newly qualified OTs FEATURE
The exciting and stimulating experience of a dual role Charlotte Brooks reflects on commencing a clinical academic career as a newly graduated occupational therapist
(WUN) team. The prospect of attending conferences abroad is undoubtedly a bonus. I would recommend my role to any new highly motivated OT graduate with a keen interest in research. However, this comes with a warning; balancing the clinical and academic roles is complex at times and requires excellent organisation skills and adaptability. Perseverance, tenacity and being prepared for a rollercoaster ride also appear crucial. I have been granted four years of funding for the PhD; I envisage being able to draw upon an eclectic array of experiences on completion. For an initiative such as this to succeed, forward-thinking clinical leaders, such as Lin Burton, the professional lead for occupational therapy in Solent NHS Trust, are a necessity. My sincerest gratitude is also extended to my research supervisors and the Portsmouth rehabilitation and reablement team for their support. ‘Working in partnership with the University of Southampton, hosting a PhD student on a clinical academic career pathway, offers potential benefits for both developing clinical services and increasing research activity and interest within the service,’ says Lin. ‘The research area chosen is of relevance to occupational therapy, particularly as our service endeavours to continuously improve the occupational therapy message to clients to enable them to get the most from our interventions. We are looking forward to seeing how this progresses.’ Reference Nutbeam D (1998) Health promotion glossary. Health Promotion International, 13: 349–364
●● Charlotte Brooks, clinical academic PhD student and band five OT in intermediate care, University of Southampton and Solent NHS Trust
May 2012
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FEATURE
H
aving graduated from the University of Southampton as an OT in June last year, I took my first few steps down a clinical academic career pathway in September. My role entails working two days a week as a band five OT for an intermediate care team within Solent NHS Trust. The remaining three days involve undertaking doctoral-level research activity at the University of Southampton. The research is focused around falls prevention and health literacy; an individual’s ability to access, use and understand the health information we give them (Nutbeam 1998). My exciting and stimulating experiences of this dual role thus far has led to me sharing this pioneering scheme with OTnews readers. The opportunity to develop my clinical and academic skills concurrently, thus avoiding pursuing one career trajectory at the expense of the other, was what initially attracted me to the post. Like many other OTs I entered the profession to practise clinically; therefore was eager to develop my skills in this domain. Equally, with a passion for research from an undergraduate level, disregarding this until a later stage in my career would have been regrettable. In addition to this, an abundance of further benefits have become evident since commencing the role. First, a mutually beneficial relationship has been established from the role. Working clinically has facilitated making indispensable research contacts and development of clinically informed research questions. Accordingly, I have gained invaluable access to the falls clinics within
the Solent NHS Trust. Meanwhile, academic study encourages innovative and evidencebased practice. For example, modification of my communication strategies and a more sensitive approach has emanated from reading qualitative research exploring older people’s experiences of falls. Furthermore, health literacy as a concept is arguably transferable to any element of clinical practice, from the appointment letters we send out to the daily verbal interactions with clients. As a result, I have been utilising this newly acquired knowledge to enhance personal practice and service provision where possible. As a band five OT it is imperative to be enabled to develop clinically. Despite the post originally being static, I have been offered the chance to rotate into the community OT team later this year. Although it can be difficult to settle into a new team and manage a caseload when working two days a week, this is a fantastic learning opportunity. Likewise, being an early career researcher has already opened up a great wealth of opportunities. My research days usually consist of attending training delivered by highly experienced researchers, immersing myself in intriguing literature and expanding my skills for conveying research. This is with the ultimate aim of developing my research ideas with support from my enthused supervisors – Dr Jo Adams, Dr Claire Ballinger and Professor Nutbeam, the world-renowned expert on public health. Being a part of an international research community has been utterly inspiring; meeting Michael Wolf, a health literacy expert from the US was a highlight. I have also been fortunate enough to be included in the Worldwide Universities Network
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