A report for the DH asserted last October that the country's future health and wellbeing depended on investing in young medical and dental professionals; providing flexible training programmes to allow them to combine a clinical career with research. Universities and NHS trusts across England and Wales then submitted applications to run a total of 224 research programmes over 5 years to support ACFs, with the Clinical Academic Careers Panel - made up of eminent medical and dental academics - meeting in February to consider their proposals.

It has now granted funding for 104 programmes, 11 of them at The University of Manchester. According to the Department of Health the quality of academic and clinical training available was the key criterion for the panel's recommendations.

Professor Phil Baker, Associate Head of the School of Medicine and its Director of Research, said: "I am pleased that the University has been so outstandingly successful in its bids for the new Academic Clinical Fellowships, which we feel will substantially enhance the academic career opportunities for doctors in training. I am grateful to everyone who put so much hard work into preparing for the bids, particularly Professor David Thompson whose painstaking efforts and strategic leadership have resulted in this remarkable success."

Part of a co-ordinated approach by the UK Clinical Research Collaboration (UKCRC), the Fellowships will allow trainee medics wishing to combine clinical and research work to undertake academic training which will enable them to apply for a research training fellowship, at the same time as launching their specialist clinical training.

The Higher Education Funding Council for E
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Contact: Jo Nightingale
jo.nightingale@manchester.ac.uk
161-275-8156
University of Manchester
7-Mar-2006