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Medical trainee observing clinical practice
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Clinical attachments

Two to eight weeks inside a working research site. Observational, structured, and genuinely useful — not a fortnight of watching from a corner.

The programme

What you
will actually
be doing

Attachments are observational — you will not consent participants or perform procedures — but you sit inside the working day rather than beside it.

Over the placement you will observe informed consent discussions, screening visits and follow-up appointments; sit in on protocol review and feasibility meetings; shadow the data management team through query resolution; and see how a site prepares for a monitoring visit or an inspection.

Most attachees tell us the monitoring visit is the part that changes how they think about research. Watching a monitor work through source data verification makes the reasons behind good documentation practice concrete in a way no GCP module manages.

You are assigned a named supervisor for the duration, meet them weekly, and receive a written reflective report and certificate of attendance at the end.

Who it is for

  • Medical students in clinical years, UK or international
  • International medical graduates seeking UK clinical exposure before GMC registration
  • Nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals considering a move into research
  • Postgraduate students in pharmacology, biomedical or health sciences

Practical detail

Duration
2–8 weeks, typically 3 days per week
Locations
Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Manchester
Cost
No fee. Attachments are unpaid and travel is not reimbursed.
Requirements
Enhanced DBS, occupational health clearance, right to study or work in the UK
Intakes
Rolling, subject to supervisor capacity. Apply 8–12 weeks ahead.

Places are limited by the number of supervisors we can free up without affecting study delivery, which is usually six to eight attachees per quarter across all three sites. We would rather run a small programme well.

Apply

Request an attachment

Tell us what you are hoping to get out of it. We read every application and respond within ten working days.