Occupational Therapy News OTnews February 2020 | Page 26

FEATURE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Becoming a
clinical academic:
the journey via
masters by research
B
ecoming a clinical academic was not
something I had ever considered as
an undergraduate, or at any time in my
career, until around three years ago.
Up to that point I had formed a good career
in mental health, specialising in working with
people with dementia and thoroughly enjoyed
being part of a community team as a band six
clinician.
I certainly understood the importance
of evidence-based practice and admired
occupational therapists who were engaged in
research. I believed they were adding value by
contributing to the profession.
For me, however, I could not see how
research engagement would be possible in
my context, since the vast majority of research
active colleagues in my locality were nurses,
psychologists or medics, and the opportunity for
occupational therapists to engage in research
seemed absent.
I was often concerned that the research
produced locally rarely involved allied health
professionals (AHPs) and there was no clear way
in which AHPs might get involved.
One of my concerns about clinicians
engaging in research was about the potential
compromise this may create in terms of drawing
attention away from patient care and towards a
personal pursuit for career development.
I had observed excellent practitioners move
away from the ‘front line’ of client intervention
and become consumed by academia. Whilst
there is a risk in this, I can see now that I had
not fully understood the vital need for clinical
contributions to the production of best evidence.
Tentative first steps
Nicola McGarvey talks about
her journey to becoming a clinical
academic, from cautious beginnings,
through tentative first steps, to seizing
the opportunity
26 OTnews February 2020
© GettyImages/MHJ
Things changed when I began seeing gaps in
my own clinical field of practice. As a proactive
and solution-focused occupational therapist, I
started thinking of ways to bridge those gaps
for people living with dementia.
One example related to whether smart
devices could be used by younger people living
with dementia to support them with meaningful
occupation.
I could see through day-to-day work that
assistive technology often lacked the flexibility
offered by smart devices and that smart
devices were a potential platform for providing
support, given that many people already owned
and used them.