This is the Academy of Medical Sciences career support space for biomedical and health researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our first wave of content focuses on offering resources and signposting support for: NHS staff on the frontline; clinicians and clinical academics who have returned to full time clinical work; biomedical researchers, PIs and group leaders leading research teams remotely; and promoting wellbeing resources for all.
As the situation evolves, we will be working to support the re-opening of research programmes and the transition back to research. Our aim is to ensure that NHS staff are kept healthy and safe, and that medical research and researchers are not disadvantaged by the pandemic. Check back later for more content on these themes.
If you would like to contribute ideas or resources or provide feedback about this support space, please get in touch with us via programmes@acmedsci.ac.uk or complete our anonymous feedback form
Dr Sanjay Agrawal, Consultant in Respiratory and Intensive Care Medicine at the University of Leicester, shares his thoughts on decompressing after a shift:
Academy of Medical Sciences resources and tools:
Our FLIER leadership programme partners Cirrus have provided a number of free resources to download. Cirrus are bespoke leadership, talent and engagement specialists sharing their expertise.
The Royal Society of Medicine have created a webinar series dedicated to give healthcare workers on the frontlines regular and easy-to-access updates from healthcare leaders on COVID-19. In the episode below, Dr Rachel Clarke (a specialist in palliative care) discusses the challenging topics of bereavement and dying with Professor Sir Simon Wessely FMedSci.
The Royal College of Physicians have launched their RCP Player, a free of charge streaming service for medical professionals. The RCP Player provides videos and other learning materials created for healthcare professionals by healthcare professionals, but it also includes some personal stories, such as the Doctor’s Diaries which looks at life through the current COVID-19 crisis.
NHS Practitioner Health have a variety of wellbeing resources for healthcare workers including webinars, apps, podcasts, support services and access to therapy.
Dr Caroline Walker, an NHS Psychiatrist, talks about the sort of sleep disruptions she is hearing that workers on the frontline are experiencing and some suggestions which may be helpful.
Sleepio is a 6 week online programme designed by sleep experts based on cognitive and behavioral techniques to help improve poor sleep. There is free access to Sleepio for all NHS staff (including those who don't currently have an NHS email address, such as medical students and former staff returning to the workforce). Click here to access Sleepio.
Personal stories:
Dr Rashidatu Kamara, specialist in infectious diseases at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone, shares her thoughts on resilience during epidemics, looking after yourself and adapting to new situation. Dr Kamara was among the first responders to the 2014 Ebola epidemic.
Dr Neil Hill, consultant in diabetes and endocrinology at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and former member of the British Army, shares his tips on dealing with stress:
"Hello. I'm a consultant at Charing Cross Hospital; I specialise in diabetes and general medicine and I'm going to very briefly discuss decompressing after work. I don't think this is a skill that I particularly excel at; I’m often quite stressed after I have been on-call. What has helped me in the past (and continues to) is having an opportunity to clear your thoughts, for you to let your mind free wheel and let the day’s events sort themselves out a bit. I like to exercise, but anything will do – a commute, listening to some music, a walk, an activity that you don’t have to engage with too much.
"The military do ‘decompression’, the idea is that for people who have been on a potentially traumatic tour of duty abroad there is an enforced stop for a couple of days on the way home. It gives an opportunity for some rest and relaxation and to do some enjoyable activities with people who have shared challenging experiences – a chance to put things in context away from the front line. In the current situation in the NHS those opportunities don’t really exist, but I strongly recommend talking to people about difficult experiences and decisions you have encountered, colleagues, family, friends, partner – anyone will do.
"The last thing I wanted to say is that, if you're in doubt, if you are worrying about a patient, or you need someone to look-up a test result, or double check that you prescribed the right dose of something, please call and ask someone who is there to check for you. People, your colleagues, are in hospital at all times and will happily put your mind at rest. Don't go to bed worrying.
"They’re my thoughts. Thanks for reading."
Academy of Medical Sciences resources and tools:
The Academy's mentoring scheme trainer Alexis Hutson has produced a resource intended to help support individuals during challenge and reflecting on self-care.
Our FLIER leadership programme partners Cirrus have provided a number of free resources to download. Cirrus are bespoke leadership, talent and engagement specialists sharing their expertise.
Following our recent report on mental health research priorities during the COVID-19 pandemic, we shared 7 top tips on how to support your mental wellbeing. Our work was driven by 24 world-leading experts in mental health science, alongside surveys of more than 3000 people. Read the full article here.
Resources from other organisations:
The Royal Society of Medicine have created a webinar series dedicated to give healthcare workers on the frontlines, regular and easy-to-access updates from healthcare leaders on COVID-19. This episode discusses the emotional and psychological impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the mental health of doctors, how to build resilience, and the extraordinary response of the NHS to the crisis.
NHS Practitioner Health have a variety of wellbeing resources for healthcare workers including webinars, apps, podcasts, support services and access to therapy. They have also posted a range of videos on the topic of wellbeing and resillience:
The video below is from doctors, psychologists and researchers at the NHS Traumatic Stress Clinic in London, the UCL Institute of Mental Health and the COVID Trauma Response Working Group to colleagues in the NHS and all over the world affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mental Health at Work provides documents, guides, tips, videos, courses, podcasts, templates and information from organisations across the UK, aimed at helping frontline health, care, emergency and key workers get to grips with workplace mental health.
The TEDxNHSvideos aim to bring strength to our health and care heroes and beyond, spread joy and make you smile, and provide a moment of pause. Watch The East London NHS Foundation Trust choir, ELFTIn1Voice, with their performance of 'See Me As I Am'. The song highlights the importance of co-production and people participation in healthcare.
Personal stories:
Dr Virginia Newcombe is a Health Foundation and Academy of Medical Sciences Clinician Scientist Fellow. She works as a Consultant in Critical Care and Emergency Medicine at the University of Cambridge. Here, she talks to the Academy about dealing with uncertainty as a clinical leader, the difficulties of communicating while wearing PPE, and the importance of staying calm in a crisis.
Dr Neil Hill, consultant in diabetes and endocrinology at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, shares his thoughts on leadership.
"Hello. I'm a consultant at Charing Cross Hospital; I specialise in diabetes and general medicine and I’m going to briefly discuss my thoughts about leadership. I guess I was asked because I was in the Army for a while. I feel slightly embarrassed speaking to people about leadership. I don't think I have any unique insights other than to tell you a bit about my thoughts on leading an on-call team or a ward round. In spite of the military background I think my principle and formative experience of leadership training was being in my school rugby team when we were really terrible, and we got thrashed pretty much every week. Anyway, in Baz Luhrmann “Sunscreen” style, my main message would be to always buy your team coffee (or other refreshments). It seems to work.
"Other things – Sometimes I email to say thanks to the juniors I worked with on call, afterwards. I think they are looking for someone supportive and willing to do things that they (and usually I) don’t really want to. A friend who was an engineer in the Army before becoming a doctor told us once about excavation. Usually (obviously) big holes are excavated by large plant vehicles but sometimes in the military they need to be dug without machinery. You want to be one of the people in the hole, getting muddy, shovelling out dirt and grit; not leaning on a spade peering in. I guess that's a loose analogy to the model of leadership which I aim for.
"The other thing I try to do is flatten the clinical hierarchy before the ward round – I ask everyone to call me by my first name (which of course they never do, but it’s worth trying) and to chip in if they think I'm making some dreadful mistake or completely on the wrong track. And when I’ve finished speaking to a patient, I ask my team if there is anything I have missed, or that they want to ask or if they have any points to add.
"Thanks for reading."
Academy of Medical Sciences resources and tools:
Our FLIER leadership programme partners Cirrus have provided a number of free resources to download. Cirrus are bespoke leadership, talent and engagement specialists sharing their expertise.
The National Institute for Health Research have been hosting a series of webinars for leaders as part of their COVID-19 support - delivered by the organisations NIHR work with for their Future Focused Leadership programme.
In the webinar below, find out how to lead through uncertainty, and support yourself as well as others through this periods of unprecedented change. It will help you to:
Share the typical ‘change curve’ with your teams and how to leverage this to find growth and meaning in times of change.
Generate practical actions to ensure you lead with compassion in a way that enables others to feel valued and supported.
The Florence Nightingale Foundation has launched an NHS leadership support service, Nightingale Frontline offering nurses and midwives free leadership support sessions. Find out more about the leadership support service here.
The British Medical Journal has published a range of papers on leadership during COVID-19. Read their leader article on 10 minutes with Dr Iain Wallace, Medical Director, NHS Louisa Jordan Hospital here. Read reflections on leadership in the time of COVID-19 by James Stoller, Chair of the Cleveland Clinic Education Institute, here.
The King’s Fund have created an information hub with a mixture of resources to provide support to health and care leaders in unprecedented times. In the video clip below, Ian Bullock (Chief Executive of the Royal College of Physicians) outlines how leaders can add value to the work they do by acting with integrity, modelling positive behaviours, and putting their values - and the values of their organisation - at the heart of the decisions they make.
The Imperial Medicine team have previously published this blog post from former British Army officer and current PhD student Nadia Soliman on leadership in academia and the lessons we can learn from the Army’s renowned leadership programmes. Watch below for Nadia's presentation for The Department of Life Science's 2019 International Women's Day Lecture where she explores the similarities and differences between leadership styles in the military and in academia.
If you would like to contribute ideas or resources or provide feedback about this support space, please get in touch with us via programmes@acmedsci.ac.uk or complete our anonymous feedback form
We'd love to hear about what techniques and resources you're finding particularly helpful. Contact us at programmes@acmedsci.ac.uk or on social media:
COVID-19 - Q&A for applicants and award holders
