The Primary Care Unit is a highly active teaching environment, fostering learning in academic primary care, general practice and applied clinical research. This page provides an overview of our teaching and training activities. We provide signposting for those who wish to apply for funding for research – see our funding pages here.
Undergraduate Medical Education
The Primary Care Unit contributes to the curriculum throughout the six years of the course, delivering GP training and teaching a number of courses, including the Social and Ethical Context of Health and Illness, medical law and ethics, and palliative care. We also provide structured opportunities for students to train in applied clinical research.
See more about our contributions to Undergraduate Medical Education
Primary Care Research within the MPhil in Population Health Sciences
The Primary Care Unit leads a theme specialising in Primary Care Research within the MPhil in Population Health Sciences (PHS).
The MPhil in Population Health Sciences is a postgraduate master’s course jointly run by the Department of Public Health and Primary Care, the MRC Epidemiology Unit and the MRC Biostatistics Unit.
The Primary Care Research theme builds upon and replaces the previous MPhil in Primary Care Research. The aim of the course is to provide students with theoretical knowledge and skills as well as practical research experience to launch an academic career in primary care research.
See more about the MPhil in Population Health Sciences
NIHR Academic Clinical Fellows
The Health Education East of England, in collaboration with the Primary Care Unit, University of Cambridge, offers two NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow posts annually. Strong candidates with an interest in pursuing a career in primary care research are encouraged to apply. Successful applicants will be encouraged to complete the University of Cambridge MPhil in Primary Care Research, or equivalent degree, and will receive individually tailored academic mentoring and supervision in order to develop knowledge, understanding and skills in research methods and medical education.
Academic training within the post is fully integrated into the highly regarded Cambridge GPST Programme with an academic strand maintained across the whole four-year period tailored to the post-holder’s needs. The academic programme will also include practical experience of research.
See more about our ACF programme
Research training for nurses, midwives and AHPs
The Clinical Nursing Research Group (CNRG), led by Florence Nightingale Foundation Professor of Clinical Nursing Research, Christi Deaton, is conducting research focusing on improving outcomes in people with long-term conditions, and building research capacity and capability among nurses, midwives and allied health professionals in Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUHFT) and the School of Clinical Medicine.
The Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) are funding internal research fellowships for Cambridge nurses, midwives and AHPs (NMAHPs). These are intended to buy out time from clinical duties, and provide support and funding for patient and public involvement activities and pilot work so that applicants can develop a competitive doctoral or post-doctoral fellowship application.
See more about the CNRG
Opportunities for PhD students in topics relevant to primary care
The Primary Care Unit is keen to recruit postgraduate research students from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines. We value the contribution PhD students’ research plays in the life and culture of the Unit, and see it as a vital way in which research at the Unit will develop. Funding information is offered here.
See more about opportunities for PhD students