What happens to clinical training fellows? A retrospective study of the 20 years outcome of a Medical Research Council UK cohort

OBJECTIVES: The Clinical Research Training Fellowship (CRTF) allows up to 3 years support for clinically qualified candidates to undertake specialised or further research training in biomedical sciences. CRTFs are perceived as a crucial step in the career development and progression of Clinical Academics but there are no published data to support this notion. We conducted an electronic survey of a large cohort of Medical Research Council (MRC) CRTFs followed for up to 20 years. DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of CRTF outcome data held with the MRC, UK. PARTICIPANTS: Two cohorts comprising 40 CRFTs awarded by the MRC in the year 1991 and 299 MRC CRTFs who were awarded a fellowship between 1993 and 2003. RESULTS: The MRC CRTF scheme built capacity in clinical academia across the UK with 40% of CRTFs progressing to a University professorship. Importantly, the CRTF scheme is also providing NHS consultants who remain research active. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first analysis of outcome of CRTFs in the UK and provides robust evidence of the importance of this capacity building mode of funding to underpin research excellence at the University–NHS interface.