Academic General Practice

Clinical academic GPs are general practitioners who combine their clinical work with academic research, primarily focused on primary care, while continuing to provide patient services. This career path is ideal if you want to contribute to research across general practice, covering topics such as disease-specific studies, multimorbidity, health inequalities and service delivery.

While teaching can be part of the role, this page focuses on research as the core activity. 

Learn more about educator roles

What type of research do academic GPs do?

Academic GPs lead research covering the full range of general practice, for example:

• disease-specific research such as diabetes, asthma, frailty, ageing and multimorbidity
• studies on service organisation, including continuity of care, access to services and health inequalities
• combining quantitative methods such as surveys, clinical trials and cohorts with qualitative approaches like interviews and focus groups
• collaborating across disciplines, working with secondary care specialists, public health experts, data scientists, social scientists and health services researchers to bring primary care expertise into broader research programmes

Training programmes

There are multiple entry points, depending on your stage and experience. Some common paths are:

Academic Clinical Fellowship (ACF) 

These integrate research training into GP training. It may extend the GP training period to allow time for academic work (for instance, spreading a three-year GP programme over four).

There are a few NIHR funded ACFs in General Practice (GP) and Primary Care in England and some locally funded, NIHR-approved programmes too.

More about Academic Clinical Fellowships (ACF) 

In‑Practice Fellowships (NIHR)

For newly qualified or experienced GPs without formal academic training, these fellowships give you protected time (usually 50 %) for two years to develop research skills.

More about In-Practice Fellowships

General Practice Academic Research Training Scheme

In Northern Ireland, there are usually two General Practice Academic Research Training Scheme (GPARTS) posts available each year, funded jointly by the Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency (NIMDTA) and the Research and Development Division of Health and Social Care Ireland (HSC).

More about GPARTS

Scottish Clinical Research Excellence Development Scheme

In Scotland, doctors are required first to secure a clinical GP rotation and then apply for a Scottish Clinical Research Excellence Development Scheme (SCREDS) lecturer post.

More about SCREDS

GP Specialty Academic Training

All recruits to GP Training in Wales can, in their ST2 year and in competition with their peers, apply to extend their training and enter a GP Specialty Academic Training (GPSAT) programme.

More about GPSAT

Qualifications for clincial academic GPs

To progress as a clinical academic, many start via a Master’s degree in research methods. From there you can apply for doctoral funding. Many Academic Clinical Fellowships lead into funded PhD opportunities (via the NIHR, Wellcome Trust, or universities).

After your PhD, you can apply for a Clinical Lectureship or research fellowship positions. These posts develop you as an independent researcher alongside your GP work.

Portfolio careers 

You don’t have to be a clinical academic GP to contribute to research in general practice. Many GPs engage in research as part of a general practice portfolio career. A portfolio career is one where a GP combines different professional activities rather than working in a single full-time role.

For example, this might include:

• regular clinical sessions in a general practice
• participation in research studies or clinical trials
• quality improvement projects or audit work
• occasional teaching, policy development or leadership roles

Through a portfolio career, you can build research experience gradually alongside your clinical work, without committing to a full-time academic post. Practical ways to get involved include:

• contributing to ongoing research studies or clinical trials through your local Clinical Research Network
• attending conferences such as the Society for Academic Primary Care, Royal College of General Practitioners or World Family Doctors conferences to network and learn about research opportunities
• collaborating with university research groups or primary care research centres in your region