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Combining a professional role as a health clinician with one in research.



Clinical research

Early career

Rafiah is an NHS Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) specialising in supporting children with co-occurring language and learning needs. Over the years, Rafiah has developed a keen interest in the role of technology across health, education and social care. 

In 2019, Rafiah began a Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship with the NIHR, the UK’s largest funder of health and care research. Her PhD builds on her digital interest and growing expertise by exploring the co-design and development of a digital language intervention. As part of her PhD, she has been awarded a student placement at the [Alan Turing Institute](https://www.turing.ac.uk/), the UK’s national institute for data science and AI 

During the pandemic, Rafiah had the opportunity within her fellowship to support clinicians with remote working and subsequently co-authored the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapist’s Telehealth Guidance.

Rafiah is also a steering group member of the [Shuri Network](https://shurinetwork.com/), the first NHS and care network of women from minority ethnic groups in digital health .



Rafiah Patel

A Clinical Doctoral Fellow is the potential starting point for a clinical research career. This role combines part-time doctoral research with a clinical professional role, enabling students to obtain a PhD, whilst continuing to practise and develop their clinical skills.


## Overview

Key skills:

- [ Medical degree ^ Medical Degree ] 
- [ GMC (General Medical Council) ^ General Medical Council ] registration 
- Practical knowledge of [ clinical procedures ^ Clinical Procedure ] 
- Research and [ lab ^ Laboratory ] experience
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team 
- Well-developed communication skills 

**Typical job titles:** Clinical Doctoral Fellow, Clinical Doctoral Research Fellow, Academic Clinical Fellow

This role is highlighted because it is the potential starting point for a clinical research career, which is a distinct pathway through which [ clinical ^ Clinical ] (including medical) practitioners can combine their existing career with research.

Currently, the Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship (C-DRF) and Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) are two schemes within England’s Clinical Academic Careers Framework aimed at health professionals who want to obtain a [ PhD ^ PhD ] by research, while continuing to practise and develop their clinical skills.


Overview

## Schemes 

The Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) is aimed at medical and dental trainees that have completed their [ foundation training stage ^ Foundation Stage Training ], and allows them to undertake 25% research and 75% [ clinical ^ Clinical ] training over three years (or 4 years if they are training towards General Practice). It is hosted by a university and NHS organisation partnership, and should culminate in a [ PhD ^PhD ]. 

These are funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Around 250 ACF awards are available per year for recently qualified medical doctors and a further 20 for dentists. Very roughly, this is about 2% of those training to be doctors or dentists at foundation stage. 

The Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship is another individual training award that allows health professionals to undertake a PhD alongside a programme of research training, on either a full-time or part-time basis. This is aimed at those who have graduated, have at least one year of [ clinical practice ^ Clinical Practice ] post-graduation, and have sufficient research experience or training to start a PhD. These awards are funded by Health Education England (HEE). 

These are two potential entry points for clinical research careers. In both cases, they are essentially schemes to support a part-time PhD – so information about undertaking [doctoral research](https://yourstemcareerpath.royalsociety.org/doctoral-research-including-phd) is relevant  – but there is the expectation that participants will return to clinical practice afterwards, or at least pursue a clinical research career that combines practice and research. However, these are by no means the only schemes available and many people will develop [ clinical academic ^ Clinical Academic ] careers through a range of other opportunities, including named scheme [research fellowships](https://yourstemcareerpath.royalsociety.org/fellowship-schemes).


Schemes

## Role and responsibilities 

This role combines part-time [ doctoral research ^ Doctoral Research ] with a [ clinical ^ Clinical ] professional role, so the activities listed here for [doctoral research](https://yourstemcareerpath.royalsociety.org/doctoral-research-including-phd) apply, alongside the duties of the clinical role.

In a [ laboratory ^ Laboratory ] context, the core activities of the research portion of the role will use and build on the laboratory and research skills developed while an [ undergraduate ^ Undergraduate ] or [ Master’s ^ Master's ] student:

- Plan and carry out experiments, sometimes operating complex instruments, following good laboratory practice.
- Gather research data using defined methods. Interpret data using specified techniques or models.
- Prepare reports of methods and findings.
- Carry out [ literature ^ Literature ] searches.
- Contribute to the sharing and publication of research findings (such as [ journal ^ Journal ] and [ conference ^ Conference ] [ papers ^ Paper ], presentations and reports) to the [ academic ^ Academic ] scientific community.

The role may also involve:

- Providing advice and guidance to research students and other members of staff in the lab (often informally).
- Helping the group leader with admin tasks when they are developing new [ research proposals ^ Research Proposal ] and applications for funding.
- Contributing to [ public engagement ^ Public Engagement ], [ knowledge exchange ^ Knowledge Exchange ] activities or consultancy projects.


Role and responsibilities 

## Qualifications 

The Clinical Doctoral Research [ Fellowship ^ Fellowship ] scheme is open to health professionals who have at least one year's experience of [ clinical practice ^ Clinical Practice ] since graduating, and have had sufficient research experience or research training to prepare them for a [ PhD ^ PhD ]. 

It is also necessary to have an employment contract with the host employer for the duration of the fellowship, which can be three years for a full-time PhD or six years for part-time. 

For the Academic Clinical Fellowship scheme, applicants are expected to be medical or dental clinicians who have successfully completed [ foundation stage training ^ Foundation Stage Training ], and can demonstrate their potential as a [ clinical academic ^ Clinical Academic ]. As the Academic Clinical Fellowship offers protected research time (25%), the candidate needs to be employed by a host employer.  

One way to gain the research experience needed for these schemes is through an [ internship ^ Internship ]. Health Education England (HEE) provide [internship schemes](https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/clinical-academic-careers/research-internships).

Qualifications

## Progression 

For those that obtain a [ PhD ^ PhD ] through these schemes and want to continue pursuing a [ clinical academic ^ Clinical Academic ] career, a [Clinical Lecturer](https://yourstemcareerpath.royalsociety.org/career-profiles/clinical-lecturer) or Clinical Scientist position is the next stage in the Clinical Academic Pathway for healthcare professions in England. 

For those that want to change path to an [ academic ^ Academic ] research pathway, a [ named scheme research fellowship ^ Named Fellowship Schemes ] is another suitable option. 

Progression

Clinical Doctoral Fellow

Home

Career pathways

Career profiles

Postdoctoral Research Assistant 

Postdoctoral Researcher

Research Fellow

Research Professor

Graduate Teaching Assistant 

Lecturer

Associate Professor

Professor

Research Scientist

Assistant Technician

Technician

Clinical Lecturer

Case studies

Changing sectors

STEM 101

Further Resources

Qualification profiles:

Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees

Doctoral research (including PhD)

rule

Support for:

Disabled scientists

Scientists from ethnic minority backgrounds

Women in STEM

LGBTQ+ scientists

Next steps

Fellowship schemes

Researcher development framework

Useful links

Glossary

About

The pathways shown are intended to be illustrative, and do not represent an exhaustive picture of STEM careers or routes through them. Role titles are not standardised across all institutions, so when looking at roles it is important to be aware of what the role actually entails, rather than going by title alone.

Salary information was developed in 2022/2023 and is subject to change with time.