The KMMS IAT Programme

The KMMS National Institute of Health Research (NIHR)-funded Integrated Academic Training programme allows medical trainees to undertake academic and clinical training concurrently.  

How Academic Clinical Fellowships work 

Academic Clinical Fellows (ACFs) are trainees in the early stages of their specialty training with outstanding potential for a career in academic medicine.  

Fellowships last for a maximum of three years. ACFs spend 75% of their time in specialty clinical training and 25% undertaking research and/or education training. 

A rich and varied research environment

The Kent and Medway Medical School is a collaboration between the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University.

All trainees will benefit from the IAT Kent partnership’s rich academic training infrastructure, building on the partner Universities’ high-quality clinical research strengths as well as strong ongoing collaborative partnerships with Kings College London (KCL) and NHS Trusts across Kent and Medway. 

Delivering our research Training Programme in partnership with KCL

The core of the Research Training Programme will be provided in partnership with the well-established KCL’s Clinical Academic Training Office.   KCL currently has 48 ACFs registered. 96 ACFs at KCL have been awarded the certificate to date with 95% awarded a distinction (mark>70%) in the last two years.

ACFs will be able to gain a Post Graduate  Certificate (PGCert) in Applied Research Methods, with Clinical Lecturers encouraged to join modules to supplement their education and training. This bespoke PGCert builds trainees’ depth of knowledge, technical and transferable skills in translational research and evidence-based healthcare. 

Integration into the Kent academic training environment

To ensure that trainees are embedded in their local Kent and Medway training environment, a local portfolio of academic events and training will be provided at KMMS, University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University.

This includes access to:

• the KMMS-based systematic review training and bespoke patient and public involvement (PPI)  training delivered by our PPI Lead
• The University of Kent  Researcher Development Programme  which runs around 120 training courses a year
• The Canterbury Christ Church University training and development portal  (StaffLearn)

Both Universities’ programmes have been designed to equip Postgraduate Researchers and Early Career Researchers with a comprehensive range of academic and transferable skills and the University of Kent has been a signatory of the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers since June 2020. 

Delivering an inclusive and diverse research culture 

The IAT partnership strongly supports equity, diversity and inclusion.   

At the heart of our IAT partnership is an ambition to deliver training and research activities that reflect the diversity of our staff, fellows and the patients they will serve in our community. 

One of our key research priorities is to conduct high-impact research among and with populations that suffer disproportionately adverse health and life outcomes, and for whom there are unique challenges to the provision of integrated and comprehensive health care due to their geographic location. 

We ensure that all individuals who lead, or wish to lead, research teams have undertaken relevant Equity, Diversity and Inclusion training.

We support transparency, fairness, accountability by encouraging all researchers to follow CRediT taxonomy when articles are deposited in the University of Kent institutional repository, ensuring that authors’ roles and responsibilities are laid down explicitly.  

Trainees will have access to existing University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, Women’s, Disability and LGBTQ+ networks. Both institutional partners have joined and are committed to the principles of the Athena SWAN charter: Kent achieving a Silver Award in 2021 and Canterbury Christ Church, a Bronze Award.  

Our Clinical Training Programme to date

We currently have 3 ACFs in post:

Academic Clinical Fellowship in Renal Medicine 

Our ACF works with The Kent Kidney Care team, which provides a regional renal service across 3 acute hospital trusts: East Kent Hospitals University Foundation Trust (EKHUFT), Medway Hospital Foundation Trust (MFT) and Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Hospital Trust (MTW). The Renal in-patient ward, main Outpatient Dialysis Unit and Acute Dialysis service is located at Kent & Canterbury Hospital with a Hub and Spoke model out-reaching to 5 satellite renal dialysis units and provides clinics in Royal Victoria Hospital, Folkestone.  Their research is supervised by Professor Chris Farmer, focusing on management of multiple long-term conditions

Academic Clinical Fellowship in General Adult Psychiatry 

The clinical component of the programme is based at the Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT), which provides a wide range of adult mental health and learning disability services to our local population of 1.8 million people in Kent and Medway, as well as specialist services for adults in Sussex and Surrey.

Our ACF is supported through a network of colleges, clinical and educational supervisors, local faculty groups and the inspection mechanisms and will be invited to attend the weekly CPD on Thursdays, which includes educational lectures, NICE guidelines updates, Journal Club, mandatory training, and workshops. Their research is supervised by Professor Sukhwinder Shergill, focusing on sleep and circadian rhythms.

Academic Clinical Fellowship in Intensive Care Medicine 

The clinical component of the programme is based at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, which provides a full range of general hospital services, and some areas of specialist complex care to around 760,000 people living in the south of West Kent and the north of East Sussex. Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust has 2 acute hospital sites, both with Intensive Care Units. Higher Specialty training is split between both sites. Their research is with Professors Jim Ang and Sukhwinder Shergill, based in the University of Kent’s School of Computing, and focuses on how digital health technologies can improve outcomes in ICU and post-ICU settings.

We are also in the process of recruiting to 4 further ACF positions, for an Autumn 2025 start, which are in Surgery, Urology, Cardiology and Public Health.

KMMS is looking forward to entering the next NIHR IAT Competition in Spring 2025, bidding to win further funding to support ACF positions in 2026 and 2027.

Links with NIHR and other funder infrastructure

ACFs will also benefit from support across existing NIHR and other research infrastructure.

The NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Kent Surrey Sussex (NIHR ARC KSS)

The NIHR ARC KSS is national lead among 15 ARCs for social care research and delivers a strategic research programme focussing on out of hospital care and bridging the interface between secondary, community care and social care, with an overarching aim of increasing local homegrown research.

The eight ARC KSS themes were designed to be responsive to local and regional population needs and align with 5 of the 7 IAT themes. Through ARC KSS, trainees will be exposed to current and new research in social care contexts, be offered opportunities to network with >30 industry partners and many third sector collaborators including Bridging Change, Carer’s First and Fourth Wall Folkestone.

The Kent, Surrey Sussex Academic Health Science Network (KSS AHSN)

This network provides resources and support for implementation of innovation and knowledge into the NHS and will provide opportunities for IAT trainees to link and engage with Integrated Care Systems to help identify and corroborate the need for research and possibilities to exchange ideas and innovations with a range of stakeholders including industry links.

The NIHR Kent Surrey Sussex Clinical Research Network (KSS CRN)

This network aims to increase locally homegrown research studies and participation to benefit local populations. KSS CRN will provide support and expertise to IAT trainees in practical study design for delivery, identification of study sites, funding and local staff support for delivery where studies are NIHR portfolio adopted.

NHS Research and Development Teams

Research and Development teams across the five Kent and Medway NHS Trusts will provide expertise for research design and support.

The East Kent Clinical Trials Unit (EK CTU): East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust will provide support for trial design and protocol development, trial management, statistical advice and analysis, economic evaluation and data management (including randomisation and database development), along with advice on funding sources and the preparation of grant applications related to clinical trials.

 

Contact us

IAT Lead	Professor Sukhi Shergill
IAT Co-Lead (Research Training)   IAT Co-lead (Career Progression)	Professor Lisa Dikomitis   Professor Gurprit Lall
Administrative & Projects Officer General queries about IAT programme	CATO@kmms.ac.uk