acamedics is a non-profit organisation run by doctors for doctors. As the first organisation of its type, acamedics was set up to help those of us wishing to make a contribution to the current evidence base not because we have to, but because we want to. It is our opinion that medical research should no longer be elitist, inaccessible and limited to the ivory tower.
It is our prerogative to use evidence to explore fresh new ideas, spark debate, challenge the status quo and to constantly improve clinical standards. Wherever there are patients, healthcare professionals have an onus to audit their activity and report their findings to the medical community and the public. The over-commercialisation of medical journals and the pressure of doing research purely for publishing rather than patient benefit, has required us to rethink our approach and develop new platforms of presenting important studies with open access to all.
By disseminating the right tools and key concepts, our aim is to equip all those who wish to learn about academic medicine and to create a conducive environment for them to perform their study and deliver their findings. Whether you are a Professor or medical student, acamedics will put you in touch with the right project, the right person at the right place to make it happen.
Eventually, wherever you are in the world, we want our organisation to facilitate your journey in academic medicine with projects of personal relevance and clinical importance - not just tick-box exercises. We look forward to enabling driven and inspired individuals to improve the health-related outcomes of their local population.
acamedics
Why is medical research important to us?
- Academic medicine has three interlinking tenets at its core: Medical Education, Research and Patient Care. These are all facets of the same item; to address one of these we really have to address all.
- Academic and university hospitals should pride themselves on providing the latest in cutting-edge patient care. To foster this culture of excellence and innovation, centres must encourage participation in academic activity from the grassroots level.
- Doctors in all specialties, be it academic or primarily clinical, are expected to have a good understanding of the principles underlying clinical research. These skills are not always formally taught and tangible opportunities are hard to come by.
- Junior doctors and medical students throughout the times have been key protagonists in furthering medicine through their research. Examples include the discovery of heparin, penicillin and insulin.
- We believe a positive research experience during the early stage of a medical career may inspire the next generation of clinician-scientists.
Testimonials
~ Quantitative
We are making effective use of Likert scales in our feedback forms, some which can be seen below (obtained from UCL in 2013):
~ Qualitative
Here are a few comments from previous scheme participants:
“Thanks for organising the scheme."
"I think that acamedics is a brilliant way for medical students to access research."
"A very useful and well organised scheme. Keep up the good work!"
"Thanks for your help; I think the scheme was well designed and well organised on the whole."
"Hope it continues - it is a good experience, both for medical students wanting to participate in research and be involved in academia as it provides a good linking bridge to get a taster of academic medicine, I feel encouraged and inspired, so thank you!”
"I have enjoyed the opportunity to work on a project and write a paper with a group, acamedics really facilitated this well."
"I have no complaints about anything this year and the scheme is a fantastic idea."
“I am totally satisfied with the entire process so far, absolutely no complaints. Good to have regular contact from acamedics via email. Looking forward to the teaching sessions/workshops. My supervisor is very enthusiastic and inspiring.”
“Very happy with the acamedics system”
“I think the acamedics project has been really good so far, no suggestions to give!”
“Really grateful to acamedics for offering me this opportunity. Great idea for an organisation, well organised and fair application process.”
“acamedics is a very useful group. Thank you.”
“The acamedics scheme seems to be very well organised. I am very happy with my project so far.”
“I have been extremely impressed by how useful and approachable both my project manager and supervisor have been. Great support network!”
“The whole scheme is very well organised, I think that the workshops have helped me to enhance skills useful in my project.”
“I said in my interview that one of my aims of joining acamedics was to possibly get my name on a paper, and this seems to be working out well! - so I am very happy with my allocated project despite it not being my first choice when applying.”
“The scheme seems very well run and I have no complaints about my project allocation. I liked the supplementary seminars and workshops as well.”
“The whole experience so far has been good - I am happy with my project!”
“So far everything has been fine and I feel I have enough support from acamedics should I need it.”