ARC-GM Hosts "Dragons' Den" Session for Pre-Docs and Interns
On 7th May 2024, the Capacity Building and Public & Community, Involvement & Engagement Teams jointly held a "Dragons' Den" session to give Pre-Doctoral Fellows and Interns an opportunity to present their project ideas. The event was a way of helping ARC-GM early career researchers to engage with members of the public and get feedback on their project and public and patient involvement plans.
Several members of the ARC-GM Public and Community Involvement and Engagement (PCIE) Panel and the Young People Advisory Research Group (YPAG) attended on the day. Rather than panel members ‘investing’ in a project, they provided valuable feedback and recommendations to help researchers refine their work.
Presenters and their projects:
- Sophie Chalmers, a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, presented her mixed methods study on the Characteristics and Identification of Laryngeal Hypersensitivity in Medically Unexplained Dysphagia. Sophie commented on her experience from the session:
“As a clinician, it was really valuable to be able to openly discuss thoughts and ideas on specific research topics. It was amazing to hear how topics resonated with individuals, the public and YPAG members.
These individuals would not necessarily be included within patient involvement so this was incredibly valuable to hear their thoughts as lay-persons. I have used the feedback specifically within healthcare communication, symptom communication, and dissemination of complex topic areas in my subsequent applications and have incorporated this into future project planning. “
- Lisa Barrington, an Alcohol Specialist Nurse at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, discussed her Feminist exploration of women military veterans’ experiences of harmful alcohol use in the context of identity. Lisa said:
“Although my project topic is very specific, the session was valuable for me in understanding how the research may be perceived by different groups of people, particularly around language and inclusivity. For example how terms like ‘veteran’ and ‘fashion’ can be perceived.
The session generated some interesting and creative ideas to guide the research delivery and involve members of the wider community. It was an enjoyable and insightful experience.”
- Jessica Keen, the Pharmacy Lead at North West Genomic Medicine Service Alliance, presented her research on Pharmacogenomic panel testing for people with cancer. Jessica commented:
“The session was really valuable for me as an early career researcher, to learn about different ways to engage with patients and members of the public to plan research. I got many ideas about how to explain my research topic in a simple way so that people can give me their views, and suggestions about different approaches to get people’s insight.
What also became clear is that it’s really important for researchers to feed back their progress and findings to groups that have supported their research design, so they can see the results of the research they have been a part of. Based on the input from the session I am planning to conduct a focus group in my target population and keeping some of the suggestions in mind for doctoral studies. It was a relaxed environment which helped reassure me that my research will be of value.”
Sadia Mir, a young person from our Young Person's Advisory Group shared her thoughts on the day:
"It was great to see the benefits that an everyday person can contribute to research. Usually when researchers are looking for layman representatives, they ask for people with relevant lived experiences (e.g. asking for cancer patients when it's a project on cancer).
It was nice to see that there is actual benefit in talking things through with people who don't have those experiences, because it does take out the emotional factor. Very interesting! I loved how casual it felt. It truly felt like we were regarded as being on the same level as researchers.
It was lovely to see that they were human just like us! They had worries, likes and dislikes. I think we can be very focused on the types of projects we get involved in, and don't realise that there are so many different types of research projects and some can be very niche. It was interesting to see what other topics are out there. I didn't know that there was funded PhD research, so it was a new learning point!"
This session highlighted the value of community involvement in research and displayed a variety of innovative projects plans. NIHR ARC-GM aims to support and enhance research infrastructure across Greater Manchester, through our Internship and Pre-doctoral Fellowship Programmes.
Find out more about these opportunities here: arc-gm.nihr.ac.uk/training-and-development
