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Heartbeat: Research internships creating valuable experiences and opportunities

December 10, 2021

Research is a massive part of the future of our NHS and is vital in eradicating disease and improving health in our communities. Whether we are clinical or non-clinical, we are encouraged to participate in research in one way or another; this could be through research trials, studies or internships. Trupti Lakha, Specialist Podiatrist in Diabetes was the first podiatrist at our Trust to be successful in participating actively in research – a great achievement for the department and the Trust itself. She explains how studying as part of the NIHR Clinical Academic Internship Programme (CAIP) has helped her develop skills and experience to expand research ideas, improve patient outcomes and make service improvements.

Trupti explained: “Seeing the impact of research around COVID-19 and how research could benefit people in a positive way sparked my interest in applying for the NIHR Clinical Academic Internship Programme (CAIP) at the University of Birmingham.

“Research advances have impacted our lives locally, nationally and globally. So, I was honoured to be accepted onto such a highly sought after course.

“Meeting the other successful interns highlighted that podiatrists involved in research are rare. The internship programme enables allied health professionals (AHPs) to promote, develop and expand their research ideas to further improve patient outcomes, make service improvements and medical health advances within their own speciality and further afield.

“The course begins at the same point in the academic calendar like any other degree (September- October) and runs for 12 months with protected study time. The course covers salary costs for study undertaken away from clinical practice and is open to both full time and part time staff members.

“Collaboration and support from my manager helped me to complete the course to my full potential by giving me the space to progress and fulfil course objectives. Supervisors are allocated to each intern and course leads were at hand to support throughout the programme. Due to the COVID pandemic, the course was delivered virtually with an individual in-person presentation at the end.

“Not only did I gain valuable experience and opportunity, but also Masters level credits. Completing the internship, has given me the confidence to take the next step in a journey toward fulfilling a career path in clinical academic research. Changes within the field have opened doors for AHPs to become clinical research practitioners when previously; the title was job specific towards nurses and midwives only.”

Recently, the importance of research has never been highlighted more so now, than ever with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) investing millions of pounds to expand and upgrade existing research infrastructure across the country. Evidence suggests that research active departments provide improved, positive patient outcomes as evidence based practice improves health.

Trupti continued: “Sharing ideas with likeminded people and knowing that my work will be a step towards making someone’s life better makes pursuing my interest in research all the more important.”