Please note: applications for 2024 are now closed. The next round of internships projects will be launched in the Spring of 2025. Examples of the types of projects that are run across the consortium can be viewed here
Aims of the SPCR Internship scheme:
About the QMUL scheme:
Types of internships - example of 2024 application form.
Access the Microsoft form here to view questions which will be similar in 2025.
Timeline
Application window opened in 2024 on Monday 26th February
Application deadline closed Thursday 28th March 2024
Successful applicants notified of outcome Tuesday 7th May 2024
Placements start from Monday 3rd June - depending on project
The timelines will be broadly similar in 2025.
Research question: Can Assistive Technology (AT) improve health, wellbeing and quality of life of people with lung-problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)?
Name of supervisors: Dr Ratna Sohanpal and Dr Nina Fudge
Timing for internship: 4 weeks within June-July 2023 (dependent on study progress)
Department: Centre for Primary Care and Public Health, Queen Mary University of London
Title: Supporting delivery of a study aiming to find out whether assistive technology (AT) can improve health, wellbeing and quality of life of people with lung-problems such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and how getting and using AT can help them to live more independently.
Summary:
Assistive technology (AT) are devices developed for people with disability or for those with difficulty in performing everyday routine activities. AT is wide-ranging from alarms to home adaptations like stair lifts and includes digital technology. The internship project will involve working with a multidisciplinary team including public contributors to support delivery of one to two workstreams (based on study progress) that are part of a bigger study. Workstream 1 has two parts. The two workstreams are:
(1a) To conduct a systematic review of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in studies of AT among people with COPD and multimorbidity with use of AT linked to outcomes specific to AT to facilitate independent living.
(1b) To conduct a qualitative evidence synthesis in studies of AT among people with COPD and multimorbidity and their carers to understand service provision and use of AT.
(2) To conduct a qualitative in-depth interview study to gain insights into the AT service provision, AT use and its impact among people with COPD and multimorbidity, their carers, health and social care professionals and other AT stakeholders on what is working well, what are the challenges and how service provision might be improved.
Learning objectives:
Understanding the study topic within the wider context of ageing population and more people living with long term conditions.
Understanding the purpose of proposed methods (Systematic Review, Qualitative . study) in the study
Understanding the assistive technology pathway in health and social care.
Learning research skills by being involved in some of the steps used to carry out the proposed methods (e.g. study search, selection, data extraction, data analysis, discussion of findings, organise mock interviews, carry out mock interviews with public advisory group members)
Learning communication skills and collaborative way of working by working in a multidisciplinary team including public (patient/carer) advisory group members to deliver the study
Research question: How can you address health inequalities through quality improvement in primary care?
Name and supervisor: Dr John Ford
Timing of internship: 4 weeks within timeframe June - September 2023
Department: Centre for Primary Care
Title: Addressing health inequalities through Quality Improvement in primary care
This internship will be supervised by Dr John Ford, a Senior Clinical Lecturer in Health Equity and Consultant in Public Health at NHS England. During the placement, the student will gain insights into public health, health inequalities, policy development and quality improvement. The exact project will be developed based on the student’s needs and aspirations to ensure a mix of research and policy experience. It will focus on a specific project which links with an existing grant. However, we envisage the project focusing on equity-focused quality improvement in primary care. We will also create opportunities to join NHS England meetings to gain exposure to the interaction between policy and research.
The NHS undertakes thousands of Quality Improvement (QI) project each year, but rarely considers the impact of these projects on health inequalities. It is likely that some QI projects are good at addressing health inequalities, whereas other inadvertently increase inequalities. At QMUL we have been award £1.3million to examine the impact of QI on health inequalities over five years (see here for more details). This grant will focus on secondary care, however more work is needed in primary care.
The aim of the project is to examine the extent to which existing primary care quality improvement frameworks consider health inequalities. The student will undertake a search of existing quality improvement frameworks which are used in primary care, then a document analysis to explore the extent to which these consider health inequalities. The document analysis will involve using NVivo to code key sections of text and synthesising the results. The output will be a conference presentation and possible journal article publication.