2016 Academic Clinical Fellowship Programme
Brighton and Sussex Medical School
1. Details of Fellowship
a. Title of Post: Geriatric ACF Programme
b. Entry level: ST1
c. Duration of Post: 3 years
d. Research Institution: Brighton and Sussex Medical School
e. Principal Hospital Site: Royal Sussex County 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 C Rajkumar
Chair Geriatrics and Stroke Medicine
Brighton & Sussex Medical School /
Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
Audrey Emerton Building
Royal Sussex County Hospital
Eastern Road
Brighton
BN2 5BE
01273 523361
01273 523366
raj.rajkumar@bsuh.nhs.uk
2. Description of Fellowship Programme
a. Overview of clinical training
Objective of the fellowship programme:
The principal objective of our Geriatrics ACF programme, with a major focus on Stroke
Medicine, is to provide a structured rotation for junior doctors wishing to undertake a career in
academic geriatric and/or stroke medicine, during which: (1) they will gain experience of
academic activity by participation in research projects relating to Stroke Medicine and Geriatric
Medicine; (2) they will be provided with a sound training in general (internal) medicine, using
premium slots within our medical rotation; (3) they will have, in addition to the strand of
academic activity that will run throughout the programme, periods of protected time to
undertake independent research activity, which will include the development and submission of
a training fellowship application.
Clinical components:
Clinical experience and training will be provided within the framework of our existing
successful medical rotation, which is based on 4 month modules. This particular programme
will include clinical attachments in various clinical specialiaties which will include Cardiology,
Stroke Medicine, Geriatric Medicine, Renal Medicine, Respiratory Medicine, Rheumatology, and
Infectious Disease.
Modern medical practice involves a complex team working approach, in which groups of
junior doctor work interchangeably on ward teams. Our intention is that the ACF posts will
contribute minimally to the on-call rotas and acute takes during those posts which include these
elements. However, their academic and research time will be timetabled and protected and
during the 4 month block of academic time there will be no on-call commitments. As a large
teaching hospital with a full range of training programmes we expect to have sufficient
flexibility in our rostering to allow this.
In order to achieve acceptance into an ad personam training programme, the ACF will
need to study for and obtain the necessary clinical certification (currently MRCP (UK)). All ACFs
will be expected to attend the relevant internal training programme for ST1 doctors and to sit
the MRCP exam at the earliest practical juncture.
A clinical tutoring scheme exists to monitor progress of general medical 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. Each ACF will meet
formally once a month with Professor C Rajkumar to review progress.
The clinical posts will be based at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, which includes a
postgraduate centre (the Audrey Emerton Building) with full library and IT facilities. The RSCH
is a busy hospital serving the clinical needs of Brighton & Hove, and the surrounding area.
Clinical posts are overseen by Dr Gainsborough who is responsible for organising the duty and
training rotas. The clinical department has eleven consultants and seventy eight beds for
geriatric and stroke medicine. There will be academic support provided by Senior Lecturers, Dr.
Khalid Ali, Dr. Juliet Wright and Professor C. Rajkumar. The programme will be enhanced by
links to Primary Care & Public Health divisions of the Brighton and Sussex Medical School. This
will offer academic and research opportunities in a primary care setting for the trainees. In
addition, international links with Australia, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, France and New
Zealand will enable the candidate to undertake collaborative research if necessary.
b. Overview of research
The candidate will be attached to the Academic Unit of Geriatric Medicine at BSMS, comprising
of the Chair, two Senior Lecturers, four research fellows, two academic F2s and five support
staff; there is a good support infrastructure available. Basic facilities for research such as desk
space, IT, a library and a clinical research unit with a clinical vascular laboratory are already
available. The trainee will be supervised by the Chair and the two Senior Lecturers in the first
instance. Pilot data for applying for a clinical fellowship to undertake an MD or PhD programme
can easily be generated using this infrastructure. This, combined with an ageing population in
East Sussex (over 25% of the population are over the age of 65), provides a good setting to carry
out clinical research in the elderly.
Academic Content:
The trainee will have a protected academic half day per week through 8 months of the rotation.
This time will be used to cover the requirements for an MRes programme which is being
planned for all academic trainees at BUSH. In addition, the trainee will attend a weekly
neuroradiology meeting in stroke, a weekly geriatric training meeting, a weekly grand round
presentation and half an hour morning report programme. They will also attend the monthly
departmental academic meetings where progress relating to their project and other
departmental projects will be reviewed. In addition, for a 4 month block the trainee will be
attached to the academic unit.
During this time they will have no on-call responsibility. These academic attachments are
intended to allow (a) completion of a small scale 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. The
academic output expected of these trainees would be the publication of at least one abstract at a
national or international conference and a peer reviewed publication at the end of two years.
They will also be expected to complete a small clinical audit project during this period and have
acquired enough data to lodge a clinical fellowship application. Academic progress will be
reviewed weekly by a senior staff as part of the postgraduate training programme. In addition
there are excellent teaching opportunities of undergraduate medicine to years 3 and 5.
Candidates will be given time to attend examiner training sessions, standard-setting boards and
exam boards to acquire knowledge about undergraduate teaching.
Academic progress will be monitored by the training programme director (Prof. C.
Rajkumar) as below:
1) setting up a clinical trial and monitoring data collection
2) analysis of data and submission of an abstract to a national or international meeting
3) progress with clinical fellowship applications
4) progress relating to completion of an audit project
Programme Management:
Overall responsibility for the Geriatrics ACF programme will rest with the training programme
director. Professor Rajkumar has extensive experience in clinical research and has been
involved with a number of national and international research projects. During the past 5 years,
Professor Rajkumar has been named as principal applicant or co-applicant on successful grants
totalling over £7million. He is the Clinical lead for the UKCRC South East England Stroke
Network and Divisional Director of the LCRN (Local Clinical Research Network) for Kent, Surrey
and Sussex. The department of Geriatric Medicine at BSMS has an excellent track record in
training SpRs, many of whom have gone onto successful clinical and academic posts. Quality
assurance for the programme will take the form of regular monitoring by an internal group
within the BSMS Division of Medicine (chaired by Prof. Kevin Davies). Progress reports on all
ACF trainees, covering their clinical and academic components will be submitted three times
per year.
3. Supervisory Arrangements
a. Academic Lead for IAT Programme:
Name:
Timothy Chevassut
Position:
Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Haematology
Institution:
Brighton and Sussex Medical School /
Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
Address:
Medical Research Building
University of Sussex
Falmer
Town:
Brighton
Postcode:
BN1 9PS
Telephone:
01273 873232
Email:
t.chevassut@bsms.ac.uk
b. Academic Supervisor:
Name:
Professor C Rajkumar
Position:
Chair Geriatrics and Stroke Medicine
Institution:
Brighton & Sussex Medical School /
Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
Address:
Audrey Emerton Building
Royal Sussex County Hospital
Eastern Road
Town:
Brighton
Postcode:
BN2 5BE
Telephone:
01273 523361
Fax:
01273 523366
Email:
raj.rajkumar@bsuh.nhs.uk
c. Educational Supervisor:
To be arranged
d. Clinical Supervisor:
To be arranged
e. Clinical Tutor:
Name:
Position:
Institution:
Address:
Town:
Postcode:
Email:
Dr. Jeremy Tibble
Clinical Tutor and Consultant in Gastroenterology
Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
Audrey Emerton Building
Royal Sussex County Hospital
Eastern Road
Brighton
BN2 5BE
jeremy.tibble@bsuh.nhs.uk
4. Partnership Details
a. Dean of Medical School:
Name:
Professor Malcolm Reed
Position:
Dean Brighton & Sussex Medical School
Institution:
Brighton & Sussex Medical School
Address:
BSMS Teaching Building
University of Sussex
Falmer
Town:
Brighton
Postcode:
BN1 9PX
Telephone:
01273 877577
Email:
m.reed@bsms.ac.uk
b. Postgraduate Dean:
Name:
Professor Graeme Dewhurst
Position:
Dean
Institution:
Kent Surrey & Sussex Postgraduate Deanery
Address:
7 Bermondsey St
Town:
London
Postcode:
SE1 2DD
Telephone:
020 7415 3402
Email:
GDewhurst@kss.hee.nhs.uk
c. Trust Chief Executive:
Name:
Matthew Kershaw
Position:
Chief Executive
Institution:
Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
Address:
Chief Executive's Office
Sussex House
1 Abbey Road
Town:
Brighton
Postcode:
BN2 1ES
Telephone:
01273 696955
Email:
matthew.kershaw@bsuh.nhs.uk