Abstract
Within the professions of radiation therapy and medical imaging, clinician led research activity is becoming more prevalent. However, more is needed. A key component of continuing to develop professional groups who are both research active and producing high quality clinical research, is research mentoring. The authors of this paper share a common interest in enhancing research capacity through research mentoring within the health workforce, and came together to run a workshop on this issue at the 11th Annual Scientific Meeting of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy (ASMMIRT 2016) conference in Brisbane. Theory, clinical insights and issues regarding research mentoring were raised in the workshop as were the benefits of having dedicated research positions embedded within the health workforce to help provide support and build capacity. Key elements from this workshop are shared within this article, with the objective to encourage clinicians and clinical researchers to invest the time and effort into seeking and providing good quality research mentoring. A single service example is used to demonstrate how this can lead to enhanced research engagement and productivity.
Highlights
To ensure clinical services continue to meet the growing and ever changing needs of modern healthcare, greater importance is being placed on patient-focused research that is driven by the clinical workforce.[1,2,3,4]
Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian Society of Medical Imaging and Radiation Therapy and New Zealand Institute of Medical Radiation Technology
Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of skills and encouraging more to take on mentoring roles to disseminating their knowledge and experience to others, supporting a steady positive growth in research outputs (Fig. 1)
Summary
To ensure clinical services continue to meet the growing and ever changing needs of modern healthcare, greater importance is being placed on patient-focused research that is driven by the clinical workforce.[1,2,3,4] Across allied health professional groups, including medical radiation science professionals there is strong support for this initiative. When developing a new ability, such as research, it is helpful to have an experienced person give advice, support and mentorship.[6,7] Their involvement can speed up the learning process, identify more efficient ways of doing things and give insight into what abilities are needed and at what level. Several of his journal articles will be submitted in a thesis (PhD by published works) He benefits from the international research team as it helps him identify his learning needs and achieve research outputs. Jenny was encouraged to engage in key facilitation roles in other projects, which fitted well with her clinical role expectations She achieved success, and has maintained research outputs of 1–2 publications per annum over the past 10 years. When strong relationships are formed, an ongoing mentorship arrangement can become highly valued by both parties
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