Academic medicine: time for reinvention: Shorter training and shortage of doctors detrimentally affect research

doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7430.48-b

BMJ 2004;328:48 (3 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7430.48-b

Letter

Academic medicine: time for reinvention

Shorter training and shortage of doctors detrimentally affect research

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—As a specialist registrar who successfully appliedfor research funding, I would add the shorter training and generalshortage of doctors in the NHS to Bell's list of factors detrimentallyaffecting research.¹

The time limited training as a specialist registrar meant thatI had only a limited window to write up and submit applications.Yet overstretched departments were often reluctant to grantstudy time to work up those applications. From their perspectivethere was little to show for the time granted—that is,no audits and no papers. Little central support was given atthe deanery, occupied with the task of shoring up clinical trainingagainst competing demands.

These remain systemic problems affecting a little publicisedbottleneck into research: at the application and pre-entry point.Judging by how well the NHS is handling its current staffingproblems, I seriously doubt these problems can be overcome inthe near future. . . . [Full text of this article]

Michael W K Lim, research fellow

Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics, Oxford OX3 9DU michael.lim@ntlworld.com