Introducing the SAPC-HODS Future Leaders Initiative
The SAPC-HODs group is the representative body of each of the Heads of Departments from the 46 departments of Academic Primary Care represented in SAPC. SAPC-HODs is responsible for overseeing the strategic and practical support for primary care academic activity within its member departments. HODs serves both an executive function in supporting individual and collective action of HODs and departments, and a strategic/leadership function in supporting the collective goals of SAPC.
In 2021, SAPC-HODS are launching a new Future Leaders Initiative. This work addresses two priorities identified by HODS:
- CAPACITY BUILDING: an ongoing need to strengthen capacity within University departments, including recognising and celebrating the diversity of academic activity across our discipline. In particular, we seek to provide additional support for mid-career academics transitioning to senior positions (and recognising diversity and inclusivity needs).
- OPTIMISING VISIBILITY & IMPACT OF THE DISCIPLINE: to support sustainability in rapidly changing university and NHS contexts.
The SAPC-HODS Future Leaders initiative aims to address both priorities by inviting individuals to apply for new Future Leader roles, to undertake focused projects that tackle SAPC-HODS priority areas whilst being supported and mentored in their own career development.
Valuing Diversity in APC Contributions is the first project within this new initiative. It will focus on developing and delivering a strategic plan to champion academic diversity. Future Leaders appointed to the programme will lead this work and be supported and mentored in their role by senior academics from HODS, and by RCGP.
This article outlines the project, and the application and appointment process for this first wave of Future Leaders.
Valuing Diversity in Academic Primary Care (APC) Contributions
SAPC-HODS seek to appoint two Future Leaders to undertake an SAPC project on valuing diversity in APC.
APC is changing. Routes into the discipline are increasingly diverse with a range of fellowship opportunities. The range of work needed from, and done by, primary care academics is diversifying. As a result, the range of experience, expertise and skills held by individual primary care academics is broad.
The metrics by which we define career excellence and progression are therefore also changing. The traditional university/academic focus on income generation, publications and student numbers no longer fully reflect the diversity and complexity of academic activity increasingly focused on knowledge exchange, impact and engagement.
Growing diversity adds strength to our discipline but creates new challenges for HODS and others in a variety of settings. Fellowship panels may find themselves comparing candidates with very different applied scholarship backgrounds – e.g. from university and applied settings - where outputs may look very different although underlying skill sets and excellence are comparable. Appointment panels may need to judge diverse scholarship experience to determine starting pay scales. SAPC Awards panel seeks to ensure diversity and inclusivity for all members in applying for a variety of awards but recognises that traditional metrics do not adequately capture the full range of activities undertaken by members of our discipline.
SAPC-HODS have therefore identified a need for develop a resource to support the recognition and valuing of varied academic expertise. We seek to establish a task-and-finish working group, led by two SAPC Future Leaders. The group will map the activities undertaken across the various career pathways within our discipline, recognise the diversity of academic contributions and outputs generated; and so make recommendations to enhance the recognition of diverse but comparable achievements and promote diversity of opportunity within ACP.
We envisage the resource will be of value to academic departments (e.g. in shaping job descriptions, used by appointment panels) and judging panels; and in guiding primary are academics in developing a portfolio of evidence as they build their careers.
We are therefore inviting applications for two SAPC supported Future Leader posts to undertake this work.
What is the task that the Future Leaders are being asked to do?
We seek to appoint two Future Leaders in APC to undertake this work based on 3 activities:
- Scoping/defining the task and the question to design a project plan.
- Data collection and analysis: to include interviews/engaging with key stakeholders including senior academics (employers) and potential applicants.
- To prepare and present a report to SAPC-HODS and SAPC Exec in December 2021 and prepare an article for the SAPC website.
The role will start in July 2021 and last 6 months. We anticipate the work will take about 25 hours over that time and can be planned flexibly to meet your other commitments.
You will be mentored in the role by an SAPC-HOD with additional opportunity to work with senior colleagues from RCGP engaged in work on Diversity and Inclusivity amongst senior primary care staff.
What are the potential benefits to me of this role?
The role will offer you
- Leadership experience and opportunities
- A recognised role that will be recorded on SAPC website and so cited on your CV
- Facilitated opportunities to build your own networks through meeting and working with APC and SAPC colleagues from across the community
The roles are unfunded, but you will have access to SAPC resources and will receive support and mentorship from senior academics in SAPC and RCGP.
Who can apply for the roles?
You will be:
- Based in an SAPC department, and be a member of SAPC
- Hold a position that is equivalent to Senior Lecturer or above, but not be a HOD
- From PHOCUS or clinical communities we will be appointing one GP and one PHOCUS Future Leader
How do I apply?
Application is by brief CV and cover letter to Prof Joanne Reeve, Chair HODS, by 21st June 2021 (joanne.reeve@hyms.ac.uk) Your cover letter should outline why you feel Valuing Diversity in APC contributions matters; and how the Future Leaders role could support your personal career development. You should also include a brief letter of support from your Head of Department.
Appointment process
All applications will be reviewed by a panel of HODs, judged against two criteria of:
- Commitment to Valuing Diversity in academic expertise
- Potential for future APC leadership
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a short interview to outline their proposals/plans for the project.
Successful candidates will be notified in early July. The Future Leaders will be asked to present findings of their work at the December 2021 HODS meeting.
SAPC ASM 2022 Wednesday 6th July, keynote during the joint session SAPC/ASME 11.00-12.40
Presentation: Today’s doctor is a generalist: opportunities and challenges for academic practice
Health Education England declared “The future doctor is a generalist”. But it is today’s doctors who battle with the growing levels of whole person (generalist) problems – multimorbidity, treatment burden, problematic polypharmacy, persistent physical symptoms, and the list goes on... Barriers to delivering generalist care identified by my research include problems with both the evidence and education we offer to clinicians, and health services, to support the complexity of their daily knowledge work – the processes by which they make sense of illness. My work focuses on addressing those gaps. I’ll use examples from current projects (WISE GP, TAILOR, CATALYST) and others to describe the gaps, offer suggestions for “recovery and innovation”, and consider the benefits and challenges we might anticipate. I will conclude by inviting you to join me planning how we “future proof…our practical wisdom” as we work towards “recovery and innovation”
Biography
Joanne is an inner city GP and professor of primary care at Hull York Medical School, internationally known for her research and scholarship on medical generalism. She leads the national WISE GP partnership, is Chair of the SAPC Heads of Departments Group, and Director of the Academy of PC at HYMS where she also leads the flagship CATALYST programme. Her book, Medical Generalism Now, will be published by Taylor Frances in 2023.
Further details
My work tackles two of the biggest challenges facing modern health care systems. Namely, finding primary care solutions for the growing burden of chronic, complex illness; and building capacity for high quality, meaningful primary care scholarship to support the necessary changes.
The primary care approach is defined by a person-centred model of care. As a clinical academic, I lead an international collaboration to develop, implement and evaluate the provision of the individually tailored model of care that is expert generalist practice. My work is underpinned by expertise in the fields of complex interventions research, action research, and translational scholarship. As recent past Chair of the Society for Academic Primary Care, I lead work to enhance the capacity for advancing primary care through education and research; supporting quality improvement through the shared application of the skills of scholarship.
All of which is supported and sustained by my role as a non-principal GP in a busy inner city Practice in Hull.
Information for mentees
Hello!
I am Joanne – an academic GP working in Hull. I have benefited from being a mentee from early in my clinical career and in turn, enjoyed being a mentor for a number of years.
I am Professor in Primary Care Research at Hull and York Medical School (HYMS) . My research is in the area of primary care re-design based on person-centred/expert generalist principles. I have described the development of a new basic science of generalism, and now use implementation research and scholarship approaches to apply this work to tackling key challenges of today’s primary care (including multimorbidity, polypharmacy, mental health care and acute care). I work with clinical, academic and patient colleagues in the UK and internationally (including a Special Interest Group on Generalism within NAPCRG).
I have been a member of SAPC Executive since 2011 – initially as early career rep and communications lead. From 2013-2016, I was SAPC Chair. I am now co-opted on the Exec leading work on developing academic General Practice and GP Scholarship and chair of the Heads of Department group (HODs).
My own career has been an entertaining path of twists and turns. I have succeeded and failed in getting NIHR fellowships, grant funding, papers published, abstracts accepted… I have enjoyed and been challenged by development and leadership roles in local NHS, SAPC and RCGP.
I believe that we need strong academic primary care at the heart of a vibrant primary care community – scholarship leading and delivering innovation and improvement. So I’m delighted that you are developing your career in academic primary care too. And I would welcome working with you to help describe and achieve your career goals.
