Aimee Pinnington, Lecturer in Biomedical Science at Keele University, with an update on her research into education, training and development pathways.
Preliminary scoping research via focus groups in 2023 revealed a gap in the development and progression pipeline at several key points in the career of biomedical scientists.
This research unearthed six key themes relating to: registration, accreditation, student preparedness, training capacity, clinical impact, and career advances, all of which were discussed in a February 2024 article in the Biomedical Scientist.
One of the key gaps identified via the scoping research was around advanced practice positions, with the pathways to reach advanced practice often being unclear, and with barriers to these positions being identified by the workforce.
Whilst other gaps in the development and progression pipeline, such as students qualifying as biomedical scientists, are being addressed via several initiatives from the IBMS, advanced practice is an area with less existing evidence to support it and is therefore an area requiring further research. As a result, my research focus has been further refined to explore “the barriers and facilitators to advanced practice as a biomedical scientist”.
My research has now progressed to a mixed-methods study, gaining ethical approval in April 2024. Since moving my studies to Keele University, I now have a lead supervisor who is a psychologist, and I have therefore been well supported to bring in the theoretical domains framework (TDF) to support this phase of my study.
The TDF (2012) brings together 33 different theories of behaviour into 14 domains to provide a framework through which to examine the various influences on individual and group behaviours, e.g. cognitive and social barriers. The TDF has been used across a range of healthcare settings and clinical behaviours to provide a theory-driven approach, including investigations of facilitators and barriers in numerous specialisms, and has therefore been selected as an appropriate framework upon which to base this mixed-methods study. It is hoped that using the TDF will allow emerging themes to be categorised and therefore acted upon in a more efficient way.
Focus groups for phase 1 of the mixed-methods study will begin in June 2024, examining the barriers and facilitators to advanced practice positions at key career points from students through to those actively working in advanced positions. The study will then progress to the phase 2 survey in late Summer 2024 – here, key concepts from phase 1 will be further explored to quantify the barriers and facilitators to advanced practice. I am keen to capture as many responses as possible for this survey to accurately reflect the views of our profession, and so I would welcome your participation if you are interested.
I would particularly like to encourage participation from across the devolved nations.
I would like to finish with a big “thank you” to all those who have contributed to my research to date – without you, there would be no research. If you are interested in being involved in the mixed-methods study, please contact me via email at [email protected] for a sign-up form and further details.
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