Natalia Ochodzka, MSci Biomedical Sciences Graduate


Natalia held a summer internship between May and June of 2024 with Dr Matt Cooper. Natalia worked on a systematic review looking to identify digital toolkits used in the self-management of long-term conditions within the home and reflects on her internship here:  

Hi! I am Natalia, a recent graduate of MSci Biomedical Sciences with a Professional Placement Year programme at Newcastle University. I was also a research assistant at the School of Pharmacy for six weeks in May and June this year. My project was a scoping review focused on home-based interventions that support mental and physical health self-management in patients with multiple long-term conditions. I was based at the Newcastle Patient Safety Research Collaboration office and spent 60 hours surrounded by a wide range of researchers – from undergraduate interns, through research assistants and doctoral candidates to associates.

The nature of a literature review is very methodological; you need to follow certain steps to diligently get through thousands of publications to narrow your search to the most relevant reports, which then combined will (hopefully) suggest an answer to your research question, or at least provide you with the most relevant information on the search topic. Although it seems like an individual job, the part of the internship I enjoyed the most was interacting with my team! Daily discussions on topics related (and not so much) to our research questions made me realise that there is no one right way to do things right and that I should never limit myself to thinking in the regular, three-dimensional way. I learned distinctive styles of working, studying, and teaching, and all of it combined made me a better researcher. I saw the value and consequences of diligent work ethics, networking, and collaborating with people from outside of your study/ work circle. I am certain that this experience alongside the support received at PSRC will empower my future in clinical research, focused on physical activity and experimental medicine.

Eleanor Allen MSc Forensic Psychology Graduate

Eleanor held a summer internship between May and June of 2024 with Dr Matt Cooper. Eleanor worked on a project evaluating a hospital to home discharge service with a local charity. Eleanor reflects on her internship:

My research internship spanned six weeks and primarily involved the design and delivery of a service evaluation. This project was commissioned by a local charity and focused on hospital-to-home transitions in care. Coming from a forensic psychology background, the project area was relatively unfamiliar to me. Nevertheless, the skills required were transferable, allowing me to utilise my previous experiences as a volunteer researcher, in court, and from my research methods training. While I had some prior experience with qualitative data collection, this was the most immersed and involved I had been with a project. I was responsible for coordinating participants, data management and conducting one-to-one qualitative interviews with the charity staff members. Throughout the data collection process, we reflexively updated the interview schedule, meaning that every interview influenced future iterations of the questions. This led to effective and meaningful data collection and allowed me to incorporate my insights from the interviews. I presented my initial reflections and findings at the School of Pharmacy conference. The event gave me the opportunity to discuss the project with others from a broad range of academic disciplines, and gain insight into the research community at the school. I was particularly interested in the language used by charity staff members, especially relating this to self-identification as a barrier for carers seeking help. Often, staff held dual roles as carers and employees, and their language reflected how normalised their caring roles were. The conference was an excellent opportunity to meet other researchers and learn about ongoing projects within the school.

Overall, this internship was extremely valuable. Conducting research in an applied context was highly rewarding, and despite my background in forensics, I was able to apply my existing skills to the role. My experience and insights were valued by the research team, and I felt able to contribute meaningfully to the project. I also developed novel skills, such as communicating with a wide range of people, including participants, external partners, and academics. My qualitative interviewing and data management skills were also strengthened through the project. I am happy to say that I have now started as an assistant psychologist in an NHS Trust conducting research! I spoke about my experience with qualitative interviewing and recruitment in my application. Above anything else they seemed to like how I spoke about rapport building and connecting with people. I’m super grateful for the experience because it really built my confidence with that. Thank you Matt!

Arisha Ahmed MSc Pharmacy Graduate

Arisha held a summer internship between June and August 2024, supervised by Dr Matt Cooper. Arisha worked on a systematic review looking to identify digital toolkits used in the self-management of long-term conditions within the home and reflects on her internship here:

This summer I undertook a research internship with the School of Pharmacy at Newcastle University with Dr. Matthew Cooper as my supervisor. This project has allowed me to develop skills valuable in both research and my own professional development. My role within the team included, developing a systematic search strategy, navigating research databases (e.g. Medline, Embase, PsychINFO and CINAHL), study selection, evaluation of research quality in addition to completing a data extraction. Whilst the project was rewarding, we faced a few setbacks that taught us important lessons about the research process. For example, the screening process and data extraction took longer than initially anticipated which impacted the long-term plan of the project. These challenges taught us the importance of setting realistic deadlines and maintaining flexibility within project planning. The setbacks allowed me to truly understand the complexity of the research process as well as the importance of delegating tasks to each team member effectively to ensure a robust and timely piece of research was produced.

The findings from this research will continue to contribute to ongoing research activities within the School of Pharmacy at Newcastle University. Outcomes from this project aim to advise healthcare providers with invaluable knowledge as well as inform advancements in digital medicine. The project team are particularly interested in how to inform and guide Artificial intelligence (AI) systems to create AI driven health solutions. These innovations have the potential to significantly improve patient care and enhance clinical decision-making in the future.

As a healthcare professional, this internship has allowed me to critically analyse studies, assessing their rigor, relevance and impact to provide evidence-based care to my patients. It has also enhanced my appreciation for the vast array of research available to us in medicine. I am excited to further explore how medical policy, and advancements can be shaped by research, and I hope to pursue a career in research alongside my role in the NHS, focusing on integrating innovative digital solutions to patient care.

NIHR Newcastle PSRC members, Dr Matthew Cooper, Dr Dan Okeowo, Prof Hamde Nazar, Prof Annette Hand, Lauren Lawson, Long Phan Thanh, Domna Salonen, Fayha Yahya, Pippa Wood

The PSRC PhD SafetyNet Networking Event was held on the 4th March 2024 in Leeds, bringing together students and supervisors from across the 6 PSRCs in England. It was a fabulous day with an opportunity to learn from one another and grow collaborations in a supportive, nourishing environment.

Before the event, I was excited to meet fellow PhD students and learn more about the work that other PSRCs are doing. However, like other new PhD students that I had spoken to, I didn’t really know what to expect or what I would gain from the event. Quite adventurously, after discussion with my supervisors, I decided to take the leap, and submit an abstract for a protocol that I had just written up for developing logic models on step-down virtual wards. Imposter syndrome kicks in, “I am only a few months into a PhD- what have I got to talk about?” On the other hand, I knew that delivering presentations and the thought of public speaking were my worst nightmare. That said, I also knew that I needed to fight my fears and start somewhere!

When the email came back saying my abstract was accepted – an inner shriek of excitement, surprise and panic kicked in! “Where do I start?” Amidst the feeling of anxiety and perceived inexperience, I procrastinated and delayed even thinking about the presentation. With some reassurance and moral encouragement from peers and supervisors, I knew that this was the ideal opportunity to share my plans for the PhD. The event was a supportive environment of like-minded people, many of whom were likely to be on, or had been through, the same journey making this a perfect forum for feedback, sharing knowledge and developing key skills. It was great knowing that many other students were presenting their work (or planned work) at the event via a poster or oral presentation.

Everyone is at a different stage of their journey, but it was great to see how people support each other and in research this should not be under-estimated. Personally, listening to more advanced PhD students gave me the inspiration to see the future and that ‘I can do this!’. Similarly, talking to newer PhD students gave me the confidence to see how far I had come in my experience to date and that in fact, I may have some bits of wisdom to share which may help others.

Great Opportunities

In my opinion, I found that the PhD SafetyNet event opened the door to shared learning practices, a community of peer support in patient safety research and great opportunities, such as: 

Prior to starting my PhD, I was jokingly dubbed by my fellow research interns as ‘the networking queen’, however I never truly thought about why networking was so important. Reflecting on my journey so far, I would not have started my PhD without networking and speaking to people who were happy to share their experiences. I have come to realise that often these little informal chats and introductions can lead to great connections, bringing wisdom and expertise further down the line. 

Whilst some experts suggest that networking is a start to building connections for your long-term career1, it is vitally important to recognise that networking is a mutual ground for positive exchange of knowledge and support. Conferences and events such as these are vital in enabling trainees to develop and apply competency in key skills such as presentations, communication, dissemination of their work and equally networking.2 We are fortunate within the NIHR PSRCs to have these networks of peer support and building communities of practice together in patient safety. The saying goes ‘it is a small world’ but on reflection, in the research world you can’t really work in isolation. It is often the work of great teams and collaborations that is needed to make an impact.

These discussion workshops were valuable and allowed people to connect and share experiences. I found the ones I attended useful, and I chose the sessions that were relevant to me. In particular, I was keen to attend the session on ‘Navigating the first 6 months of your PhD’ as it was unlikely that I would get this experience elsewhere, other than rich discussions with the people who have just experienced it or experiencing it currently. This was potentially the start of building great academic networks, peer support and collaborations in patient safety moving forward. I learnt helpful tips from the other students, namely technical tips and basic key skills that are essential. For example, some discussions revolved around how to organise your literature, how to make notes, and several types of software that may be useful. Other workshops explored various aspects of research such as the importance of Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE), Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), co-design in research, writing effectively and Impact and Dissemination.

In summary, events like the PhD SafetyNet Event provide a fantastic opportunity for PhD students and their supervisors to share work, learn from each other or establish connections. I look forward to attending more of these events throughout my PhD and beyond.

Acknowledgements and thanks go to the Yorkshire and Humber PSRC for hosting the event this year.

References

14th March 2024 was the Academic Career Development (ACD) Forum in London, for all the ACD leads and the theme for the day was ‘research culture’. Representing the Newcastle PSRC, we headed down. It was our first such day. We’d put our training community’s video forward for sharing as a message from our community. And we were ready to learn all things great and mighty – directly from the NIHR Academy!

The usual train cancellations aside, we arrived relatively organised and alert. We found ourselves positioned at different tables, which was good as we got to create new links. We heard about some of the newer Academy schemes, were given feedback from the Postdoctoral event and listened to presentations on how we can develop and nurture a diverse research culture. We shared our community’s video and received some great feedback, which we will relay to our fellows (they did all the hard work on this) (Newcastle PSRC Academic Career Development Community Video). We had some lunch, swopped notes with colleagues old and newand made plans on how we can all be more collaborative. And then it was time to head home.

Our main learning from the day didn’t really hit us until on the train home, when we had a good 3 hours to unpack what we had heard, and to reflect on what it all meant for our Newcastle PSRC, and our wider Newcastle Health Innovation Partners’ Academy. And the more we reflected, the more we realised the substantial change that is in the horizon.

The times are changing. The next 5-10 years will see the stepping down of a whole generation of “training people”. Those of us who have lived and breathed training, career development and capacity building for the past 15-20+ years. Those who coined the term training lead, who came up with the idea of NIHR Academy, and who set up how we do things now. Those of us who have helped lead  the implementation across regions.

At the same time, the hugely positive shift – from historical hierarchies to much more multidimensional points of differences and richness of perspectives – is now, fortunately, looking inevitable. Not the least made so by the healthy refusal of the next generations of leaders to bow to such hierarchies but, instead, actively challenge us all to enact a more open, broad culture – for everyone.

But what does all this mean? I think it means: the future for the future leaders is now. If we have done our job of the past 15 years well, then the future is bright.