“It's been an incredible learning path” - Radiographer reflects on her research journey
- 06 November 2024
- 3 min read
Victoria McArthur is an MRI Radiographer at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Following a career break to raise her family, she decided to switch from working in marine research to radiography after being “bowled over by the profession” when meeting radiographers at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH).
Since then, Victoria has been working in imaging at NNUH, specialising in MRI. In March 2023, having realised she wanted to make even more of a difference to patients, she completed the NIHR East of England Regional Research Delivery Network (RRDN) Internship Scheme.
This scheme provides dedicated funding for nurses, midwives, and allied healthcare professionals who are new to research, providing them with an opportunity to work alongside experienced research teams.
Victoria shares how she used her learnings from this scheme to embed research into her radiography career, and how she is now delivering her own research into improving imaging pathways for people living with dementia.
What were your motivations to get involved in research?
I was motivated by my experiences of scanning people who are living with dementia. I felt like there were improvements to that patient pathway that could be made.
It was this topic that led me to explore how I could add research to my career, and I applied for the NIHR East of England RRDN Internship Scheme.
What was your experience of taking part in the Internship Scheme?
It gave me the opportunity to spend one day a week for three months touring around the hospital, visiting all kinds of departments and working with people who are delivering research.
It allowed me to look into the research happening in the hospital and learn how clinical research works in practice, and it led me to build a network of contacts who I could turn to for advice.
My experience cemented the idea that I definitely wanted to carry on with research, and I felt that it added diversity to my role.
How have you further developed your research career since finishing the Internship Scheme?
After the Internship Scheme, I went on to successfully apply for research capability funding, which funded one day a week of research. This allowed me to develop my research idea and start writing some papers to build my credibility in this area.
This then allowed me to take the next steps in producing a coherent research application. I am also currently undertaking an NHS England Post-Doctoral Bridging Award.
Can you tell us about the research that you’re currently delivering?
MRIs can be extraordinarily disturbing environments, particularly for people living with dementia, as they're very loud and scans take a long time. We also need people to stay still during the scans because any movement makes the scans all blurry.
We already use music in MRI, but there's a lot of evidence to suggest that specific period music might be very useful for people living with dementia. I'm trying to find out what interventions we could think about using and, importantly, whether we will be able to use those interventions in a clinical setting.
Looking to the future, what are you hoping to achieve in your research career?
My key goal is to become a clinical academic, and to embed research within radiography at NNUH. I’m very much committed to remaining clinical, but also doing research at the same time.
How has the NIHR helped you to develop your research career?
Their Internship Scheme helped to kickstart my understanding of clinical research, so I know that the training that they offer is really useful. It's been an incredible learning path.
They’ve been very helpful and responsive with any questions I’ve had. They always point you in the right direction, and they’re incredibly supportive of allied health professionals.
What advice do you have for radiographers who are interested in adding research to their careers?
I would definitely recommend that radiographers take a look at the training opportunities offered by the NIHR as it gives a valuable insight into the research happening within their own hospital.
I want radiographers to know that research is a little extra bit they can add to their career to diversify it, as well as making a huge difference to patients.
