Medical Oncology Fellowship Programme

The medical oncology departments currently host over 20 clinical fellows. Depending on the project and funding, these fellows are attached to one or more disease-specific groups, and play an active part in NHS outpatient care, research clinics and associated meetings. All fellows have their own supervisor(s) that provide mentoring and training throughout the programme. 

Clinical fellows are also encouraged to develop and lead on their own research projects and audits. There are weekly training sessions and an annual research day which take place as part of the formal fellowship programme at The Christie.

Additional funding is available for education and training activities. Depending on the type of medical oncology fellowship, posts can begin at any time and last from 6 months to 2 years.

Members of the Medical Oncology Fellowship committee: Dr Natalie Cook, Dr Tom Waddell and Dr Mairéad McNamara
Attendees at the MCRC PhD Students and Medical Oncology Clinical Fellows Welcome Event

Different kinds of fellows are described below;

    1. Laboratory research-focused clinical fellows
      • Predominantly based in a laboratory under the supervision of an academic consultant and/or a scientific mentor
      • Suitable for out-of-programme/post-Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) UK trainees or senior trainees from overseas, who wish to pursue an academic career path
      • Involves working towards a formal research qualification (e.g. Doctor of Philosophy [PhD] or Masters' degree (in oncology or research) and may involve writing grant applications or research protocols
      • Would have limited, defined clinical commitments linked to the research project
    2. Clinical research-focused clinical fellows
      • Predominantly based within the department of medical oncology under the supervision of a consultant clinician
      • Suitable for out-of-programme/post-CCT UK trainees or senior trainees from overseas, who wish to pursue an academic career path
      • 2 different possibilities
        • 2a) Formal clinical research - working towards PhD, MD or Master’s degree in research (MRes): These fellows have chosen a formal training programme for either a PhD, MD or Masters. Depending on the project, this will usually involve performing and publishing self-led clinical research and audit activities including protocol-writing. Information about PhD programmes are available on the University of Manchester webpage.
        • 2b) Clinical research fellow without formal track - these are fellows that have been accepted within different disease groups and will have planned projects (usually 1 year or more dependent on funding). Depending on the projects, this will involve splitting time between research and a moderate clinical commitment and may involve clinical research and audit activities, including protocol-writing. These fellows will gain significant research experience but will not be working towards a formal research qualification.
    3. Service provision-focused clinical fellows
      • The aim of these fellow posts is to gain clinical experience or disease-specific expertise
      • Suitable for all levels of trainees from UK or overseas, who wish to gain experience in medical oncology
      • Although not specifically here to pursue research, these fellows are expected to participate in research clinics and audit activities (as part of their experience of training)
      • The majority of the working week will be dedicated to clinical commitments

Last updated: June 2023

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