NEWS Elin Hahlin started as a research aspirant during the medical programme and is now a research resident at Vindeln Healthcare centre – being the first one within primary care. This means that she is training to become a specialist in general medicine and at the same time can continue with her doctoral studies in virus research. The system for career paths, which was developed in Umeå, enables doctors to combine research and clinical work throughout their professional life.
Elin Hahlin is a resident physician and a doctoral student in Niklas Arnberg's group at the Department of Clinical Microbiology at Umeå University.
ImageAnja Hansena great way to continue with both clinical work and research
Elin Hahlin has always been interested in research, but thought it was something she would do later in her career. Already during the first year of the medical programme, she was introduced to the programme for research aspirants.
“I found a project to work on, applied and got to work in the same research group for eight weeks, three summers in a row. I enjoyed myself incredibly well and continued during my studies as a project assistant and was also able to base my T10 work on the research,” she says.
In the last semester of the medical programme, Elin Hahlin got a doctoral position in the same group. Her project is about understanding how enteric viruses, which cause stomach flu, enter the body, cause disease, and how they interact with the body's natural functions and defences against infection.
As she wanted to combine research with clinical work, the natural path was to apply for research internship (forskar-AT) after her medical degree. This means that the regular clinical internship is extended by research time, which is done in periods between the clinical placements.
“This possibility is particularly important for those who work with translational research,” says Elin Hahlin.
After the clinical internship, she had more research time than clinic time, a "do it yourself" job, as Elin calls it, which can get complicated in the long run with different employers. She worked as an assistant doctor in primary care one day a week for six months, and general medicine is what attracts her most about the medical profession.
“Clinically, it is the most enjoyable type of medical work, with the patient contact during reception time and the opportunity to follow the patient over a long period of time. I am curious and want to know how it goes! I also think it is interesting with different diseases and ages, says Elin Hahlin.
The opportunity to specialize in general medicine and at the same time continue with the thesis work, opened through a regionally funded research residency position (forskar-ST) at Vindeln's health center. It is part of the system of career paths and is aimed at those who have relatively far left to the defence and are at residency level.
“The programme means that you do not have to opt out of one to invest in the other. It is a great way to continue with both clinical work and research,” says Elin Hahlin.
Elin Hahlin is the region's first research resident in primary care, which means that she divides her working time between clinical work and research. In research, she now has a lot of time in the laboratory at the university and works two days a week at Vindeln's healthcare centre. She also sees that the system of career paths can pave the way for more people who want to combine a clinical and academic career, especially in primary care, where recruitment needs are great.
“I believe that this type of programme makes it easier to recruit to primary care, not least smaller health care centres, and at the same time strengthens primary care with research. There are many researchers who want to focus more on general medicine and primary care, but there is sometimes a lack of connection to the health centres,” she says.
Elin is now in her first year of specialization, with about a year and a half left until her dissertation. After that, there are more steps in the career programme.
“I really want to continue with both the clinic work and research. I like the freedom to mix both, and eventually hope to add some teaching.”
She is leaning towards shifting to research that is closer to the needs of primary care.
“Virus research interests me, but it can be done in different ways, for example investigating the presence of different viruses. To bring the work together a little more, it would feel good to do research in the area where I work clinically,” concludes Elin Hahlin.
Region Västerbotten and Umeå University have jointly developed the system for career paths for doctors who want to combine clinical work and scientific qualifications. It is the forerunner of similar systems in other healthcare regions. The career programme model, which was developed in Umeå, was particularly highlighted in the Swedish Research Council's latest ALF evaluation.
