Mental health research urgently needs new clinician researchers - there are many important unanswered questions, and the academic workforce available to answer them has shrunk over the years. It is particularly a priority for the National Institute of Health Research and other funders to recruit a broad range of clinicians as mental health researchers, a highly stimulating career pathway.
The UCL Division of Psychiatry offers a pathway designed for clinicians wishing to train as researchers, the MSc in Mental Health Sciences Research in the Division of Psychiatry. This provides a very practical research training combined with a broad range of very interesting modules in areas of mental health including neuroscience, social and global aspects of mental health, psychosis and bipolar, depression and anxiety, trauma and mental health, the mental health of children and young people, epidemiology and statistics, cultural aspects of psychiatry and dementia. This has been a route for many into a career in which research is a major element.
For clinicians in mental health Trusts in North London, scholarships are available from both Noclor Research Support Services and North London NHS Foundation Trust to cover a substantial portion of the costs - the Division of Psychiatry itself also provides some smaller scholarships.
The MSc offers core modules in research methods together with a wide variety of optional modules, focused on areas including neuroscience, social and global aspects of mental health, evaluation in mental health and epidemiology. You can also take modules from across UCL. You finish by completing a research project with our support, writing it up in a format suitable for journal publication, and many of these papers are published. The structure is very flexible, allowing the 12 modules to be taken over up to 5 years with payment as modules are taken. People from a range of professional backgrounds, including psychiatrists in training, nurses, social workers, occupational therapists, psychologists and others have undertaken the course, leading to them incorporating research in their careers in a range of interesting ways. For more details please get in touch at dop.msc.enquiries@ucl.ac.uk,
You can find details here on the MSc and a link for applications on UCL’s website: Mental Health Sciences Research MSc | Prospective Students Graduate - UCL – University College London
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