Table 1.

Quotes to correspond with themes from the analysis

Theme 1	“I was keen to find out more about the nature of professional research” IT2
	“We had an idea for succession planning that would attract bright new podiatry graduates to work with us in our research centres…” MT1
Theme 2	“Great opportunity to learn new skills, network, understand what research involves, work with a diverse range of people, work with specialised equipment and further professional development” IT5
	“You have to be driven for a career in research. It can be competitive.” IT5
Theme 3	“I realised I was capable of greater demands than I originally thought” IT6
	“The internship made me excited about podiatry. It opened my eyes to a completely different side of podiatry that I wasn’t exposed to at University” IT5
Theme 4	“I think the enthusiasm of the people involved was a key reason for its success” IT1
	“They have an energy buzz that surrounds them and a sense of healthy competitiveness that spurs them on to progress and achieve their goals” MT1
Theme 5	“An important element has been the pairing of interns across the two institutions and then with previous interns. Peer support seems to be an essential part to the success of the interns’ development, career progression. I doubt that it would work so well if we had taken interns in isolation at each institution.” MT1
	“Mentorship was great. You had all levels of support from previous interns, to people from other disciplines” IT5
Theme 6	“It has led many onto larger things than I think we could have imagined…I do not think those opportunities for some would have been as easily achieved so early in careers without the internship” IT6
	“Being an intern has highlighted just how difficult it is for other podiatrists to be involved in early career research” IT6
Theme 7	“Try to establish longer-term programmes to improve continuity of involvement of institutions and consolidations of peer networks” MT2
	“I think those who got most out of it before starting PhD were those who came back for research assistant roles and built towards a fellowship. I think it would be great if the internship had provision to help with this kind of role” IT1

Legend: Theme 1: Perceptions of the internship pre-application; Theme 2: Internship Values; Theme 3: Maximising personal and professional development; Theme 4: Psychosocial components of the internship; Theme 5: The role of mentoring and networking; Theme 6: Access to research pathways; Theme 7: Perceptions of future developments for the internship programme.