Senior Research Associate (MRU Qualitative Researcher) at University of Bristol

The role

This exciting opportunity within the Musculoskeletal Research Unit offers you a varied role that will enable further development and implementation of a clinical decision tool (Vfrac) prior to initiation of a future multi-centre cluster randomised controlled trial, and contribute to a study on decision making before joint replacement for osteoarthritis (I-DECIDE). Vfrac is a simple clinical checklist developed at the University of Bristol to help primary care practitioners decide if an older women with back pain is at high risk of having an osteoporotic vertebral fracture (broken bone in the back), and therefore requires a spinal radiograph to confirm the diagnosis.

Line management will be provided by Post-doctoral Research Fellow in Qualitative research who in turn is supported by Professor Rachael Gooberman-Hill who is methodological lead for this study.

What will you be doing?

The key duties of this post will be to assess use of the Vfrac tool in men and identify if it needs to be modified, to help with translation into Punjabi and Urdu, and to evaluate the feasibility of the future future multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial of Vfrac in primary care including assessment of the acceptability of Vfrac to patients and a range of healthcare professionals.

In addition to Vfrac, I-DECIDE is an NIHR RfPB funded study of decision making around surgery for osteoarthritis. This part of the role will involve conducting focus groups with orthopaedic surgeons and patients, focused on understanding the information and decision-making process that occurs during surgical consultations about knee replacement surgery. The findings from the focus group will then be used to inform the development of a logic model, co-designed with patients and clinical stakeholders, to inform the development and assessment of future shared decision-making interventions.

You should apply if

• You enjoy working within a multidisciplinary team to deliver health related qualitative research
• You are self-motivated, proactive, innovative, and able to use your initiative
• You want to contribute to the life of our Unit, School, and University
• You have knowledge and experience of qualitative research with healthcare professionals and patients
• You have a PhD in a discipline of relevance to qualitative research
• You have published first author peer-reviewed articles
• You have excellent communication skills including writing skills and ability to communicate research to colleagues from a variety of disciplines

Additional information

Contract type: Open-ended with funding for 14 months

Work pattern: Full time/ 1 FTE

Grade: Grade J / Pathway 2

Salary: £40,745 – £45,737 per annum

School/Unit: Bristol Medical School

Shift pattern: 35 hours per week

This advert will close at 23:59 GMT on 20/06/2023

For informal queries please contact: Tanzeela Khalid t.khalid@bristol.ac.uk