3 Reasons to Apply for the Academic Foundation Programme
And why I think you should consider applying.
I was halfway through medical school when I first heard about the Academic Foundation Programme (AFP).
Supposedly, it was like the regular Foundation Programme, but you’d get 4 months of dedicated research time in your F2 year.
Plus, the title of ‘Academic Foundation Doctor’ sounded cool.
After months of piecing together scraps of information I’d heard about the elusive programme, I concluded that I’d need multiple publications, presentations and awards before applying.
So I counted mine up:
Zero.
In fact, I had zero knowledge of how to get started in research, a sub-par decile ranking and a CV that would make you think I had writer’s block.
I knew I’d be starting from square one, but I became fixated on the ability of the programme to kickstart a career in academia.
More specifically, it was a means to strategically bypass the ‘war of deciles’ in the regular foundation programme, whilst reaping the benefits of portfolio points, location preferences and free PGcert qualifications.
