Academic Clinical Lecturer in Ophthalmology or Psychiatry
Division/School – Bristol Medical School
Contract type – Annually Renewable
Working pattern – Full time
Salary We will mirror the successful applicants NHS pay and progression including transitional pay arrangements.
Closing date for applications 12-Jan-2020

The University of Bristol wishes to make an appointment to the successful Clinical Academic Training, Academic Clinical Lecturer (ACL) programme in Ophthalmology or Old Age Psychiatry commencing between December 2019 and March 2020. This is a competition NIHR Clinical Lecturer post in theme of Older People and Complex Health Needs.

Visual impairment is prevalent in the older population due to age-related eye diseases, such as cataract, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and glaucoma. The intersection between visual impairment with other co-morbidities in older people, e.g. dementia and mental health, is less well-studied, but impacts on several aspects of healthcare, including quality of life, cognitive function, and even mortality. Consequently, interventions to alleviate vision loss have far-reaching impacts on the older population.

The programme will provide up to four years post-doctoral training or until CCT is obtained (allowing for a 6 month post CCT grace period) for the postdoctoral development of an ophthalmologist-in-training or psychiatrist-in-training who has recently completed a higher degree (i.e. PhD, MD), providing salary support to allow the clinician to set aside time to develop academic skills and, for example, compete for an externally funded postdoctoral training fellowship, and contribute toward clinical training and achievement of CCT in Ophthalmology or Old Age Psychiatry.

The ACL has flexibility to join established researchers working in three areas, depending on their interests in theme of Older People and Complex Health Needs:

1. NIHR Cataract Research Programme (£2million) and National Cataract Audit: methodology developed in Bristol by this programme was adopted by the National Audit of Cataract Surgery and HQIP.
2. UK Biobank Eye and Vision consortium: ~68 500 participants had detailed ophthalmic assessments with data on lifestyle, cognitive measures, physical and mental health also available.
3. Bristol hosts the ARCADIA group (Alliance for Research into Complex And chronic Disorders of Ageing): a multi-disciplinary translational research collaboration of clinical academics and preclinical scientists in basic science, ophthalmology, dementia, neurology, nephrology, urology, psychiatry, psychology, population health, imaging, and ethics. ARCADIA has access to multiple national and international Dementia cohorts as well as the Dementia Brain Bank and Brains for Dementia Research study.

The ACL will benefit from the interdisciplinarity of these established research groups to investigate the multiple impacts of vision loss, surgical interventions in ophthalmology and visual rehabilitation in the older population.

We welcome applications from all members of our community and are particularly encouraging those from diverse groups, such as members of the LGBT+ and BAME communities, to join us.

To apply, please click HERE.

Genomic technologies are transforming healthcare and our flexible programme will ensure you are at the forefront of this rapidly evolving field.

Our leading experts will provide you with a comprehensive perspective on genomics applied to clinical practice and medical research, with a particular emphasis on genomic testing in the UK NHS.

Introducing your course