Diving into clinical academia: what’s holding you back?

This blog is for all those out there who feel like they don’t have their ‘foot in the door’ of clinical academia, or who are feeling the very well-known ‘imposter syndrome’ when they think about getting more involved in research.

Good news – there’s no reason why you can’t get involved in research later in your training career. From my own experience, I had not undertaken an intercalated degree nor any research whilst at university (isn’t the medical degree enough?!), and had never been in an academic training post – but, I was really interested in clinical research and what it involved, and actively sought out opportunities with my colleagues by expressing a keen interest. With the help of supportive and encouraging mentors and consultants, I was able to go out of the haematology training programme to do a PhD in April 2019, and I haven’t looked back since.

I have always believed that the more you put into any aspect of your life, the more you will get out of it, and this most definitely includes in your career. No-one can deny that those first steps into clinical academia can be daunting; it is a very steep learning curve, a whole new language and way of working – but there are plenty of us around who will happily talk about the highs and lows of our career journey so far and share in all your sentiments! I’ve had the chance to meet so many different people from across the country through the HaemSTAR network, made good friends and had so many uplifting conversations about our shared experiences.

So, if you are interested and keen in being involved in clinical research, at whatever capacity that may be, don’t be put off – don’t compare yourself to what others may have done - and do grab every opportunity that comes your way. We all have our individual strengths to bring to the table, and research really can be for everyone.