A PCRS workshop for aspiring primary care respiratory researchers

A workshop dedicated to primary care respiratory researchers is being held the afternoon before the PCRS annual conference.

The event is aimed at aspiring early and early-mid career researchers and will include presentations from senior researchers, a patient representative and opportunities for discussion and feedback on participants’ own research.

The speakers will include Amanda Roberts, a member of the PCRS Lay Reference Group, who will explain how researchers can work in partnership with patients. PCRS trustee and senior researcher Steph Taylor, will talk about collaborative working between researchers, patients and other groups and how this can enrich research projects.

There will be a session for participants to give elevator pitches about their research portfolios and a research surgery where researchers will be able to discuss their plans or issues in small groups, with facilitation from experienced researchers.

Dr Helen Ashdown, GP and researcher and PCRS research lead, says:  “This meeting will enable researchers to find out more about what is currently happening in primary care respiratory research and to gain feedback, tips and ideas from others about their own research.

“The main thing is that they will also be able to meet and network with other people doing similar research.  They will then have plenty of time to talk in depth to these colleagues during the course of the conference.”

PCRS is keen to become the home for people involved in primary care respiratory research. Helen explains: “There are specific challenges to research in primary care not covered by other respiratory organisations, and we aim to fill that gap as well as provide a friendly community for people to share their work and form new collaborations.

“This year for the first time at the conference the research stream will be dedicated to primary care respiratory research providing even more time for oral presentations and a poster session.

“There is now a section of the PCRS website which contains information about how PCRS can support primary care respiratory researchers. Our Lay Reference Group for example can help with advice from the patient perspective about research proposals and with our mailing list and network of over 4,000 respiratory interested clinicians we can help recruit patients for studies or help with dissemination of surveys and research findings.”

Working together for research to change practice: partnership with patients and colleagues - 27th September 2018 - Telford International Centre, 12.30