Dr Simran Parmar

NIHR publishes the questions and they can be found here! - 7 questions about your academic achievements, suitability for an ACF, and perhaps the most feared question. the critical appraisal

No clinical questions (but there will be a clinical question in the non-academic core training interview so be prepared)!

General advice:

Rehearse a script with 2-3 minute long answer to each of the questions

Know your CV and map each point to a question so you can mention all of your achievements

Research the ACF post and talk about why it interests you in question 4

Question 1: Critical Appraisal:

There may be some variance, but most interviews will start by giving you an abstract and some figures (charts, Forrest plots, tables, etc) and give you 10 minutes to read it.

Create a framework for critical appraisal and memorise it, and practice it over and over until it becomes second nature

My framework (which there is a link for below) was:

1) Summary 2) Internal validity 3) External validity 4) Extra points

Before I began reading, I would take an A4 paper in landscape and write the following letters on the L margin: PICO SPAIC GSTEP CERSI

1) PICO is the summary, standing for population, intervention/exposure, control, outcome

2) SPAIC is the internal validity, standing for selection bias, performance bias, attrition bias, information bias, and confounding

3) GSTEP is the external validity, standing for generalisability, safety, tolerability, efficacy, and price

4) CERSI is the extra points, standing for clinical knowledge, ethics, reading the full article, statistical tests, and important clinical question?

Get in the habit of immediately writing these letters down on your paper (you are allowed scrap paper in the interview) and then filling in the components as you read the abstract.

Then when you are presenting, you can present in the same order (PICO summary, internal validity, etc).

This is the best way to ensure you extract the most information from your abstract. It is a time pressured environment so having a framework and sticking to it is critical!

A much more detailed version of the critical appraisal framework can be found below:

Question 2: Lay Summary:

The key for this question is being able to avoid jargon.

Relies on being able to critically appraise the abstract in the previous question.

Keep practicing

Question 3: Summary of your academic achievements:

Lots of ways to do this. I told a story, starting from pre-med school, to med school, to foundation years.

Weave in all of your achievements and awards.

Mention academic achievements but also mention things like leadership roles (eg sports teams) and teamworking roles.

Mention outputs for each piece of work (poster, presentation, article, etc).

Mention impacts for each piece of work (eg change local practice by presenting to the department).

Be humble - it is nice to throw in a line about how you are grateful for the help of a professor, for example.

But do not be shy - you must speak about all of your achievement. Do not downplay your accomplishments!

Question 4: About this ACF post:

I broke this up into different sections.

First, I spoke about why I wanted to do and ACF. 25% research time, always wanted to be a clinical academic, love the ability to inform my own practice using research, etc.

Secondly, I spoke about the hospital I was applying to. I said that it was a tertiary center, lots of specialist services in the specialty I was applying to, etc. The goal is to show you read about the hospital and are excited to work there.

Thirdly, I spoke about the ACF itself. The ACF will have a description about what kind of research it will involve. Speak about how it is exciting and again show you have read about the departments research interests.

Fourthly, talk about your own experiences align with the departments research goals. This can be if you have done research the same specialty, or even something small like doing a systematic review, saying you could apply this to the departments research aim in "X". This is another chance to sell yourself and talk about your achievements.

Finally, you should always speak to the programme director before the interview. Tell the interview panel that you reached out to them, you have discussed potential projects, and tell them what they are. This will show initiative and set you apart from other candidates.

Question 5: Your personal practical experience of research:

This is a chance to dive into one or two projects and tell them in more detail.

I chose to talk about a clinical trial I had been apart of in my foundation year.

Regardless of what project you talk about, it is a good idea to show that you have knowledge about the following topics in your own research:

Study recruitment

Consent

PPIE

Good Clinical Practice (GCP certificate)

Controls

Ethics

Study funding

If clinical study - sponsors, monitoring visits, patient flow

Question 6: Article you have read recently:

Use your framework above to talk about something that interests you.

It can be something in the same field, but it is also okay for it to be something completely different.

Rehearse a strong critical appraisal and present it like you did for question 1.

To get extra marks in this questions, you should again link this to something you have done.

For example, if you find selection bias in the article you present, you should go on to say that in a previous work of yours, you found selection bias in the sample, and this is how we tackled it.

Every question should link back to your achievements.

Question 7: Challenges of a clinical and academic career:

This is another station to show some humility.

Say it is challenging balancing both commitments.

Less time to gain all clinical competencies.

Mention that research time is protected and should not be encroached upon.

Goal of ACF is to obtain funding for a PhD, this is difficult.

Now mention how you have previously balanced clinical and academic commitments, passed membership exams, done courses, etc.

If you have done an AFP this is a perfect demonstration that you can face the challenges of an ACF.

If you have obtained grants or funding for research then highlight that you think you can get PhD funding.

Buzzwords to say: time management, prioritisation, organisational skills, protected research time.

Research Interests:

Epidemiology, big data, clinical trials

Research publications:

Parmar SS, Mohamed MO, Mamas MA, Wilkie R. The clinical characteristics, managements, and outcomes of acute myocardial infarction in osteoarthritis patients; a cross-sectional analysis of 6.5 million patients. Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy. Jan 2024.

Parmar SS, Muthuppalaniappan V, Banerjee D. Gaps in modern heart failure and chronic kidney disease research. European Cardiology Review. Aug 2023.

Henry‐Blake C, Marshall M, Treadwell K, Parmar S, Higgs J, Edwards JJ, Peat G. The use of plain radiography in diagnosing osteoarthritis: A systematic review and time trend analysis. Musculoskeletal Care. 2022 Nov 25.

Wilkie R, Parmar SS, Blagojevic-Bucknall M, Smith D, Thomas MJ, Seale BJ, Mansell G, Peat G. Reasons why osteoarthritis predicts mortality: path analysis within a Cox proportional hazards model. RMD Open. 2019 Nov 1;5(2).

Smith D, Wilkie R, Croft P, Parmar S, Mcbeth J. Pain and mortality: mechanisms for a relationship. Pain. 2018 Jun 1;159 (6):1112-8.

EuroSurg Collaborative. Safety and efficacy of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce ileus after colorectal surgery. The British journal of surgery. 2019 Oct 9.

Grants and Awards:

2018 International Young Investigator Award - Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) ($1000).

2019 Wolfson Intercalated Award - Royal College of Physicians ($4000).

2024 American Heart Association Kidney Cardiovascular Disease Education Tool Contest ($2000) Link.

CV available upon request