Two Year Specialised Foundation Programme Recruitment
For more information on research SFP posts recruitment please refer to the UKFPO website and the NHSE England website
The guidance explains to applicants that there are two pathways via which they can apply for an England SFP – one is via their own medical school selection process, and the other is via national allocation (using PIA).
The UKFPO page includes FAQs and other general information – please check the UKFPO guidance before applying in case amendments have been made.
- The Peninsula Foundation School offers 8 x 2-year Academic RESEARCH Specialised Foundation Programmes (SFP)offering a range of opportunities for academic clinicians focusing on research careers and clinicians who want to develop special interests.
- There are 3 Research posts based in University Hospitals Plymouth and 5 Research posts based in Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (in EXETER).
- Each of the programmes starts with a generic clinical foundation year 1 comprising 3×4 month rotations.
- In F2 in Exeter, the pattern is for 3 x 4 month rotations with one of these rotations being an Academic rotation.
- In F2 in Plymouth the year will comprise of 3 x 4 month rotations with one of these rotations being an Academic rotation.
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (in EXETER)
5 x Research SFPs based in Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – East.
- 2 of these SFP programmes will be recruited to from Exeter University Students via Pathway 1.
- 3 of these SFP programmes will be recruited to via the National Recruitment process Pathway 2 using Preferenced Informed Allocation (PIA).
- The posts will be of particular interest to those aspiring to an academic career but the research skills will be generic and the experience will be of benefit to anyone with an interest in health and health service research.
- Each programme starts with a generic clinical F1 year comprising 3×4 month rotations. In F2, the post will be offered as 3 x 4 month placements at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital.
Currently the F1 Pathway 2 programmes are as below.
Please note that as with all our programmes these are subject to change.
| F1 year Oriel Programme No | August | December | April |
| PEN/RH801/59 | Cardiology | General Surgery (colorectal) | Emergency Medicine |
| PEN/RH801/60 | Emergency Medicine | Cardiology | General Surgery (colorectal) |
| PEN/RH801/61 | General Surgery (colorectal) | Emergency Medicine | Cardiology |
Currently the F2 Pathway 2 programmes are as below.
Please note that as with all our programmes these are subject to change.
| F2 year Oriel Programme No | August | December | April |
| PEN/RH801/59 | Academic – Research | Adult Internal Medicine (Geriatrics) | General Practice |
| PEN/RH801/60 | General Practice | Academic – Research | Adult Internal Medicine (Geriatrics) |
| PEN/RH801/61 | Academic – Research | General Practice | Adult Internal Medicine (AMU) |
Wide ranging research possibilities exist within genetics, paediatrics, obstetrics, public health, oncology, haematology and renal medicine (list not exhaustive). The post will be of particular interest to those aspiring to a career in psychiatry, paediatrics, public health or primary care.
Research Areas and Leads
Wide ranging research possibilities exist through the University of Exeter Medical School. Each research foundation trainee has the opportunity to preference their research area.
Research opportunities at University of Exeter Medical School for Academic Foundation Doctors
Exeter Research Job Description
University Hospitals Plymouth
3 x Research posts based in University Hospitals Plymouth
- 1 of these SFP programmes will be recruited to from Plymouth University Students via Pathway 1.
- 2 of these SFP programmes will be recruited to via the National Recruitment process Pathway 2 using Preferenced Informed Allocation (PIA).
- SFP trainees will undergo a standard FY1 clinical rotation.
Currently the F1 Pathway 2 programmes contain the following specialties in various orders are as below.
Please note that as with all our programmes these are subject to change.
| F1 Plymouth (Specialty Order to be confirmed) | Emergency Medicine | Acute Internal Medicine | General Surgery (Vascular) |
In FY2, the trainee will have 3 x 4-month clinical placements.
Currently the F2 Pathway 2 programmes contain the following specialties in various orders are as below.
Please note that as with all our programmes these are subject to change.
| F2 Plymouth (Specialty Order to be confirmed) | Renal Medicine | General Practice | ACADEMIC – Research |
- In FY2, the 4-month academic placement is spent undertaking research as described below in the link to the Job Description.
- The programme is designed to provide experience of a clinical academic environment and to develop generic research skills.
- This will suit both those interested in pursuing a clinical academic career and those interested in applying research skills to improve patient care in their clinical practice.
Plymouth Research Job Description
For further details, please go to the Specialised Foundation Programme page on the UKFPO website.
Additional medical education/leadership and management academic posts available through the FPP process.
In addition to our SFP research programmes, we also have the following academic programmes which for August 2026 start will be recruited through the FOUNDATION PRIORITY PROGRAMME recruitment process.
2 x Fixed Medical Education posts based in Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (in EXETER)
4 x Academic posts based at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust which can be in either Medical Education or Leadership & Management
2 x Academic posts based at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust which can be in either Medical Education or Leadership & Management
General Information
For more information, the UKFPO Applicant’s Handbook is available on the Two Year Foundation Programme section of the UKFPO website.
For more information about our trusts and training in the Peninsula including Job Descriptions please see our How to Apply section.
For general queries regarding the Peninsula Specialised Foundation Programmes please contact: The Peninsula Foundation School – Suzanne Maddock -01752 590626 – suzanne.maddock2@nhs.net.
Research Foundation Programme Job Description (RDUH – Exeter)
- Pathway 1 – Local Medical School recruitment
Please contact your medical school to find out how to apply through Pathway 1.
Please refer to the NHSE website and to the UKFPO website for more information on Specialised foundation programme (SFP) recruitment and allocation.
- Pathway 2 – allocation via PIA
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – East (based in Exeter) currently offer 5 x Academic Research 2-year Foundation Programmes.
From 2025 entry nationally one-third of specialised foundation programmes in England have been recruited to via Pathway 1, but two-thirds of SFPs in England will be matched to applicants who are eligible for the foundation programme via the national allocation process (Pathway 2) via Oriel using PIA. Refer to the UKFPO website for information about how the PIA process works.
This means in Exeter 2 x SFP research programmes are allocated via selective recruitment by Exeter Medical school (Pathway 1).
The remaining 3 x Research SFP Programmes will be allocated via PIA allocation (Pathway 2).
All eligible applicants who are interested in applying for a SFP in England can do so via the main application/allocation process, if they fall into one of the following categories:
- the applicant is a final year student at an English medical school but does not wish to apply via pathway 1
- the applicant is a final year student at an English medical school who applied for an SFP via pathway 1 but was not selected for an SFP via this route
- the applicant qualified from a medical school in the UK or have been renominated within the dates specified by the UKFPO every year on their website but does not wish to apply via pathway one
- the applicant qualified from a medical school in the UK or have been renominated within the dates specified by the UKFPO every year on their website, and applied for an SFP via pathway 1 but was not selected for an SFP via this route
- the applicant is a final year student/eligible applicant from elsewhere in the UK
- the applicant has been deemed eligible to apply for the foundation programme via the national eligibility application route
An applicant will not be able to apply on Oriel for an SFP via pathway 2 if they were selected by their medical school for an SFP via the pathway 1 process. Applicants who are successful via pathway 1 will be removed from the main application/allocation process on Oriel.
F1
For the F1 year, applicants will be allocated to one of 3 standard 2-year rotations via Preferenced Informed Allocation (PIA) through the UKFPO national recruitment process.
Currently the F1 programmes are as below (Corresponding F2 year details are in the F2 section):
| F1 year Programme No | August | December | April |
| PEN/RH801/59 | Cardiology | General Surgery (colorectal) | Emergency Medicine |
| PEN/RH801/60 | Emergency Medicine | Cardiology | General Surgery (colorectal) |
| PEN/RH801/61 | General Surgery (colorectal) | Emergency Medicine | Cardiology |
Please note that as with all our programmes these are subject to change
There will be 5 Academic days in F1, the use and purpose of which is to be agreed on an individual basis with the educational supervisor.
F2
This is a one-year academic post that consists of one 4-month academic placement with 2 other 4-month clinical placements. You will need to be on track and be given an outcome 1 at ARCP for F1 to be offered the chance to continue with the Academic component in F2.
Currently the F2 programmes related are as below:
| F2 year Programme No | August | December | April |
| PEN/RH801/59 | Academic – Research | Adult Internal Medicine (Geriatrics) | General Practice |
| PEN/RH801/60 | General Practice | Academic – Research | Adult Internal Medicine (Geriatrics) |
| PEN/RH801/61 | Academic – Research | General Practice | Adult Internal Medicine (AMU) |
Please note that as with all our programmes these are subject to change
The academic placement
This will consist of a 4-month research post in the F2 year. The foundation doctor will be supported during the F1 year to identify a supervisor and project that aligns with their interests. A list of current supervisors is available on this link https://foundation.peninsuladeanery.nhs.uk/about-us/research-opportunities-at-university-of-exeter-medical-school-for-academic-foundation-doctors/ However we will support Foundation Doctors to identify a project and supervisor within their area of interests, which will include a wide range of clinical academics in Exeter beyond those on this list.
The research project is likely to be a discrete project that they can take ownership of, develop in their placement and ideally progress towards presentation and publication. In most cases this will be secondary data analysis: undertaking primary research and obtaining related approvals is unlikely to be feasible in this time scale. As well as a personal project, Foundation Doctors will be given the opportunity to observe other projects and be expected to join departmental meetings and talks, and present data to their research group. They will receive support in developing their research skills and progressing their research project from their supervisor to the wider team.
The objectives of the research placements are to:
- Develop core transferable academic skills
- Gain experience of working in an academic team to determine whether they may be interested in an academic career beyond the placement
- Complete a discrete research project and produce at least one academic output: a presentation at a conference (minimum) and ideally contribute to a research paper.
- There will be no requirement for an on-call commitment during this placement to allow the focus to be on the research project.
Research Opportunities in Exeter
Specialised Foundation posts in Exeter
The below clinical academic supervisors host academic foundation trainees and can often accommodate projects relevant to a range of clinical interests. However, there is a wide range of research undertaken in the University of Exeter and projects can often be arranged with other research teams if you have a particular interest. To discuss further please contact Professor Angus Jones (angus.jones@exeter.ac.uk).
| Name | Area of expertise | Link to Web Profile and email address |
| Louise Allan | Neurology, psychiatry of old age Professor Louise Allan is a geriatrician. She has a specialist interest in the Neurology and Psychiatry of Old Age. Current research themes focus on falls and physical health care in dementia, the effects of delirium upon cognitive decline, and non-Alzheimer’s dementias including post-stroke dementia and Lewy body disease. | Louise Allan |
| Rob Andrews | Diabetes, Exercise, Obesity Professor Andrews is an endocrinologist with interests in diabetes and exercise. His research group is able to offer projects in the following areas; predicting glucose changes with exercise, effect of hyperglycaemia on co-ordination, exercise, diabetes and pregnancy, exercise and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. | Rob Andrews |
| Jon P Evans | Orthopaedics Jonathan P Evans is a clinical academic orthopaedic surgeon specialising in shoulder and elbow surgery. His research focuses on patient outcome assessment, particularly the modern analysis and implementation of Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs). He is also actively involved in research exploring the genetics of upper limb pathology, the application of artificial intelligence in x-ray assessment, and clinical trials. | Jon P Evans |
| Jon T Evans | Orthopaedics Jonathan T Evans is a clinical academic orthopaedic surgeon spending half his time as a hip surgeon and the other half in the University of Exeter. He works on the data analysis team for the National Joint Registry and has several research interests including peri-prosthetic femoral fractures, sustainability in orthopaedics and prosthetic joint infection, he is also the chair of the Exeter Hip Research Group. | Jon T Evans |
| Andrew Hattersley | Diabetes, Genetics Professor Andrew Hattersley is an endocrinologist whose research combines state-of-the-art molecular genetics with physiological and clinical investigations in patients. A key theme of his approach is that his scientific discoveries are rapidly and effectively translated into improvements in clinical care. His research groups is able to offer projects in a range of subjects: areas with recent academic trainees working in areas including endocrinology, neurology, paediatrics, genetics, elderly care and renal medicine. | Andrew Hattersley |
| Angus Jones | Diabetes, Global health Professor Angus Jones is an endocrinologist whose research focusses on clinical questions directly relevant to the management of diabetes. He uses a combination of multicentre clinical studies and existing trial and observational datasets to answer clinical questions relating to diabetes classification and treatment. He leads a program of research (NIHR Global Health Group) investigating diagnosis and management of diabetes in Sub-Saharan Africa. | Angus Jones |
| Tamsin Newlove-Delgado | Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Professor Tamsin Newlove-Delgado is a consultant in public health whose research concentrates on public health aspects of the mental health of young people, influenced by her clinical experience in child and adolescent psychiatry prior to entering public health medicine. She has a particular interest in the transition from child to adult services, and in the application of epidemiological methods for service planning. She is currently leading a surveillance study of Sydenham’s chorea and is also a member of the Catch-us study team focussing on transition in young people with ADHD http://medicine.exeter.ac.uk/catchus/. | Tamsin Newlove-Delgado |
| Jane Masoli | Epidemiology, Multiple Long-Term Conditions, Ageing Professor Jane Masoli is a consultant geriatrician and a senior clinical research fellow in epidemiology. Her main personal research focus is on cardiovascular ageing and polypharmacy, using big data approaches and genetic epidemiology. She is also a work-package lead for the MRC funded GEMINI multimorbidity collaborative and the Clinical Research Network lead for Ageing and Multiple Long-Term conditions in the Peninsula. A placement can be tailored to the individual’s interests in any medical or surgical specialty, as the epidemiology group use large-scale data to understand a broad range of conditions in the context of ageing and multimorbidity. | Jane Masoli |
| Richard Oram | Diabetes, autoimmune disease, renal medicine, Professor Richard Oram is a renal physician who studies the biology of type 1 diabetes and the use of genetic risk score to diagnose autoimmune disease. Academic foundation trainees would have the opportunity to work on either the biology of type 1 diabetes using data from existing studies, or to work on autoimmune disease using the UK biobank combining analyses of phenotype data with genetic risk scores for a variety of autoimmune diseases. | Richard Oram |
| Kash Patel | Diabetes, endocrinology, genetics Professor Kash Patel is an Endocrinologist main area of research includes understanding the genetics of diabetes and other endocrine diseases with a focus on Monogenic and Type 1 diabetes. His research uses next-generation sequencing technology and large data sets to improve diagnosis and understanding of monogenic diabetes in humans. | Kash Patel |
| Adilia Warris | Paediatric infectious diseases, medical mycology Professor Adilia Warris is Paediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist and a Co-Director of the MRC Centre for Medical Mycology at the University of Exeter. Her research profile has a strong translational focus and specific areas of interest include antifungal resistance, antifungal stewardship, and host-fungus interactions. She offers a wide range of projects in Medical Mycology that can range from clincial trials and clinical data through to the laboratory. | Adilia Warris |
Plymouth Specialised Foundation Programmes Job Description
Why Plymouth?
We are excited to announce the start of our Specialised Foundation Programme (SFP) in Plymouth with three posts in strong clinical academic departments. This will complement the established Integrated Academic Training programme for Academic Clinical Fellows and Clinical Lecturers (https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/about-us/university-structure/faculties/health/pupsmd-research/clinical-academic-training).
The University of Plymouth and University Hospitals Plymouth work in close partnership to develop and deliver high quality research. We conduct adventurous world-leading research with the explicit purpose of improving the health and care of our community. Research and collaboration activities are underpinned by access to an impressive range of cutting-edge facilities, including the Derriford Research Facility, the Brain Research & Imaging Centre, and the Peninsula Clinical Trials Unit, which allows for interdisciplinary collaboration between medical, dental and biomedical researchers at the university and with research clinicians from the trust.
Programme Structure
SFP trainees will undergo a standard FY1 clinical rotation. In FY2, the trainee will have 4-month clinical placements in Renal Medicine and General Practice and a 4-month academic placement undertaking research as described below. The programme is designed to provide experience of a clinical academic environment and to develop generic research skills. This will suit both those interested in pursuing a clinical academic career and those interested in applying research skills to improve patient care in their clinical practice.
Support and Supervision
The academic blocks will be undertaken with careful supervision from experienced clinical academics with a track record of supervising clinical academic trainees. You will also be supported by a well-established Integrated Academic Programme hosted by the University of Plymouth. This includes administration support as well as opportunities to attend regular networking and development events that are held quarterly. All trainees are offered formal mentorship to support clinical academic career development. You will be paired with a senior clinical academic or clinical lecturer from a different specialty.
Objectives of the Programme
- To provide high quality clinical training in an outstanding clinical environment
- To provide training and experience in aspects of research from design and methodology to delivery
- To develop generic research skills including critical appraisal, data analysis and scientific writing
- To provide supervision and mentorship to support clinical academic career development
Research Projects
Hepatology
The burden of liver disease has been increasing for several decades driven by alcohol use and unhealthy lifestyles. More than 30% of the UK population have chronic liver disease ranging from fatty liver to advanced cirrhosis and liver cancer. The Hepatology Research Group (https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/hepatology-research-group) has a broad portfolio of research projects ranging from biomarker development for alcohol-related hepatitis to testing interventions for people with liver disease including psychological therapy for alcohol dependence and dietary therapy to reduce the risk of liver failure after liver resection.
The SFP trainee will undertake a project aligned to the current research programme of the group. The trainee will be trained to conduct a systematic review. Recent students and trainees have completed systematic reviews on trial retention in alcohol-related liver disease, the effect of short-chain fatty acids on liver disease and the effect of zinc on mortality in people with alcohol-related cirrhosis. The trainee will also have the opportunity to work with the laboratory researchers on a small project based around the precision-cut liver slice model, which uses human tissue samples to model liver disease and test interventions.
The project will be supervised by Ashwin Dhanda (Academic Hepatologist; https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/ashwin-dhanda), Integrated Academic Training Programme Lead and expert in alcohol-related liver disease.
Peri-operative care
Professor Dan Martin (https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/daniel-martin) leads the peri-operative and intensive care medicine research group (https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/perioperative-and-intensive-care). He is leading an NIHR-funded trial to fully evaluate an exercise intervention in high-risk patients awaiting a liver transplantation. Having completed work funded by the National Institute of Academic Anaesthesia to study mitochondrial function in high risk, multi-morbid surgical patients, the group are exploring physiological mechanisms that underlie the development of complications. Other innovative research areas include the value of novel preoperative interventions in high-risk multi-morbid patients such as intermittent hypoxia, intermittent fasting, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) to “train” the autonomic nervous system, and remote ischaemic preconditioning.
The SFP trainee will be supervised by Dan Martin to conduct a project based around ongoing research in the field of perioperative care. This may include conducting a systematic review or completing a substudy of an ongoing project.
Neurosciences
It is well recognised that patients with chronic subdural haematoma (CSDH) have an excess mortality when compared with age-matched controls, and this is exacerbated by increased frailty. One study found that cognitive function is worse in CSDH patients 3 months after operation, compared with healthy controls. Longer term, CSDH patients are also more likely to die from dementia than patients without CSDH.
This project would be aligned with other on-going work in the department assessing the role of frailty in CSDH and assessment of cognitive tools. The SFP trainee would be trained in systematic review skills, performing a review on multi-morbidity in CSDH and be supported to run a short project assessing multi-morbidity and cognitive function in local CSDH patients, both operative and conservative, where data is currently lacking. This would include development of skills in obtaining informed consent, patient recruitment and the utility of different clinical tools assessing cognition and frailty.
This project will be supported by Ellie Edlmann (Clinical lecturer in Neurosurgery; https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/staff/ellie-edlmann), who has a track record in clinical studies in CSDH and Victoria Haunton (Academic Elderly Care Physician; https://www.plymouthhospitals.nhs.uk/haunton-v/) who has extensive experience in assessment of cognitive impairment and management of multi-morbidity in older people.