1. How (not) to get an NIHR Fellowship
Dr Richard Ma
General Practitioner London
NIHR Doctoral Research Fellow Imperial College London

2. In the beginning
GP – part time Locum registrar Public Health Medicine Doctor in sexual health clinics MSc Public Health (part-funded by PCT) DrPH LSHTM (ESRC/MRC Studentship) Leadership roles – PCT/CCG/DH/RCGP Interest in sexual & reproductive health Where was my career going? Where can I really make a difference?

3. A tweet that changed my career and my life!

4. Into academia In-Practice Fellowship – 2 years 0.5 WTE
“North Star” aspiration
What next?
Am I good enough?
Am I too old for this?
How can I fit it all in?

5. Doctoral Research Fellowship - Attempt #1
Project idea – September
Agreed supervisors
Feasibility work – early stages – current fellowship
Strong application – person, place
Training plans
Invited to interview
Preparation – mock interviews
REJECTION
Little time to engage with RDS
Unfamiliar with dataset and its limitations
Limited scope
Not confident with methodology
Not much meaningful engagement with PPI
Stuck with some questions

6. Doctoral Research Fellowship - Attempt #2
Familiarised with dataset and analysis – more statistics/epidemiology
Engaged women on social media to discuss contraception and asked for feedback on lay summary, invited to project advisory group
Qualitative study involving more vulnerable groups – including ethics
Expanded scope to include access to all forms of contraception
Earlier RDS involvement– better understanding of design, sample size, analysis
Better preparation – video, voice recordings, tougher mocks!
SUCCESS!

7. Reflections Know your purpose/ trajectory
Be clear about your commitments – are they realistic?
Who are you? What is your profile in academia?
Develop your ideas, test them out, ask experts, feasibility
Involve RDS early in your proposal
Choose your institution and supervisory team carefully
Involve your finance lead and PPI
Plan B – or what you can do during your “fallow” year
Don’t give up – ask for feedback, it will be better
Rehearse your presentation & answers. Try to fail your mock interview!

8. YOUR project YOU own it
GOOD LUCK!!