2016 Academic Clinical Fellowship
Programme
Brighton and Sussex Medical School
1. Details of Fellowship:
a. Title of Post: Paediatric ACF Programme
b. Entry level: ST3 or ST4
c. Duration of Post: 3 years
d. Research Institution: Brighton and Sussex Medical School
e. Principal Hospital Site: Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital
f. NHS Trust: Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
g. Administrative Lead and Contact Details:
Name:
Position:
Institution:
Address:
Town:
Postcode:
Telephone:
Fax:
Email:
Professor Somnath Mukhopadhyay
Chair of Paediatrics
Brighton & Sussex Medical School /
Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital
Eastern Road
Brighton
BN2 5BE
01273 696955 x2409
01273 523130
DA.Paediatrics@bsms.ac.uk
2. Description of Fellowship Programme:
a. Overview of clinical training:
Paediatrics is a broad clinical discipline which addresses prevention and medical treatment of
all health problems occurring from birth to adolescence until adulthood. Academic paediatrics
addresses an equivalent broad range of issues relevant to child health, from epidemiology via
clinical science to cell biology, and covering disorders across all organ systems. Academic
paediatricians therefore tend to follow a course of training which is initially clinically broad and
generic, but subsequently focussed into a sub-speciality consonant with their developing
academic interest.
Future entrants into higher specialist training in paediatrics are expected to have a broad
knowledge of both community and hospital paediatrics, including neonatal medicine. Trainees
are currently expected to have MRCPCH at entry into the ST3 grade. An ACF programme in
paediatrics must therefore provide the trainee with a sufficiently broad training in paediatrics
that they can sit the MRCPCH exam with confidence, while at the same time obtaining a firm
grounding in relevant clinical disciplines that will assist them to complete their higher specialist
training in subsequent phases of their academic career. Although it would theoretically be
possible for an ACF trainee to follow a research programme in any area of child health, it makes
sense for the programme to offer both research opportunities and basic sub-specialist clinical
experience in mutually relevant areas of child health.
Our Paediatric ACF programme will provide a structured rotation for junior doctors wishing to
undertake a career in academic paediatrics, during which:
(1) they will gain experience of academic activity by participation in research projects and
meetings
(2) they will be provided with a sound training in paediatric medicine, using premium slots
within our existing rotation
(3) they will have, in addition to the strand of academic activity that will run throughout the
programme, two periods of protected time for more intense periods of their own research
activity, which will include the development and submission of a training fellowship application.
Throughout their programme they will have regular meetings with their academic mentor, to
ensure that their development is monitored and supported. Where appropriate, variations to
the clinical programme can be negotiated to suit the interests and training needs of individual
trainees.
Clinical experience and training will be provided within the framework of our existing
successful paediatric rotation, currently supervised by Dr. Bomont, which includes core
elements of general paediatrics, neonatology and community paediatrics. The posts allocated to
the paediatric ACF will be carefully chosen to meet their individual educational and professional
needs. This will include exposure to:
-
Acute general paediatrics
Respiratory paediatrics
Paediatric allergy
Paediatric infectious disease
Neonatology
Paediatric high dependency care
The option of a community paediatric attachment
The clinical posts are based at:
1) the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital, (RAH)a busy acute paediatric unit serving the
clinical needs of Brighton & Hove and the surrounding area for general paediatrics, and
a wider region for several sub-specialities (eg respiratory, allergy, gastroenterology,
paediatric surgery)
2) the Trevor Mann Baby Unit at the Royal Sussex County Hospital (RSCH), a level 3
neonatal unit providing full neonatal intensive care including neonatal surgery.
3) the Brighton & Hove Community Paediatric network, centred at Seaside View Child
Development Centre at Brighton General Hospital.
The postgraduate medical education centre (the Audrey Emerton Building) is on the same site
as both RAH and RSCH, and offers full library and IT facilities. Clinical posts are overseen by the
RCPCH tutors. The ACF will attend the relevant internal training programmes for ST1/ST2/ST3
doctors and will sit the MRCPCH exam at the earliest practical juncture.
Specialist aspects of training in paediatric respiratory medicine and allergy or other subspeciality area will be supervised by Prof Mukhopadhyay or other colleagues. Adjustments to
planned rotations will be made according to the individual trainee’s particular needs, while
recognising (a) that some combinations may work better than others to meet the clinical
training requirements, and (b) that service needs and the training opportunities for other ACFs
and clinical trainees must be taken into account.
A clinical tutoring scheme exists to monitor progress of paediatric trainees and this will be
adapted and developed to serve the learning needs of the new training grades. Progress with
clinical competences will be assessed by regular appraisal, which will be fed back to the
academic and clinical supervisors, so that progress can be monitored and any necessary
adjustments made to the clinical components of the training programme.
b. Overview of research:
Clinical and laboratory-based research will be undertaken at the Royal Alexandra Children’s
Hospital and at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and supported by the BSUH/BSMS R&D
unit.
There are many different opportunities for research along themes including clinical hands-on
measurement of lung function, epidemiological studies of gene-environment interactions
contributing to children’s diseases and clinical-laboratory projects that address questions of
clinical importance. The trainee will have the opportunity to plan his/her project with the
supervisor at the start of the fellowship. Examples of current ongoing research projects within
the department include:

Study of personalised medicine-related interventions and study of gene-environment
interaction in children’s asthma and allergy

Study of neonatal adaptation and pharmacological regulation of this process of
adaptation

Development and validation of a quality of life measure in preschool wheezing

Non-invasive measurement of lung function
The trainee will have a protected academic half day throughout the rotation, which will include
attendance at departmental meetings and seminars.
In addition, for two 4 month blocks, (No. 3 and 7 in the sequence) the trainee will be attached to
the academic child health unit, where they will have up to 4 days per week for research while
continuing to contribute to the paediatric on-call rotas and one sub-speciality clinic per week.
These academic attachments are intended to allow (a) completion of a small project, developed
jointly by the trainee and senior members of the academic unit, and (b) time to prepare and
submit a training fellowship application. By locating these blocks within the body of the
programme, rather than at either end we hope that the trainee will have developed a greater
degree of insight into the field, and will have crystallised their thoughts regarding a suitable
topic for their fellowship.
Formal academic training will also be supported by the following:
1. An introductory academic training course shortly after commencing the fellowship at
BSMS.
2. Participation in the Masters programme in Paediatrics, including modules in research
methods and statistical analysis, leading to the potential award of MSc after two years.
Tuition fees will be met by the NIHR with a generous bursary of £1000 per year to cover
travel, study and meetings.
The ACF will meet formally with her/his supervisor on a regular basis to review progress. In
addition, they will attend departmental meetings and seminars where informal contacts can be
maintained. Preparation of the research fellowship application will require focus and effort
during the second year of the ACF programme. The expectation is that a draft application
should be prepared during year 2 with a view to submission during the first quarter of year 3.
The expectations are that within the three years of the academic clinical fellowship, the
following goals will have been achieved:






Complete core training in paediatrics
Pass the MRCPCH examination
Develop and complete a research project
Acquire training in research methods
Acquire a further academic qualification (MRes)
Obtain funding to continue a research fellowship and enrol for a higher degree (MD,
PhD)
3. Supervisory Arrangements:
a. Overall Lead:
Name:
Position:
Institution:
Address:
Town:
Postcode:
Telephone:
Fax:
Professor Somnath Mukhopadhyay
Chair of Paediatrics
Brighton & Sussex Medical School /
Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital
Eastern Road
Brighton
BN2 5BE
01273 696955 x2409
01273 523130
b. Academic Supervisor:
This will be decided as per the trainee’s specific interests
c. Clinical Supervisor:
This will be decided as per the trainee’s specific interests
d. Clinical Tutor:
Name:
Position:
Institution:
Address:
Town:
Postcode:
Email:
Dr. Rob Bomont
Clinical Tutor and Consultant in Neonatology
Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
Trevor Mann Baby Unit
Royal Sussex County Hospital
Eastern Road
Brighton
BN2 5BE
rob.bomont@bsuh.nhs.uk
4. Partnership Details:
a. Dean of Medical School:
Name:
Position:
Institution:
Address:
Town:
Postcode:
Telephone:
Email:
Professor Malcolm Reed
Dean, Brighton & Sussex Medical School
Brighton & Sussex Medical School
BSMS Teaching Building
University of Sussex
Falmer
Brighton
BN1 9PX
01273 877577
m.reed@bsms.ac.uk
b. Director for Academic Training:
Name:
Position:
Institution:
Address:
Town:
Postcode:
Telephone:
Email:
Timothy Chevassut
Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Haematology
Brighton and Sussex Medical School /
Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
Medical Research Building
University of Sussex
Falmer
Brighton
BN1 9PS
01273 873232
t.chevassut@bsms.ac.uk