In the North Ophthalmology training programme, we have developed academic training via three pathways. Firstly, University of Bristol Clinical Lectureship aligned with a National Training Number via School of Ophthalmology at Southwest Deanery; secondly, via NIHR clinical lectureships; and thirdly via the Academic Clinical Fellow programme.
All these programmes work in consort with PMETB guidelines for clinical accreditation in Ophthalmology utilizing the Annual Reviews of Competence Progression (ARCP) and RITAs. They continue with tailoring the programme for the individual: in line with NIHR guidelines. As such:
- 50% of time is spent with tailored clinical training within the Severn Deanery (70% for ACFs)
- 50% of time for academic training (30% for ACFs) . This includes protected research time during the week as well training in education via certificate or diploma in medical education. For further information please refer to the Teaching and Learning for Health Professionals site.
Positions are occupied by Post-Doctoral Clinical Resident doctors in training, and we work toward Follett principles of integrated academic and clinical appraisal. This is in line with recommendations and guidelines for appointments and allows the incumbent to develop toward independent PI status in academia whilst becoming accredited at consultant status for practicing ophthalmology. The training is as such as tailored as currently possible within the curriculum to support their research potential. That is, the programme is focussed toward clinical areas that support their research so that they develop appropriate excellence and expertise that aligns both clinically and experimentally. We are able to do this to some degree, because academic ophthalmology is central to development of School of Ophthalmology within the North of the region and the combined ethos for such development, even with current constraints of College/ GMC(PMETB) curriculum. The alignment of tailored training for academics and their success clinically and in research should be a sine qua non. As a community we still need to work toward the final recommendation of Tooke Report (Jan 08) recommendation 44:
“To be eligible for a Consultant Senior Lecturer appointment, the applicant should possess a CCT in the relevant specialty area. Higher specialist College exams could be tailored to limited subspecialty expertise, recognising the narrower scope of practice that some clinical academics may need to embrace.”
Ophthalmology research in Bristol is committed to providing a first-class environment in which health care, education, clinical and laboratory research can be conducted simultaneously. Research is focused on improvements in future health care that rely heavily on the implementation of basic science advances, and the transfer of laboratory acquired knowledge to the clinic.
Bristol’s core laboratory-based research groups have the expertise to broaden investigations into ocular inflammatory diseases (children and young people and adults), gene therapy, etinal neovascularisation and angiogenesis, age-related macular degeneration, and inherited genetic disorders. These diverse themes draw on common state-of-the-art facilities and benefit from wide scientific collaboration, not only within the University of Bristol, but also nationally, partnered with the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre Moorfields and UCL-Institute of Ophthalmology and internationally.
Bristol also has parallel applied health-care research programmes for the development of improved health service delivery pathways, the assessment of vision-related quality of life, determining the evidence base for ocular therapies, as well as studying visual development in children.
The benefits of all these endeavours are then delivered to the patient through Bristol Eye Hospital’s Clinical Research Unit, which runs a range of investigator-driven and commercial studies. This enables vision research and the NHS service to be fully integrated at the patient interface, giving patients access to cutting-edge therapies as soon as they become available, and also ensuring that new innovations are critically evaluated in the clinic.
The quality of healthcare we deliver is dependent on the discovery and application of scientific innovation as articulated in the Government’s strategy “Best Research for Best Health” Best Research for Best Health: The Next Chapter | NIHR and making research core business of the NHS. Under the leadership of Prof Andrew Dick, Bristol continues to develop a profile of Academic Ophthalmology by promoting clinical scientific advances, enhancing the quality of training and career development for both clinical and clinical academic staff, with the ultimate aim of improving the standard of care for our patients.
