London-based specialist physiotherapist Timothy Jenkins is on track to apply for doctoral funding
Timothy Jenkins – a specialist physiotherapist at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals – is to conduct a pre-doctoral fellowship on lung muscle training for critical care patients.
His pre-doctoral clinical and practitioner academic fellowship (PCAF) is being funded by the Health Education England and the National Institute for Health and Care Research. The fellowships offer recipients salaried time to develop doctoral fellowship applications and to undertake funded academic training.
In an article appearing on the trust’s website, Timothy explained why this funding was crucial. ‘Improving the evidence base for physiotherapy interventions to help improve patient outcomes is extremely important to me, and I feel privileged and excited to be awarded this funding. It will give me the time to develop research skills and obtain further data to produce a comprehensive research proposal for a doctoral funding application next year.’
Timothy has already completed a Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals Charity fellowship, which aim to help staff develop research skills, produce data and apply for further research funding.
What is the focus of the research?
Timothy will explore issues relating to inspiratory muscle training (IMT) in mechanically ventilated patients – an intervention in which physiotherapists play a key role. At present, the best way to tackle IMT is unclear and approaches vary.
Timothy’s previous research found that some patients could tolerate different levels of IMT better than others, suggesting that there could be a patient specific prescription of IMT. In his pre-doctoral fellowship, he aims to conduct an IMT study in healthy participants that will ultimately allow him to refine the protocol for patients in critical care settings.
Training and continued professional practice
Timothy will use this pre-doctoral fellowship funding to advance his skills in complex data extraction from physiological measurements, as well as gaining skills in statistical analysis methods.
He will also use the time to learn detailed, specialised assessment techniques – such as respiratory muscle electromyography and respiratory pressure measurement techniques – and apply these to the healthy participant study.
To find out more about research at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals, email: research-findoutmore@rbht.nhs.uk
Author: I A McMillan
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