Why Undertake a Research Placement?
Engaging in a research placement offers unique benefits for your education and future practice. It is not only for those considering an academic career – it’s valuable for every healthcare professional’s development (Council of Deans of Health, 2021). Here are some key advantages of undertaking a research placement:
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Bridge Theory and Practice: Experience first-hand why certain treatments or protocols exist. By working on research, you see the direct link between data and decisions in healthcare. One student noted that the experience “showed me first-hand why research is important and why we do it,” making classroom concepts far more concrete (Council of Deans of Health, 2021). In other words, doing research helps demystify abstract concepts and shows how evidence is developed and applied in real situations.
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Build Evidence-Based Practice Skills: You will strengthen your ability to find, appraise, and use evidence. These critical thinking and analytical skills are central to physiotherapy. Learning how to systematically gather and evaluate data will make you more confident in questioning and improving clinical practice (Health Education England, 2017).
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Enhance Problem-Solving and Innovation: Research often requires creativity, problem-solving, and adaptability. By participating in a research project, you learn to formulate questions, troubleshoot methods, and interpret results. This cultivates a mindset of inquiry and continuous improvement which you can carry into any clinical role. It encourages you to not just ask “How do I treat this patient?” but also “Why am I doing it this way – what’s the evidence?”
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Expose You to Diverse Roles and Networks: A research placement can broaden your perspective on career paths. You will interact with researchers, perhaps other healthcare professionals, and possibly participants or patients in research studies. This exposure can introduce you to roles you hadn’t considered before – for example, clinical academic careers that combine practice with research (Council of Deans of Health, 2021). It’s an opportunity to network with experts and mentors in the field.
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Contribute to Service Improvement: The projects you work on often aim to improve healthcare services or patient outcomes. By contributing, even in a small way, you become part of shaping better practice. Presenting findings or suggestions to teams can be very rewarding – you see how research leads to tangible changes in policy or care delivery.
Overall, a research placement is about becoming a research-confident practitioner. Professional bodies emphasize that modern physiotherapists should be able to draw on research evidence to inform their practice (Health and Care Professions Council, 2023). In fact, engaging with research is considered one of the pillars of advanced practice, alongside clinical expertise, education, and leadership (Health Education England, 2020). By undertaking a research placement during your degree, you are aligning with these expectations early on. It prepares you to be a graduate who not only uses evidence-based guidelines but also understands how such evidence is created and can even help to create it. This experience will enhance your confidence in reading research papers, implementing new ideas, and perhaps conducting projects of your own in the future.
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Council of Deans of Health (2021). Becoming research confident: Research placements in pre-registration nursing, midwifery and allied health programmes in the UK. Council of Deans of Health, UK. (Accessed: 3 April 2025).
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Health Education England (2017). Guide to Practice-Based Learning for Allied Health Professional (AHP) Students in Research. Available from: https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/PracticeLearningv1_0.pdf (Accessed: 3 April 2025).
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Health and Care Professions Council (2023). Standards of Proficiency: Physiotherapists. Available from: https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/standards-of-proficiency/ (Accessed: 3 April 2025).
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Health Education England (2020). Multi-professional framework for advanced clinical practice in England. Available from: https://www.hee.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Multi-professional%20framework%20for%20advanced%20clinical%20practice%20in%20England.pdf (Accessed: 3 April 2025).