Workforce, training and education
Yorkshire and Humber

ACF in Special Care Dentistry (Sheffield)

The University of Sheffield, in partnership with the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Charles Clifford Dental Hospital and the Department of Community and Special Care Dentistry) and Health Education Yorkshire and the Humber (Sheffield locality) wish to offer an Academic Clinical Fellowship in Special Care Dentistry

Applications are now invited for an Academic Clinical Fellowship in Special Care Dentistry (ACF) ST1 level in Sheffield from August 2022.

The following posts are available: One post in Special Care Dentistry (ACF) ST1 level

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 (in this case Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) and have an honorary contract with the University of Sheffield. ACF trainees undergo training in the generic skills required for a clinical academic: scientific methods, statistics, research governance, critical appraisal of research publication, grant writing etc through postgraduate taught modules provided by the University of Sheffield and for which some funding is provided by NIHR.  Academic Clinical Fellows may join with the well-established Sheffield medical ACF programme within the Graduate School of the Faculty of Medicine Dentistry and Health:

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/faculty/medicine-dentistry-health/graduateschool/clinical-academic/acf

Trainees do not necessarily complete the whole Masters Programme in Research Methods; they can choose the modules most relevant to them, and also choose from the continuing development programme. The major part of the academic placement will be the preparation of scientific research proposal for a PhD project, funding for which will be sought from an external body such as the NIHR, MRC or the Wellcome Trust. Generally the preparation of the proposal is based on preliminary experimental data gathered while on the research placement. Trainees are also eligible for a £1,000 bursary per year to support research training activity (e.g. to attend academic conferences).

ACF trainees are expected to complete and submit an external funding application for a research fellowship to enable them to complete a higher degree (PhD) 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.  A trainee entering an ACF post would therefore be guaranteed continued training to CCST in Special Care Dentistry, as long as they progress satisfactorily (in both clinical and academic domains) through their training.

Please note:  All applicants who do not already hold a National Training Number (NTN) or Deanery Reference Number (DRN) in the GMC specialty to which they are applying for will be required to undertake the national clinical recruitment process and attend an assessment/interview for that GMC specialty as appropriate.

The full Job Description for this post is available to download from the right of this page.

NIHR have produced some Frequently Asked Questions for applicants. You are advised to read this document in full before submitting your application.

Further sources of information

Details of the recruitment process are provided below.

 

Recruitment Timeline

The recruitment process for this Academic Clinical Fellow post will follow the timeline below:*

Activity

Dates

Applications Open

10:00 on 22nd October 2021

Applications Close

16:00 on 19th November 2021

Interview Window

3rd November 2021 to 14th January 2022

Initial Offers out

From 19th January 2022

Hold Deadline

26th January 2022

*Please note that all dates are indicative and subject to change.

Applications

Applications will only be accepted through the Oriel online application system.

For guidance on creating an account, registering and submitting your application using the system please refer to the Oriel Applicant User Guide which can be downloaded from the Oriel Resource Bank.

Application Deadline

The deadline for submitting applications is 16:00 on 19 November 2021 . After this time no applications will be accepted. There will be no exceptions to this deadline. You are advised to complete and submit your application ahead of the deadline to allow for any unforeseen problems.

Eligibility & Longlisting

Applicants for this post will be required to meet the relevant Clinical eligibility criteria for the appropriate specialty and level listed at:-

AND the Academic eligibility criteria listed at:

It is an applicant’s responsibility to demonstrate that they meet the eligibility criteria. All applications will be assessed against the eligibility criteria during longlisting. Any applications which do not meet the eligibility criteria will be longlisted out of the process and will not progress to the next stage.

For more information about eligibility please refer to the Applicant Handbookand the NIHR website.

Please note: Applicants who submit the competency form within the application window will only have 1 opportunity to resubmit incomplete or inaccurate competency documents. Applicants who fail to submit a competency document during the application window will only have 1 subsequent opportunity to submit the form. Please therefore ensure that you have thoroughly read the guidance and checked the document you are providing carefully before submitting.

Please note: By allowing applicants to progress to the interview stage, Health Education England working across Yorkshire and the Humber DOES NOT accept or confirm that applicants meet all eligibility requirements. This includes immigration status, evidence of achievement of core competencies or equivalent, and requisite length of time in training as per the national person specification. This list is not exhaustive, and is applicable to all eligibility criteria.

Applicants may still be withdrawn from the application process at any stage, including after the interviews have taken place, if the evidence pertaining to an eligibility criterion is found to be unsatisfactory by Health Education England working across Yorkshire and the Humber.

 

Shortlisting

Shortlisting will take place following the completion of longlisting. Where possible we aim to give applicants at least one week's notice to attend an interview. However, unforseen delays in shortlisting mean this is not always possible.

Interviews

Interview Dates and Venue

The interviews for this post will take place on a date to be confirmed Online via Microsoft Teams.

 

Documents Required at Interview

You will be required to send a copy of your passport prior to your interview.

These documents will be checked against a checklist and the photocopies will be retained on your recruitment file. If you are appointed to a training post, these documents will be transferred to your trainee file.

 

Interview Format

The interviews will consist of a single panel interview with both academic and clinical components. The interview panel will be made up of academic and clinical panel members.

Offers

All recruitment offices will be using Oriel to make offers to Academic Clinical Fellow training posts. Oriel can be accessed at https://www.oriel.nhs.uk/ 

Please refer to the Oriel Applicant User Guide which can be downloaded from the Oriel Resource Bank for further information about receiving and responding to offers.

Receiving and Responding to Offers

If you are offered a post you will have 48 hours from the time of your offer, including weekends and bank holidays, to decide whether to accept, reject or hold it. You must respond to the offer through the UK Offers System. No other form of response will be accepted.

IF YOU DO NOT RESPOND TO YOUR OFFER WITHIN 48 HOURS, THE OFFER WILL EXPIRE AND THE POST WILL BE OFFERED TO ANOTHER APPLICANT. YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE ANY FURTHER OFFERS.

Any offer made through this recruitment process is an offer of an allocation to a training programme; it is not an offer of employment. Offers of employment can only be by an employing organisation following completion of satisfactory pre-employment checks.

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