Job title (including specialty)
Academic Clinical Fellowship in Psychiatry
Duration of the Post
Fixed term appointment for 3 years (or 2 years if appointed at CT2)
Lead NHS Hospital/Trust in which training will take place
Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust
Research institutions in which training will take place
Division of Mental Health and Wellbeing – Warwick Medical School
What arrangement of day release or block release will be used for protected
research time
This will vary across each of the three years. Please refer to the detailed descriptions
below.
Description of research component of programme (up to 500 words)
Psychiatry is a major research and training theme for Warwick Medical School and is
located within the Division of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Clinical academic
leadership is provided by Professors Scott Weich and Swaran Singh, who have
research programmes in psychiatric epidemiology, mental health services research,
and ethnicity and mental health. Professor Max Birchwood, professor of Youth
Mental Health has numerous programs in applied mental health research. There are
also two Associate Professor of Psychiatry: Dr Steven Marwaha whose interested is
in epidemiology and interventions in psychosis and major mood disorders; Dr Andrew
Thompson whose interests span youth mental health, ultra-high risk psychosis states
and epidemiology. There are also Honorary Professors working in Liaison and Old
Age Psychiatry and an honorary Associate Professor working in Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry. Psychiatry is closely allied with researchers in Public Health,
Epidemiology, Primary Care, Child Health, Biostatistics, Sleep problems and Clinical
Trials. WMS also has close links (and joint appointments) with University
Departments of Psychology, Biological Sciences and Health and Social Studies. This
will provide Fellows with opportunities for support from senior academics in related
fields. WMS runs modular MSc courses in Health Sciences and Public Health, as
well as research seminars and invited lectures. Fellows will attend taught courses in
research methodology across all three years.
Each Fellow will have an individual training plan and an academic mentor, and
candidates will be supported in choosing the latter.
Objectives
1. To produce future leaders in Academic Psychiatry in the West Midlands.
2. To provide academic training to enable Fellows to secure externally funded
MD/PhD training. Fellows will receive training in key academic skills, ie formulating
research questions, critical appraisal and evidence synthesis, qualitative and
quantitative research methods, research governance and bioethics, biostatistics,
communicatrion skills and teaching skills.
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Milestones (to be adapted for those appointed at CT2 level)
Year 1: Academic training through completion of 1-2 modules on research methods
from accredited Masters programmes at Warwick University. These will be tailored to
Fellows’ needs, although epidemiology, statistics and qualitative research methods
are expected to feature strongly. Academic training will account for 2 sessions per
week in this year. To accommodate service demands this will be concentrated in
short teaching blocks, dependent on the trainee's choice of modules.
Year 2: Further development of research skills, and preparation of external Training
Fellowship application. They will undertake supervised evidence synthesis, as
background to the research question chosen for their external Fellowship application
and to produce at least one paper for publication. Fellows will have the chance to
attend further taught research methods modules in Year 2, within and outwith the fulltime research placement. During year 2 academic training will account for 2 sessions
per week.
Year 3: Fellows will spend 1 day per week at WMS, during which time they will
concentrate on the completion and submission of their application for an externally
funded Training Fellowship. Those who wish to do so will be supported in
undertaking a small pilot study in preparation for their proposed MD/PhD research.
In year 3, each Fellow will spend 4-6 months in full-time placement at WMS preparing
for successful application for onward academic progression.
WMS has a track record of ACFs in other disciplines, and has well established
methods of review and quality assurance.
Description of clinical component of programme (up to 500 words)
Fellows will be provided with sufficient breadth of clinical training to enable attainment
of all competencies up to the level required for completion of CT3 training, as set out
in the Gold Guide. High quality clinical and academic supervision and mentoring will
be provided for all Fellows. Every Academic Clinical Fellow will be provided with a
senior clinical academic and an experienced clinician (Consultant) to act as joint
educational supervisors, to provide mentoring and to undertake annual joint
appraisal.
Fellows will complete the same range of clinical placements as all other CT1-3
trainees, and these will be on a six-monthly basis. The Academic Fellowship training
programme will provide for 32 months of clinical experience in Psychiatry through
well-established, approved training placements. Allowing for one full-time research
placement at WMS in Year 2, remaining placements will be negotiated with leaders of
the Coventry and Warwickshire arm of the West Midlands Postgraduate School for
Psychiatry (Clinical Tutor, Dr Ather Malik) and with the Trust Medical Director (Dr
Sharon Binyon). Fellows will have the opportunity to choose from general and
specialist placements including Old Age Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,
Rehabilitation, Eating Disorders, Early Intervention in Psychosis, Crisis Resolution
Home Treatment, Assertive Outreach, Day Treatment Services, Substance Misuse
and Forensic Psychiatry. A number of these services in Coventry and Warwickshire
are led by Academic Psychiatrists.
Fellows will be expected to maintain training portfolios (based on workplace based
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assessments) and to attend the local MRCPsych teaching. Fellows will sit the
components of the MRCPsych examination at the same time as other CT1-3 trainees
(typically one of the three requisite written papers per year) followed by the structured
clinical examination.
Throughout the training period the Fellow will be encouraged to participate in local
postgraduate education and clinical audit programmes. There will be opportunities
also to participate in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in Psychiatry, both of
which are well represented in the region.
Progress in all three years will be monitored by the annual review of competence
panel (the same as all CT1-3 trainees). All Fellows will retain the right to exit the
scheme and to return to full-time clinical training within the West Midlands
Postgraduate School in Psychiatry. They will revert to this scheme if progress (at
annual appraisals) is deemed to be consistently unsatisfactory. Discussions with the
Fellow will occur and opportunities for remediation considered, including review of
aptitudes and career options.
Academic Lead (University) for the IAP Programme
Dr J P O’Hare, Reader in Medicine/Associate Clinical Professor, Warwick Medical
School
Academic Supervisor (University) details
Professor Scott Weich, Professor of Psychiatry, Warwick Medical School
Educational Supervisor (Trust) details
Dr Ather Malik, Clinical Tutor, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust
Clinical Supervisor(s) (Trust) details
Dr Sharon Binyon, Medical Director, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust
Deanery Programme Training Director details
Director, West Midlands Postgraduate School for Psychiatry Birmingham and Solihull
Mental Health Trust
Uffculme Centre, Queensbridge Road, Birmingham B13 8QY
Confirmation that ACF posts attract an NTN (a)
Agreement with Postgraduate Dean and Specialty Chairs West Midlands Deanery
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