Developing the next generation of clinical academics

Clinical academic pathways are increasingly recognised as essential for developing an evidence-based healthcare workforce and better outcomes for patients¹. Clinical academics are healthcare professionals who undertake a dual role, combining their clinical work with research². Typically, an individual will hold joint appointments with a health or social care organisation and an academic institution². An example of this might be a Consultant Radiographer, who works for a hospital trust but also holds an honorary appointment with a higher education institution where they participate in teaching and conduct research. Within radiography and other allied health professions, however, engagement with research careers has historically been limited³. National initiatives are required, therefore, to support students and early-career clinicians in developing research skills and exploring clinical academic pathways. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has introduced several programmes to strengthen research capacity within healthcare professions, including the NIHR INSIGHT Programme. This initiative aims to support current healthcare students and recent graduates to enable them to develop an interest in research and consider future clinical academic careers⁴.

This article provides an overview of the INSIGHT Programme and its role in supporting the development of future clinical academics. It outlines the funding opportunities, application process and potential benefits for students and graduates considering research engagement during their training and early careers. The article also includes a reflective account from a diagnostic radiography professional participating in the programme, highlighting the personal and professional benefits they have experienced so far. Finally, the paper discusses the advantages of progressing to postgraduate training, particularly completing a master’s degree supported by NIHR funding, as part of developing a clinical academic pathway. By sharing these experiences, the authors aim to raise awareness of the programme in the radiography community and encourage greater participation in research-focused career development.

Clinical academics play a crucial role in bridging the gap between research and clinical practice⁵. They generate new knowledge, evaluate existing practices and support the implementation of evidence-based innovations in healthcare services⁵. For the radiography profession, developing a strong clinical academic workforce is vital to ensure imaging services continue to evolve in response to patient needs, technological innovation and healthcare system demands⁶. Evidence-based practice is central to modern healthcare⁷. Within diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy, rapid technological advances and evolving patient pathways require radiographers to engage with research in order to continually improve practice and patient outcomes⁶. Despite this, authors have identified many barriers⁸, and clinical academic careers in radiography remain relatively underdeveloped compared with other healthcare professions.

What is the NIHR INSIGHT Programme?

The NIHR INSIGHT Programme aims to develop the research careers of students and early-career clinicians and practitioners from multi-professional backgrounds⁴. It targets students and registered health and social care professionals, supporting them into research careers and creating a pipeline into future clinical academic training. This is a national initiative designed to attract talented applicants into research careers. It typically involves collaboration between higher education institutions, healthcare organisations and established researchers. Through this structure, students can gain insight into the research environment and develop an understanding of how research informs clinical practice. Crucially, the programme aims to remove barriers that might prevent the newly-qualified workforce from being research active. It targets undergraduate students across health disciplines, with the 2026 call specifically mentioning radiographer recruitment. 

The programme takes place across 12 regions in England and is delivered locally through participating institutions, such as the University of Nottingham, which offers fully funded studentships for master’s-level research training in the East Midlands.

The programme structure may include:

• Research visits to research-active areas.

• Academic mentorship.

• Research training events.

• Networking opportunities.

• Research skill development.

Funding and support available through NIHR

At the time of writing, the East Midlands offers three master’s-level research training programmes funded by INSIGHT: Research Methods (Health), Master of Public Health and Social Research (Health).

Importantly, the INSIGHT Programme seeks to remove barriers that might prevent students from exploring research opportunities. Financial support, mentorship and access to training resources enable students to develop research skills alongside their clinical education. There are one-year full-time and two-year part-time options. A key strength of the INSIGHT Programme is the level of support provided to participating students. Funding provided through the NIHR enables students to dedicate time to research activities without the financial pressures that can sometimes limit participation in academic opportunities.

In addition to financial support, mentorship is an important component of the programme. Students are typically paired with experienced academic supervisors, who provide guidance on research methods, career planning and academic development. This mentoring relationship can play a significant role in helping students understand the realities of a clinical academic career.

Application process

The application process for the INSIGHT Programme is designed to identify students who demonstrate both academic potential and an interest in research. Although specific requirements may vary between institutions, applications generally involve several common components.

Eligibility – all applicants must:

• Be a home student for the purpose of tuition fees.

• Be a new graduate (they must complete their studies prior to September in the academic year they are applying for) or a recent graduate (up to five years full-time equivalent).

• Have the support of their employer (if employed) to release them for the duration of your studies.

• Have completed their degree (if currently studying) and had their marks ratified by the exam board by the time of registering for the academic programme.

• Be living, studying or working in the East Midlands.

Additional course-specific criteria

Research Methods (Health) MA and Social Research (Health) MSc

Applicants must:

• Be a non-medical healthcare professional registered with an approved regulatory body listed on the NIHR website. If their profession is not listed, they are not eligible to apply for this programme.

• Have an active professional registration if they are qualified. New graduates must apply for registration as soon as possible.

Master of Public Health (Health Research)

Applicants must:

• Be a public health professional, already employed in a public health role.

• Have no more than five years of experience.

• Have an indicative commitment to apply for registration with the UK Public Health Register within 10 years.

The selection process is competitive, reflecting the high level of interest in research opportunities among healthcare students. However, students do not necessarily need previous research experience to apply. Demonstrating enthusiasm for learning about research and a willingness to engage with new challenges can be equally important.

For radiography students considering an application, it can be beneficial to seek guidance from lecturing staff or research-active lecturers. These individuals can help students understand the programme expectations and provide advice on preparing a strong application.

Reflective account: a student’s perspective

Motivation for applying to the INSIGHT Programme

After graduating, I had a few years of finding my feet as a newly qualified radiographer in MRI. Whilst I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do next, I was always on the lookout for potential next steps. I had spent time at the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre in Nottingham, which focuses on research in imaging/MRI, and found some of the projects they worked on intriguing. I was also lucky to have some excellent colleagues involved in research, who helped to grow my interest in the area. Whilst I hadn’t been directly involved in any research myself, I had completed audits and presented these at various conferences, which were fantastic opportunities to see what else was happening. This made me realise a whole new side of research that I wanted to explore further. I spoke to a few supportive colleagues, including one who completed a similar research award and is now completing her PhD, and they all encouraged me to investigate postgraduate opportunities. I knew I still wanted to work clinically as well as explore research, so a clinical academic role sounded like the perfect balance between the two.

How did you find out about it and apply?

When I began to look into available courses and funding opportunities, I came across the NIHR INSIGHT Programme. I joined a webinar explaining the application process, time frame, requirements, funding aspects and optional courses. Whilst there were three different course options, one stood out as the obvious choice for me, MA Research Methods (Health), also known as the MARM, hence we students are ‘MARMites’! The course leader was enthusiastic, confident and knowledgeable. I knew this would be the perfect opportunity and group of people to build a future career with. 

For me, the part-time option to complete the master’s over two years, whilst also working part time in my usual department, was the ideal opportunity to keep up my clinical skills, retain contact with my colleagues for advice and also have a full-time job to return to after finishing. 

Funding was also a huge consideration for me. I could not afford to drop down to part-time hours and pay tuition fees again, so the financial support from the INSIGHT Programme was vital and a key aspect in deciding to apply. I spoke to management about the idea and mentioned it in my appraisal and, with their approval, I applied! As well as the formal application form, I needed to write a personal statement that highlighted my interest in research, the clinical academic role, why I would be an ideal candidate and why the MARM course would be the best fit for me. As it was a new programme, the turnaround time was quick and I soon found out I had made it through to the interview stage. I had to create a presentation on the importance of research in my department and discuss this with the panel. Whilst I was nervous, they were all friendly, interested in my thoughts and they helped me to realise I had made the right decision to apply.

Initial expectations and concerns

I felt as though I hadn’t been qualified long enough to undertake any postgraduate training, certainly not a master’s, as I didn’t have a wealth of experience to build on, notably none in research. However, that’s the point! One of the requirements of the INSIGHT Programme is to have been qualified for under five years. This ensures we have most of our careers ahead of us so we can learn about the wide world of research and all of the potential clinical academic pathways we could choose in the future; whilst also being moulded into a more rounded and knowledgeable professional. I also initially expected I would be required to have fully formed ideas about a specific research question or a project I wanted to undertake. Luckily, this wasn’t required as each module encourages us to use published research from within our own profession to help us formulate ideas for our own research; I hadn’t fully settled on my topic until the Christmas of my second year.

One of my other worries was that I thought they wanted someone who endeavoured to do a PhD straight after the master’s. For me, the thought of a master’s was scary enough so the thought of anything further was overwhelming. Thankfully, I was wrong. Whilst the INSIGHT Programme is an ideal starting point to progress to a PhD – and I thoroughly recommend it if this is your goal – it is not essential. There are so many pathways a career as a clinical academic or in radiography research can take, many of which I hadn’t even considered before. The additional events, networking opportunities and sessions created by the INSIGHT team are to help us realise what is possible and what direction we want to take.

Skills developed during the programme and impact on career aspirations

One of the greatest benefits of the INSIGHT Programme is the support, mentorship and additional resources provided to enhance our overall skills. Alongside the formal modules, which include skills such as research design, ethical applications, critical analysis, statistics etc., we regularly have additional sessions on a wide range of topics. These have included CV and abstract writing; understanding the importance of patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE); programmes to discover our unrealised skills and strengths; how to develop and use these to our best advantage; and coaching on how to communicate and present effectively. 

We also have three key contacts throughout the course: an academic/personal tutor for all module or course-based queries; an INSIGHT mentor, who is a role model to motivate and support our personal and professional development; and our dissertation supervisor, who guides us to undertake our own empirical research project. Each of these mentors is chosen individually based on their unique professional positions and experience, along with our distinct needs as a research master’s student. Working closely with my mentors has given me a greater awareness of research and what is involved, when we rarely see it on a day-to-day basis as a radiographer. I have a better understanding and appreciation of the importance of robust research and how something becomes ‘evidence based’, the time and effort it takes, but also the significance of it being done properly. Research could be a huge national trial or something that starts simply as an idea that could lead to something much more – to shape the future of how we work and to provide the best care possible to our patients.

One of the biggest changes for me has been my outlook on my potential future options. The role of a clinical academic can be so varied – none of my mentors fits into a neat box of a job description, they have such diverse roles and have shaped them over the years to create their own exceptional positions. They have inspired me to explore things that interest me and take opportunities as they come. As MARM is a multi-professional course, I also see the paths that people in other professions have taken. We have had presentations from previous students who progressed in various directions, all aiming to demonstrate how the career of a clinical academic is unique and inspiring. INSIGHT helps us to realise the opportunities out there; a friend on the course is now a university lecturer and others have already gained positions to undertake PhDs – and we haven’t even finished! Overall, the INSIGHT Programme has provided me with the opportunity, support and encouragement to do something I probably otherwise wouldn’t have done, not only financially but academically, professionally and personally.

Conclusion

The benefits of a clinical academic role to the individual have been clearly described. Those who have an interest can build confidence in research, discover and mould their professional identity and gain a greater understanding of evidence-based practice. Organisations working in partnership can develop research capacity. Programmes like this can provide the vital mentors and institutional support that are often cited as barriers to undertaking research⁹ if they are lacking. There remain well discussed workforce challenges, and programmes like INSIGHT can address some of these by developing research leaders and giving greater visibility of research opportunities to radiography graduates and students. The authors call on educators and clinical departments to investigate these opportunities and promote research engagement where possible.

Conflicts of interest

The authors work for the University of Nottingham, which currently has a programme under the INSIGHT scheme. Alexandra Partner is a member of the Editorial Board for Insight. To maintain a blind peer-review process, the author was excluded from all editorial decisions and the review process related to the manuscript of this article.