and additional workshops will run monthly throughout January - June 2024.

For information on our policies (payment, cancellation, terms and conditions, etc.) visit our general information page.

If you have a question that we haven’t answered here, please contact lsbushortcourses@lsbu.ac.uk and we will respond to your query within 24 hours.

This course has a custom application form. Apply here.