ACF Neurology ST3 - Themed Posts (Sheffield)
The University of Sheffield, in partnership with NHS England North East and Yorkshire and the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, has developed an exciting pathway of academic clinical training opportunities.
Applications are now invited for an Academic Clinical Fellowship in Neurology at ST3 level from August 2024. This new post has been created as part of the NHS England (NHSE)/National Institution for Health Research programme of Integrated Academic Training and offers candidates a comprehensive experience of clinical academic medicine working alongside internationally renowned clinicians and researchers.
The following posts are available:
One post in Neurology - Theme: Dementia
One post in Neurology - Theme: Mental Health
Please note: This is a multi-specialty vacancy; an appointment may not be made in this specialty.
There will be:
- 1 ACF post in either Neurology or General Psychiatry – Mental Health
- 1 ACF post in either Neurology or Clinical Radiology - Dementia
Please read through all the relevant information available on the NHS England North East and Yorkshire ACF Webpage and associated links before beginning your application (link available through Oriel).
Applications open at 10am on 6th October 2023 and the closing date is 4pm on 1st November 2023. You will not be able to submit your application after this time. Please ensure that you have completed all the relevant sections of the application forms as missing information will deem your application incomplete and it will not be considered.
Academic Clinical Fellowships (ACFs) are 3 year fixed-term national training posts. They attract an NTN(A) and trainees undertake 75 % clinical and 25% academic training over the term of the post. They are employed by the NHS Trust and have an honorary contract with the University at whose Medical School their academic research is supported.
ACF trainees also undertake a Research Training Programme provided by the University for which funding is provided by NIHR. They also are eligible for a £1,000 bursary per year to support research training activity (e.g. to attend academic conferences).
The Clinical Academic Programme at Sheffield has recently introduced a competitive ACF pump-priming award. Trainees can apply for up to £2000 for initial costs for work aimed at achieving a research fellowship.
ACF trainees would also normally complete and submit an external funding application for a research fellowship to enable them to complete a higher degree (PhD or research MD) following the completion of their ACF fixed-term post, which would be completed as Out-of-Programme-Research (OOPR).
All Academic Clinical Fellowships are run-through posts, regardless of specialty, with the exception of ‘Medical Education’ ACFs. A trainee entering ACF in a specialty during a Core Training period would therefore be guaranteed continued training to CCT in the eventual specialty, as long as they progress satisfactorily through both their academic and clinical training. Run-through status is withdrawn if ACFs do not complete the academic component.
We advise all applicants to read through all the relevant information available on the NHS England North East and Yorkshire Neurology ACF Webpage and associated links before beginning your application through Oriel.
Including
- The Job Description
- The Person Specification
- The Timeline
- Interview Structure and location
The qualifications and professional registration requirements plus other eligibility criteria can be found in the person specification. The person specification for this specialty is available from the Specialty Training website.
Please upload all required evidence of competences to your online application form when completing the application form online. For those experiencing difficulties when uploading evidence, please ensure you email the evidence to the following email address by the application deadline: academicrec.yh@hee.nhs.uk with “your name” and “competencies” in the title of the email.
Please note: ST3-level applicants - Only trainees who hold a Deanery Reference Number in the penultimate year of Internal Medical Training (CT2) or ACCS acute medicine (CT3) are eligible to apply. Trainees who have either: completed Core Medical Training, IMT training or ACCS-AM, are in the final year of IMT or ACCS-AM, or have alternative experience outside of UK training, are not eligible to apply.
Trainees currently in the penultimate year of their core programme who are successful in gaining an ST3-level ACF programme will start their first year by completing IMY3. Assuming internal medicine stage 1 is completed successfully, they will then run-through into their higher specialty at ST4-level. There is no requirement for the trainees in this category to clinically benchmark as they will be carrying on with completing their IMT programme.
The Postgraduate Dean confirms that this placement and / or programme has the required educational and Dean’s approval.
Applications are equally open to those who may, either from the outset or subsequently, wish to train less than full time or job share.
Please note that there is a strict application policy that applications cannot be accepted after the deadline.
Pay scales
All trainees should be paid monthly at the rates set out in the national terms and conditions of service for hospital medical and dental staff and doctors in public health medicine and the community health service (England and Wales), “the TCS”, as amended from time to time. The pay scales are reviewed annually. Part-time posts will be paid pro-rata.
Current rates of pay for junior doctors may be viewed on the NHS Employers website
Enquiries
Further information regarding NHS England North East and Yorkshire ACF vacancies is available from the NHSE North East and Yorkshire Recruitment webpages
For any queries that cannot be answered by the methods above please contact; academicrec.yh@hee.nhs.uk with “your name” and the “Question area” in the title of the email.
For further national information please visit the Specialty Training Website
Further sources of information
- National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
- Yorkshire and the Humber Academic Training webpages
- University of Sheffield
Details of the recruitment process are provided below.