Research Fellows - Health Practitioner Research

‘Research Fellows’ is an umbrella term for health practitioner and allied health researchers in the Queensland public health system. In Queensland Health, our Research Fellows have generally originated from one of the following initiatives:

Health Practitioner Research Fellows

The Health Practitioners (Queensland Health) Certified Agreement (No. 1) 2007 included a research package intended to build research capacity in the health practitioner workforce and support the implementation of evidence based clinical services. This research package provided the necessary funding to establish dedicated Research Fellow positions in the department.

The Office of the Chief Allied Health Officer recently sponsored a research project undertaken by Gold Coast Health’s Dr Rachel Wenke and Prof Sharon Mickan which used a qualitative approach to explore the impact of the HP research positions on allied health research capacity within QH, as well as the mechanisms that facilitated or hindered their success. The project formed part of a larger evaluation of the impact of the HP Research fellows since their inception. Nine key outcomes of the research positions were identified including increased clinician skill development and research activity, clinical and service changes, enhanced research and workplace culture and improved profile of allied health. The full report can be accessed here - Part 1: Summary and Qualitative Evaluation and Part 2: Impact Case Studies.

Conjoint and Dedicated Research Positions

Hospital and Health Services (HHS) have several conjoint HHS/university allied health research points and dedicated research positions. These positions have existed for some time and have produced and supported significant research.