If you want a career in Academic Medicine, Specialist Training is the time to not only work towards your Certificate of Specialist Training (CST) but also the time to get your specialist training in research and take a PhD.

Many organisations such as the MRC, the Wellcome Trust and disease-specific charities such as the Arthritis Research Campaign (arc) and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) have Fellowship awards, ring-fenced for medical graduates, to fund generally 3 years of research training, to obtain a PhD. With one of these awards, you need to take some responsibity for ensuring your clinical training is also completed and your overall training period is likely to be extended.

Integrated Academic Training pathways are now being established for Specialist trainees aiming at academic careers, with some new Academic Clinical Fellowships to support doctoral training. Details of the fellowships offered can be found at the National Corordinating Centre for Research Capacity Development (NCCRCD) Programme.

They are targeted at doctors in the early years of specialty training (Foundation Doctors, Senior House Officers and existing Specialist Registrars can apply, depedning on local circumstances). The Fellowships provide funding for a maximum of three years (up to four years for GP Academic Clinical Fellows). Currently, the fellowships are only available in England and Wales.