27 May 2020
In the next of our blogs exploring the experience of members during the COVID-19 pandemic, we speak to two clinical research fellows about how the pandemic has affected their PhDs and how this experience has changed the trajectory for their careers.
Dr Chris Wincup is a Clinical Research Fellow at University College London, who has had to pause his PhD to head back onto the wards.
“It’s been a big change for me! My usual day would be spent working in the lab and getting data for my PhD, with my clinical work usually consisting of just one lupus clinic a week. Now I’ve decided to suspend my research and I’m working full-time on one of the coronavirus wards at University College London Hospital (UCLH).
“I was apprehensive about going back on the wards as it’s been nearly five years since my last general medical job. I was honest about my anxieties and worries with my colleagues, who were very supportive, and I soon realised that I wasn’t the only one feeling like this, and what I was feeling was actually pretty normal. I was worried that I would be out of practice, but it’s been positive to get back to the ward and realise I can still do it. Everyone has adapted quickly to such a massive change and it is something that will stay with me throughout my career.
“I’ve been working as a medical registrar on the wards, looking after new patients as they come in and helping with the day-to-day running of the ward. I’ve worked at UCLH for nearly five years and I know the rheumatology team well, but it’s been really interesting to learn from other specialties that I don’t usually meet. It’s been a shared learning experience between us all and it’s been helpful to have all that different expertise together on one ward. It's been really inspiring to see the way in which new teams of doctors, nurses, physios and other health care professionals have come together and started working in a completely different environment within the NHS.
“My PhD is lab-based, looking at iron metabolism and mitochondrial function in lupus. Both the university and my funders (Versus Arthritis) emphasised that I won’t be disadvantaged by going back and helping in the NHS; they’ve actually encouraged us research fellows to do so. Everyone has been supportive in helping us rapidly return to clinical practice and I’m incredibly grateful for the help we’ve been given.
“I don’t know when I’ll be able to go back to my PhD. Everyone's working out what the next steps are going to be, while there's now a focus on getting more routine care back up and running. We’re waiting for further updates on whether we’ll go back to our research or be utilised in different ways around the hospital.
“This experience has made me think differently about myself. I’m someone who likes everything planned out and I’ve never thought of myself as particularly adaptable when things come out of the blue. But going through this has made me more flexible in times of change, and I’ll be taking that forward for my future career.
“Whenever I’m no longer needed in the hospital, I’ll be going back to complete my PhD and then in the next year or so I’ll be going back into the NHS full-time to finish my training. This experience has given me the confidence that I can look after very unwell patients, having not done it for a while now.
“It’s been a difficult situation and I’ve been amazed at how everyone has come together so quickly. It’s been a huge effort from everyone to try and help in these challenging circumstances.”
Dr Su-Ann Yeoh is a Clinical Research Fellow at University College London, who was just a few months into her PhD when the pandemic hit.
“Prior to the pandemic I was six months into my PhD in rheumatoid arthritis and whether we can predict who will remain in remission once they reduce the dose of their biologic therapy. I put my PhD studies on hold to become part of the COVID-19 pandemic workforce.
“I had mixed feelings to start with and some apprehension, but as I got into it, the medical knowledge and past medical experience all came flooding back. In our rheumatology training, we are also required to receive training in general internal medicine, which equips us with transferable skills. My rota now involves a variety of shifts including long days, normal days, and night shifts.
“We’ve all had to be very flexible and adapt to the new environment, but everyone is in the same boat. We’ve been learning together about SARS-CoV-2 and trying to keep up with the wealth of new evidence and information being made available every day. Working with a team made up of people deployed from various medical specialties has enabled us to work more efficiently to manage the patients.
“On my days off I have been collecting data on UCLH rheumatology patients who've had COVID-19. This information is fed into the EULAR COVID-19 database which feeds into the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance database. I think it’s important to contribute local data and local experience about how our patients are affected and the global rheumatology community has really come together to collaborate to collect data and share expertise. I hope that this enthusiasm and global collaborative effort continues post-pandemic.
“This experience has been useful for me in evaluating my career. This unplanned redeployment back to medicine has highlighted how crucial it is to keep my knowledge and skills updated in general internal medicine. Rheumatologists, even those in academia, have been contributing to the general internal medicine workforce during this period. Having only recently taken time out of general internal medicine/rheumatology training, it was relatively easy to get back into the swing of things, but this may have been more challenging if there was a longer gap in between.
“At the moment, I have been focusing my thoughts and time on clinical work on the COVID-19 ward, which is where the need is right now. However, in preparation for when the university reopens, I am rethinking ways of getting my PhD studies back on track.
“In terms of rheumatology, it will be interesting to see how creative reconfiguration of the service and also technology can be used innovatively to shape the 'new normal' of rheumatology in the future. In UCLH we’ve had to do lot of remote consultations. While face-to-face consultations are still important, especially in patients where clinical examination is required to determine treatment escalation or de-escalation, for select patient groups, remote clinic consultations may be the future.
“I have been very much inspired by everyone I have come across during this whole experience and have certainly learnt a lot myself. We are all usually so busy in the day-to-day, sometimes silo working, that it can be easy to forget to appreciate one another.
“Everyone – doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants, physio and occupational therapists, porters, discharge coordinators, cleaners, security guards, to name but a few – coming together, working hard, being flexible and adapting to unfamiliar situations with smiles on their faces, even though it’s a pandemic and patients are very sick. This is what makes the NHS amazing.”
Huge thanks to Chris, Su-Ann, and all of those who are sharing their experience of working during the pandemic. A free wellbeing support helpline is available for NHS staff from 7am-11pm seven days a week: call 0300 131 7000 for confidential listening from trained professionals and specialist advice, including coaching, bereavement care, mental health and financial support.