Recent BPJ articles have explored research paramedics’ roles (McClelland et al., 2023), identity (Wilson et al., 2022) and motivation (Whitley & Wilson, 2022). A consistent message is the lack of clarity surrounding research as a career choice for paramedics, which we wish to address by highlighting an issue that is so far receiving less attention: research delivery versus clinical academic paramedic roles.
In other healthcare settings, we see clearly that roles pertaining to research delivery (e.g. research nurses, research midwives, clinical research practitioners) are responsible for the day-to-day delivery of clinical research. This includes, for example, study set-up, consent, recruitment or data collection. Essentially, their job involves carrying out the steps outlined in the research protocol to ensure that the study runs as smoothly as possible. Meanwhile, clinical academics, who are involved in the conduct and design of research, are less focused on the day-to-day carrying out of studies and instead contribute or lead on defining research questions, writing study protocols, obtaining funding and relevant approvals, as well as analysing and disseminating research findings.
Within the paramedic workforce, there appears to be an overlap between ‘research paramedic’ (research delivery) and ‘paramedic researcher’ (research conduct and design) roles. Previous publications mention that research delivery roles may be a good gateway for paramedics wishing to design research (McClelland et al., 2023), but it may be that some research paramedics are not seeking to develop into clinical academics but to continue in research delivery as a distinct career pathway. For paramedics conducting and designing research studies, a lack of agreement on job titles appears to be an issue, with paramedic researcher, (senior) research fellow, (paramedic) clinical academic and research paramedic being used interchangeably.
We would embrace further research exploring research delivery and clinical academic roles for paramedics, to encourage others to pursue what we think are excellent career choices – or maybe it is just one career choice?!
Conflict of interest
CW is an associate editor of the BPJ.
Contributor Information
Caitlin Wilson, Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9854-4289.
Fiona Bell, Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4503-1903.
References
- McClelland G., Limmer M., & Charlton K. (2023). The RESearch PARamedic Experience (RESPARE) study: A qualitative study exploring the experiences of research paramedics working in the United Kingdom. British Paramedic Journal, 7(4), 14–22. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Whitley G. A., & Wilson C. (2022). Paramedics . . . Why do research? British Paramedic Journal, 7(1), 1–2. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wilson C., Janes G., & Williams J. (2022). Identity, positionality and reflexivity: Relevance and application to research paramedics. British Paramedic Journal, 7(2), 43–49. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]