Clinical Workforce Research Articles

Technology-enhanced learning for healthcare professionals: an essential response to infectious disease pandemics.

In the past 10 years, the world has experienced wave after wave of serious infectious disease outbreaks, including Ebola, influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and most recently Zika.1 These infections cause considerable morbidity and mortality, and it is just a matter of time before there is another outbreak. The population affected by these pandemics is not only the general public but also healthcare professionals, including doctors. At best, there might be temporary incapacity to work among healthcare professionals and, at worst, considerable numbers of professionals can die, such as during the recent Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.2 The country’s clinical and public health workforce is still recovering from this shock. There is a major impact across the continuum of health professional education during any pandemic—from training students to providing continuing education for the overstretched and reduced healthcare workforce. The consequence is that clinical care is compromised not only during the pandemic but also in the recovery phase. The education of medical students can be seriously hampered, with reduced opportunities for clinical teaching. Healthcare is best learnt at the bedside, but this may be impossible during a pandemic. How do we help students and doctors to learn about these infections in the midst of a pandemic? How do we keep them safe from infection and prevent them from further spreading the disease? During past influenza pandemics, young people have been disproportionately affected—probably because they had no exposure to and so no immunity from previous similar pandemics. Yet, these same young people make up most of our undergraduate and postgraduate learners in healthcare. So what should we do? Some have suggested that medical schools should be closed or that students should be prohibited from being in contact with patients during a pandemic.3 An argument for this approach is …

Professional identity and the Clinical Research Nurse: Aqualitative study exploring issues having an impact on participant recruitment in research.

The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of Clinical Research Nurses, with an emphasis on factors that may have an impact on successful study delivery. The Clinical Research Nurse workforce is pivotal to improving health outcomes through supporting research-active health economies. Investment in research infrastructure has led to nurses and midwives increasingly undertaking extended roles to deliver clinical research. Despite such opportunities, the recruitment of sufficient participants into research studies remains problematic. A growing body of literature is exploring barriers to successful study delivery, indicating the emergence of a caring-recruiting dichotomy in clinical research staff. This qualitative study investigates the experiences of Clinical Research Nurses delivering research in the United Kingdom National Health Service. Four Focus groups (total 19 participants) were conducted in a large North East National Health Service Foundation Trust from November 2015 - February 2016. Thematic analysis identified perceptions of the role in the wider context of professional identity. Role transition, altered relationships and workload complexity, affected participants' practice, leading to inconsistency between core clinical values and perceived identities as research delivery staff. A duty of care as patient advocates contrasted elements of the work reflecting that of salespeople. The emotional labour of approaching patients and unease regarding peer perceptions of the Clinical Research Nurse role, affected the positive aspects of research delivery. Professional-identity and self-concept appear to have an impact on practice in a research delivery role. Further research should explore these issues further, to enlighten the basis on which such feelings are positioned and to work towards practical solutions.

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OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Describe the process used to develop job descriptions and how this translates into consistent hiring practices. Describe how competencies are used to provide transparency into professional development opportunities. Discuss planned incorporation of competencies into efforts to train the clinical research workforce. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: These processes were developed at Duke, an academic medical center with over 2000 active clinical research protocols and 300 new clinical trials per year. Over 1000 employees were evaluated for mapping into clinical research positions, with 685 mapping into new research positions (makeup of workforce to be depicted). RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Prior to this initiative, the clinical research workforce was not well-defined. Through the mapping process, employees were mapped from over 80 different positions into 10 (figure), resulting in a workforce that allows for visible career ladders and greater opportunity for development. As the initiative evolves and grows to include competency-driven performance evaluations, training modules, and assessments, we anticipate the ability to see the relationship between the competencies and high-quality clinical research support. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: The use of competencies in the context of workforce development is not new, yet in clinical research, they provide a much-needed framework for an ever-evolving profession. This comprehensive use of competencies throughout a workforce development initiative is key to ensuring strong support of high-quality clinical research.

Key Informant Perspectives on Federal Research Agency Policy and Systems and Scientific Workforce Diversity Development: A Companion Study

Purpose: In the previous analysis of key informant perspectives on minority research leaders’ career development factors, we identified individual and sociocultural, institutional, and federal research agency (i.e., National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research; National Institutes of Health; Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research; Office of Disability, Aging, and Long-Term Care Policy) policy and systems-induced challenges. An analysis of their viewpoints about what policy and systems-induced facilitators can be considered as actionable for increasing the pool of seasoned minority researchers was not undertaken. Here in this companion study, data collected on 15 key informants’ perspectives regarding policy initiatives and strategies that can be considered by these agencies to diversify the behavioral, social science, clinical, and biomedical scientific workforce were analyzed. Methods: This companion analysis employed the same methods as reflected in the previous study. Results: Select federal research agency policy and systems-induced factors (i.e., research career pathways, social justice context, designated funding streams, and interprofessional multidisciplinary collaborations) emerged as important. Conclusions: The findings can inform the development of new or modified federal research agency sponsored field initiated strategies and internal policy and systems that could lead to an increased supply of seasoned minority investigators.

Big data from electronic health records for early and late translational cardiovascular research: challenges and potential.

AimsCohorts of millions of people's health records, whole genome sequencing, imaging, sensor, societal and publicly available data present a rapidly expanding digital trace of health. We aimed to critically review, for the first time, the challenges and potential of big data across early and late stages of translational cardiovascular disease research.Methods and resultsWe sought exemplars based on literature reviews and expertise across the BigData@Heart Consortium. We identified formidable challenges including: data quality, knowing what data exist, the legal and ethical framework for their use, data sharing, building and maintaining public trust, developing standards for defining disease, developing tools for scalable, replicable science and equipping the clinical and scientific work force with new inter-disciplinary skills. Opportunities claimed for big health record data include: richer profiles of health and disease from birth to death and from the molecular to the societal scale; accelerated understanding of disease causation and progression, discovery of new mechanisms and treatment-relevant disease sub-phenotypes, understanding health and diseases in whole populations and whole health systems and returning actionable feedback loops to improve (and potentially disrupt) existing models of research and care, with greater efficiency. In early translational research we identified exemplars including: discovery of fundamental biological processes e.g. linking exome sequences to lifelong electronic health records (EHR) (e.g. human knockout experiments); drug development: genomic approaches to drug target validation; precision medicine: e.g. DNA integrated into hospital EHR for pre-emptive pharmacogenomics. In late translational research we identified exemplars including: learning health systems with outcome trials integrated into clinical care; citizen driven health with 24/7 multi-parameter patient monitoring to improve outcomes and population-based linkages of multiple EHR sources for higher resolution clinical epidemiology and public health.ConclusionHigh volumes of inherently diverse (‘big’) EHR data are beginning to disrupt the nature of cardiovascular research and care. Such big data have the potential to improve our understanding of disease causation and classification relevant for early translation and to contribute actionable analytics to improve health and healthcare.

Social identity and the prison health worker: Implications for practitioner satisfaction and turnover intentions.

Delivering health care within the prison walls poses distinct and arduous challenges to the practitioner. Correctional health workers regularly face issues of overcrowding, increased prevalence of infectious disease, advancing age, deteriorating conditions, and patients with an inclination for violence. Still, regardless of the sizeable workforce, costs, and impact on community well-being, correctional health is often overlooked in health services delivery research. The aim of this study was to better understand the unique nature of delivering services in the prison context through the lens of social identity theory and further explore practitioner satisfaction and retention. A survey design was used in this study, sampling clinicians in a state department of corrections in the United States. Using the data from 317 respondents, the study explored the relationship between professional identification and perceived organizational support as they impact job satisfaction and turnover intention and while controlling for burnout. Using nested ordinary least squares regression and nested logistic regression, the results showed that professional identification and perceived organizational support were positively associated with job satisfaction. Perceived organizational support was negatively and significantly related to turnover intentions. This article adds originality and value to the literature by using social identity theory to address the occupational perceptions of a large, yet often underrepresented and underexplored, subsector of the health workforce. The results highlight several areas where health care managers, whether from correctional or noncorrectional environments, could implement policy and procedure changes to further engage and retain the clinical workforce. To engage and retain the health worker population, managers must consider identification-reinforcing interventions that align with the self-concept and visibly display gestures of organizational support.

Screening for latent tuberculosis in UK health care workers.

Active tuberculosis (TB) infection was diagnosed in two health care workers (HCWs) originally from high-incidence countries at a National Health Service (NHS) hospital trust in Northern England. In response, the trust screened current clinical employees from countries with a high TB prevalence for active and latent TB infection (LTBI). To identify the number of HCWs, within the organization, who are at risk of TB infection. Clinical employees from countries with a high TB prevalence (those described by the World Health Organization as having an incidence of >40 cases per 100000 populations) were reviewed. Employees were identified via human resource systems and occupational health records, from which nationality or country of birth was identified. A letter was sent to identified employees advising of the rationale for a reviewed screening process and inviting them to attend for an interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) blood test. A total of 587 clinical staff were identified as fitting the criteria of clinical HCWs from high-incidence countries. Of 469 HCWs screened, 27% screened positive using IGRA. This represented 4% of the total clinical workforce for the organization. A considerable proportion of the workforce at this NHS hospital trust had previously undiagnosed LTBI, carrying a risk of conversion to active disease. Further action, such as treatment of LTBI or increased workforce awareness of symptoms of active disease, could help to reduce the risk of transmission of TB to patients and the need for associated 'look-back' exercises.

The clinical academic workforce of the future: a cross-sectional study of factors influencing career decision-making among clinical PhD students at two research-intensive UK universities

ObjectivesTo examine clinical doctoral students’ demographic and training characteristics, career intentions, career preparedness and what influences them as they plan their future careers.Design and settingOnline cross-sectional census surveys at two...

EHealth and Integrated Primary Health Care Centres

Background: Integrated primary health care (PHC) relies on connectivity and seamless information-sharing across primary, secondary, acute, aged and social care. eHealth tools can promote a better patient journey and avoid duplication of care processes such as pathology and imaging or unplanned attendances at emergency departments and hospitalisations. Conceptual framework: This encompasses integration, Informatics Capability Maturity (ICM), multidisciplinary teamwork and data quality within the Australian National PHC Strategic Framework. Integration includes system, information and people elements that promote or support a team and shared care culture. The ICM reflects how an organisation collects, manages and shares information in the health neighbourhood, manages information communication technologies (ICT), data quality management and governance, and uses health “business intelligence” to achieve multidisciplinary integrated care. Aim: Assess the relationships between the ICM, systems and services integration and use eHealth tools by Integrated Primary Health Care Centres (IPHCCs). Setting: Seven IPHCCs in metropolitan and rural settings in 3 Australian states: an enhanced private general practice, four GP SuperClinics, a “HealthOne” private-public partnership and a Community Health Centre (CHC). These IPHCCs demonstrated a range of funding sources, ownership, organisational structures and leadership. Methods: Mixed methods case study. Data collected through document review, interviews with staff, non-participant observation of the IPHCC, data quality assessment of pseudonymised data from the EHR, and self-assessment of the ICM. A purposeful sample of patients were interviewed. Findings: The IPHCCs were at varying levels of ICM, using clinical and managerial eHealth tools with varying effectiveness for different ends; The lack of a common terminology and universal secure messaging system and limited “clinical coding” were significant barriers to data collection, integration and sharing; Various “work-arounds” were used by clinicians and managers to communicate and share information to compensate for the lack of technical, data and software integration; Patient engagement with eHealth tools, including the PCEHR, was minimal; and Improvement requires strong clinical leadership to ensure standards for data, metadata and secure messaging; a common terminology; integrated electronic decision support tools; accountable data quality management and information governance. Key lessons: Successful use of eHeath tools for system and service integration requires a skilled clinical informatics workforce; technical, semantic and software standards; adequate privacy and security; and clinical leadership to implement and monitor them to successful adoption. Conclusion & recommendations: 1. A multidisciplinary clinical informatics profession to bridge the divide between health, management and computer science in health care policy development and implementation with a patient-centred approach. 2. A common terminology across all health services, education and research sectors. 3. Secure messaging (building on and supported by the National Health Service Directory) 4. Integrated EHR data, metadata and applications to optimise EHR use. 5. Education of and culture change in the health professions to value good documentation, data quality management and information governance. Agencies to act on these recommendations include: Commonwealth and State Departments of Health, Education and Technology; Australian Commission for eHealth (replacing NEHTA); software industry; PHNs; LHDs/LHNs; Health professional bodies; and Higher education institutions.

Integrating Clinical Advisory Pharmacists in the Health Care Home

Introduction: Internationally governments have promoted general practices and community pharmacy working together more closely. Despite examples of co-location, this has not been particularly successful for a number of reasons, including issues of territoriality. There is growing interest in clinical pharmacists working in, and for, general practices.Practice change: This is a change in the model of service delivery with the clinical pharmacist working within the multidisciplinary team of a health care home, and independent of a community pharmacy. This paper explores the changes occurring in the UK and Australia, and presents information of the roles and activities of the fledging clinical advisory pharmacist workforce in New Zealand. It includes the roles of prescribing pharmacists in primary care, using a collaborative prescribing model.A survey of these pharmacists provides information on their roles and contributions to patient care, and creates opportunities for other health care homes to incorporate this resource into their practice.Aim and theory of change: The aim of this change is to allow clinical advisory pharmacists, who by definition have postgraduate qualifications, to work to top-of-scope though working in the health care home, helping to reduce drug-related morbidity and mortality and therefore helping optimise medicines-related health outcomes.The theory of change incorporates the concepts of the power / process and medical dominance models. This requires exposure to the new service, but additionally it has required recognition that the independent clinical advisory pharmacists have a different set of knowledge and skills.Targeted populations and stakeholders: Most of the clinical advisory pharmacists in New Zealand are working in practices with vulnerable populations to improve access to optimal pharmacotherapy. This has been expanding, particularly over the last three years.Highlights: The highlight of this service is the expansion and growing workforce with acceptance of the role of clinical advisory pharmacists within a health care home team and utilising their skills to improve person and whanau care. Evaluations of the different services has shown beneficial outcomes.Sustainability, transferability: With the changing workforce and increasing multidisciplinary teams in health care homes, this model of clinical pharmacist service delivery is very transferable, although requires a transfer of funding and investment for five years to establish it fully and achieve a critical mass.Conclusions: Independent clinical advisory and prescribing pharmacists are a viable way of integrating services into the health care home. We can learn from international evidence, but also the growing evidence in New Zealand.Lessons learnt:The clinical advisory and prescribing pharmacists bring a different skill set and focus into the health care home, but exposure is required to help understand the benefits achieved.

Multi-level factors affecting timely electronic documentation of medication administration: a hierarchical linear modeling approach

This study applies a systematic hierarchical linear modeling approach to identify factors impacting timely documentation of medication administration on electronic medication administration record (eMAR) systems. Delayed documentation of medications poses significant risks to patient safety. Multi-level quantitative data were collected from a large urban hospital system, spanning the non-physician clinician workforce across 27 patient-care units. Data suggests the overall perception of psychological safety on one’s unit was a significant predictor of individual clinicians’ timely eMAR documentation. The impact of each clinician’s personal psychological safety was nuanced by his/her patient-care unit and type of hospital. Other characteristics of the provider’s patient-care unit were also relevant. Thus, even though timely eMAR documentation is an individual-level activity, it is predicted by characteristics beyond complete control of the individual. We illustrate the value of applying systematic hierarchical linear modeling approach to better illuminate the problem of consistently achieving timely eMAR documentation across all providers.

Impact of Clinical Pharmacist Consultation Visits at Ministry of Health Hospitals in Saudi Arabia: Clinical Pharmacy Services and Pharmacy Workforce

<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Background</strong>: Pharmacy practice residency program (PPRG) is one of a major professional degree in Saudi Arabia. The residency is very high demand in the pharmacy market. The clinical pharmacist required to visit hospitals to improve the services and start the program. <strong>Objective:</strong> The goal of this study to explore the value of clinical pharmacist consultation visit with emphasis on clinical pharmacy services (CPS) and pharmacy education and training (PET) at Ministry of Health hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. <strong>Methods:</strong> It is a twelve months cohort study of a regular visit to three major hospitals included public, pediatrics with maternity and emergency specialties at Riyadh region. The assessment used based on Saudi hospital pharmacy standards, MOH pharmacy strategic plan, and the 6-points Likert assessment scale system before the study and by the end of the study. The total number of finished projects were eighteen projects divided between CPS (twelve projects) and PET (six projects). <strong>Results:</strong> The improvements range changes in CPS from 16.7% to 100% with average positive improvement 48%. In the PET the improvements range changes were 32.8% to 100% with average positive changes was 85%. The highest score of the projects of CPS was an assessment of pharmacy services, assessment of emergency pharmacy services, and assessment of critical pharmacy services. The maximum score of the projects of PET was doing an interview with hiring a new pharmacist, train drug Information for staff pharmacist, and apply on the job training for the new pharmacist. <strong>Conclusion:</strong> The pharmacist showed practical significance impact on the clinical pharmacy services and pharmacy education and training in Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia. The increasing number of consultation visit with regular evaluation is necessary to keep continues pharmacy improvement at all hospital pharmacies. <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Key words:</strong> Impact, Clinical Pharmacist, Hospital Pharmacy, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia.

Intensive care unit organisation and nurse outcomes: A cross-sectional study of traditional and “hot-floor” structures

Aim: To explore the relationship between the practice environment and nurse outcomes in two Intensive Care Unit (ICU) models.Background: Internationally the demand for intensive care is increasing. A large capacity multi-specialty integrated critical care service, the “hot-floor”, is emerging as the preferred organisational model. Benefits include resource consolidation and improved utilisation, operational synergies, operational flexibility and demand management. A large clinical workforce with commensurate frontline management, education and support positions are required. The association between these factors, within the ICU hot-floor work environment, and nurse outcomes is not known.Methods: Registered nurses (RNs) working in two ICUs, one a hot-floor model and one traditional ICU, completed a structured questionnaire. Nurse perceptions of work-life and organisational factors, and dimensions of burnout were examined using the Practice Environment Scale-Nursing Work Index (PES-NWI) and Maslach’s Burnout Inventory (MBI).Results: Units matched on service level characteristics, training accreditation, patient casemix, operational and clinical care processes. Nurses in had similar demographic characteristics, professional attributes and experience. Workforce structures were also similar though the hot-floor had relatively less dedicated resources for frontline nurse management and clinical education positions. Hot-floor nurses worked more paid overtime and were redeployed less frequently to external wards. Nurse manager leadership and support was less effective, and nurses expressed lower personal accomplishment.Conclusions: Improved demand management achieved through greater operational flexibility is a key driver for the hot-floor model. Planning for enhanced organisational effectiveness requires corresponding improvements in the work environment to optimise nurse retention to ensure organisational sustainability.

Occupational burnout among abortion workers: do job role and clinic type matter?

Introduction: A robust skilled clinical workforce is required to safely and expeditiously provide roughly 1 million abortions in the United States annually. Occupational burnout is a well-validated measure of psychological well-being associated with job turnover across industries. Abortion care is often delivered in freestanding clinics — high-volume, community-based settings where workplace factors associated with burnout are prevalent. Abortion worker burnout has been minimally explored in prior literature and only in analyses combining all types of workers. This study explored whether burnout among abortion workers varies by job role and/or worksite type (freestanding clinic vs. hospital), accounting for individual-level abortion stigma.

Pre‐hospital and retrieval medicine: Clinical governance and workforce models

Pre-hospital and retrieval medicine (PHARM) has developed significantly in the past decade. This perspective article proposes that PHARM should develop with a clear focus on contemporary health governance principles, and that its workforce and models of care adopt modern interdisciplinary approaches. Many of the older systems of managing clinical standards, and outdated cultural approaches to professional 'turf', workforce and scope of practice have little place in high-performance organisations. This paper calls us to attention with a recommendation that best and safest systems of care, structured to optimise patient outcomes and system performance should be our goal.

Development of the United Kingdom physician associate profession.

The world of healthcare is changing, and patient needs are changing with it. Traditional doctor-driven models of workforce planning are no longer sustainable in the United Kingdom (UK) healthcare economy, and newer models are needed. In the multiprofessional, multiskilled clinical workforce of the future, the physician associate (PA) has a fundamental role to play as an integrated, frontline, generalist clinician. As of 2016, about 350 PAs were practicing in the UK, with 550 PAs in training and plans to expand rapidly. This report describes the development of the PA profession in the UK from 2002, with projections through 2020, and includes governance, training, and the path to regulation. With rising demands on the healthcare workforce, the PA profession is predicted to positively influence clinical workforce challenges across the UK healthcare economy.

Identifying and supporting children of mentally ill parents within adult mental health services

BackgroundStudies have shown that implementing a change of practice in adult mental health care to identify and support children of mentally ill parents is challenging, even though the risk of transgenerational transmission of socioemotional problems and psychopathology has been thoroughly demonstrated the last decade.AimsThe current presentation describes the existing practice of identifying and supporting children of mentally ill parents within adult mental health services. The study was conducted after Norwegian health legislation had been changed to make these tasks mandatory. The effort included implementation of two interventions; Family Assessment, an intervention for practitioners to increase identification of patients who are also parents and their children, and child talks, an intervention designed to provide support for parents and children within the participating hospital.MethodThe sample included mental health professionals in a large university hospital in Northern Norway, who responded to a web-based survey on the routines of the services, attitudes within the workforce capacity, worker's knowledge on the impact of parental mental illness on children, knowledge on legislation concerning children of patients, and demographic variables. Register data from the Electronic Patient Journals (EPJ) was analyzed to assess whether or not the self-reported routines match the reality in the clinic.DiscussionThe prospects of clinical change will be discussed in general, as well as to which extent the two implemented interventions have contributed to changes in the clinical practice, workforce knowledge and attitudes in the participating hospital.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.

Barriers to Provision of External Clinical Psychology Student Placements

ObjectiveWith increasing focus on the treatment of mental health problems the need for clinical psychologists is expanding, driving strong demand for postgraduate clinical psychology training programs. Although the number of training places in Australia has increased, the availability of external placements appears to have lagged behind, causing significant challenges to students. Using a survey of clinical psychologists in New South Wales, Australia, this study evaluated the capacity for placements and explored issues that may impact on field placement capacity.MethodA survey was developed in order to identify potential student placement capacity and factors that may prevent potential supervisors from offering placements to students. The survey was distributed electronically through clinical psychology networks targeting those employed in NSW.ResultsOne hundred and forty endorsed clinical psychologists completed the survey. Of these, 42% stated they felt unable to offer field placements to students within the next 12 months. The most commonly cited barriers to offering a placement included a lack of time (21%); not being a PsyBA supervisor (18%); being employed part‐time (18%) and the concern that clinical supervision time did not attract funding under the current public health funding model (16%).ConclusionThe study provides an estimate of clinical field placement capacity in NSW. The results suggest that the capacity in the existing clinical psychology workforce could meet clinical field placement demand. The authors discuss reasons why anecdotally, this does not appear to reflect the reality of field placement coordinators and students. The authors provide possible strategies for addressing the issues raised.

Creating effective career development programs.

This paper is the fourth in a 5-part series that focuses on educating and training the clinical and translational science workforce. The goal of this paper is to delineate components of effective career development programs that go beyond didactic training. All academic health centers with a Clinical and Translational Science Award have a KL2 career development award for junior faculty, and many also have a TL1 training program for predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows. The training across these programs varies, however junior investigators across the United States experience similar challenges. Junior investigators can get overwhelmed with the demands of building their own research program, particularly in academia. 1Often, they are sidetracked by competing demands that can derail their progress. In these situations, junior investigators experience frustration and may search for alternative career paths. By providing them with additional professional skills in the 5 domains of: (1) self-awareness; (2) selecting the right topic and securing funding; (3) getting adequate support; (4) working with others; and (5) managing yourself, your career, and your demands. We will give junior investigators additional tools to manage these demands and facilitate their own career success.

The clinical academic workforce in Australia and New Zealand: report on the second binational summit to implement a sustainable training pathway.

There has been a decline in the proportion of clinical academics compared with full-time clinicians, since 2004. A Working Party was established to help develop and implement a model for the training of clinical academics. After a highly successful first summit in 2014 that summarised the challenges faced by clinical academics in Australia and New Zealand, a second summit was convened late in 2015 to report on progress and to identify key areas for further action. The second summit provided survey results that identified the varied training pathways currently offered to clinical academics and the institutions willing to be involved in developing improved pathways. A literature review also described the contributions that clinical academics make to the health sector and the challenges faced by this workforce sector. Current training pathways created for clinical academics by Australasian institutions were presented as examples of what can be done. The perspectives of government and research organisations presented at the summit helped define how key stakeholders can contribute. Following the summit, there was a strong commitment to continue to work towards developing a sustainable and defined training pathway for clinical academics. The need for a coordinated and integrated approach was highlighted. Some key objectives were agreed upon for the next phase, including identifying and engaging key advocates within government and leading institutions; publishing and profiling the contributions of successful clinical academics to healthcare outcomes; defining the stages of a clinical academic training pathway; and establishing a mentoring programme for training clinical academics.