It’s a model employed by other Trusts across the UK. Bring on board junior level doctors who are looking for experience before they specialise, providing them with both clinical and research responsibilities which enables hospitals to increase research efforts.
Professor Adrian Gardner, Consultant Spine Surgeon and Research and Development Director at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital (ROH), explains: “The ROH is focused heavily on research – we have a dedicated team supporting research and clinical trials, alongside a dedicated laboratory on site. Research brings huge benefits to patients - hospitals that conduct more research tend to have better outcomes – but it is time intensive and so we need support for the work that underpins our research, supporting with recruitment, data collection and reporting. Our Research Fellows help with this, while receiving research experience, mentoring, and clinical skills training, all of which adds to their CV for their future.”
The ROH has been employing Research Fellows for four years. The Fellows work in addition to a 22-strong research team at the Trust, exploring new approaches and therapies in orthopaedics, from advanced therapies for the regeneration of diseased bone tissue to pharmaceutical treatments to reduce the need for invasive surgery. The fellows have contributed to the increase in research outputs from the ROH of 50% between 2022 and 2024 iCite | Results | NIH Office of Portfolio Analysis
Dr Mohamed Shazahan is one of the Research Fellows currently working at ROH: “Other roles at this level are primarily clinical-focused or research only – this role gives the opportunity to develop both skillsets. To have protected time for research, and lots of support and mentoring, is hugely beneficial and really rare.”
Mohamed is supporting a spinal research study into the pathology causing low back pain, looking at the patient population at ROH to understand more about these patients and what’s actually causing their back pain.
Dr Rizwana Rajmohamed, another Research Fellow at ROH, explains “Really it’s a golden egg, for someone as a junior level doctor.” She adds: “You’re given protected time to stay in research while carrying out clinical care, and during your research days you catch up with your supervisor. The nature of the role having time carved out especially for research and dedicated time with your supervisor means you have access to mentorship regularly, whether that’s from a clinical and research perspective or simply wellbeing and pastoral care.”
Dr Rajmohamed is currently working on a project assessing mental health for young patients with scoliosis. “It’s a tough situation for these patients. There’s already such a struggle being a young person going through puberty and then you factor in managing a scoliosis diagnosis. Whether it’s more difficult to take part in sport or handling the physical challenges of scoliosis. We’re specifically looking at the mental health aspects and how we can better support these patients.”
“We are looking at information that is being currently collected as part of the national BASIS study, which is assessing the duration of back brace wear—full-time versus nighttime—for treating young people with scoliosis. We’re then comparing the mental health information from the BASIS study to similar mental health data on paediatric patients with other chronic conditions, such as diabetes, for us to make recommendations on supporting scoliosis patients.”
