What is First Choice ACF?
First Choice ACF has been curated through 8-years of experience in mentorship and support for trainees applying to NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow (ACF) posts in the UK. It contains targeted, high-quality resources designed to help you secure your first choice academic clinical fellow job. The team behind First Choice ACF have experience marking White Space Questions and sitting on interview panels from several of the most competitive deaneries across the UK.
It was created by the same team that designed First Choice AFP a collection of resources that has supported hundreds of students towards being awarded their first choice academic posts since 2019. Our data demonstrates that applicants that are members are 4x more likely to be successfully awarded a post than non-members.
The First Choice ACF team have mentored over 30 applicants in the last 8-years through ACF interviews with a 100% success rate for appointment; a majority of whom secured a job in their first choice post and specialty of their choice.
We now want to share this experience with other upcoming academic leaders, like you!
What do I need to do to get my First Choice ACF job?
There are two important stages of the pathway to successful appointment as an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow:
First Choice ACF represents a comprehensive library of preparation resources, allowing you to excel in both of these components.
ACF White Space Answers and ACF Interviews vary significantly depending on your region and specialty of application; there is no national standardisation of the selection processes.
As a First Choice ACF member you will benefit from the wide breadth of experience within the First Choice ACF team, with the only online bank of answer guides with over real-world 300 example white space answer responses, a comprehensive library of past ACF interview questions and responses, and detailed 'how-to' guides that represent all areas of the UK (including the most competitive London, Oxford and Cambridge deaneries).
We pride ourselves on offering high value, for a low-cost, with subscriptions starting at just £39.
Why do you need First Choice ACF?
Your application to an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow post will set you up for the rest of your career. It provides you with a National Training Number (NTN) that guarantees a position on your specialty registrar training programme of choice up to consultancy. It also provides you with the stability of staying in a certain region for the rest of your training, allowing you to grow academic roots locally, and have the reassurance of knowing where your job rotations will be for the next 5 to 8 years.
It therefore is a high-stakes, high-pressure process. Sadly, there is very little structured guidance available to support you through this time.
Your decision of which job or region to apply to will not be an easy one, and will depend upon your specialty and career ambitions, personal and social circumstances and lifestyle.
First Choice ACF is designed to support you during your application and interview preparation, giving you an edge and helping you achieve your first choice post.
Is the ACF application competitive?
NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow posts are designed to support future leaders in research, quality improvement and medical education through dedicated time for personal development immediately following the foundation years, or core training (dependent on the post/region/specialty i.e., St1 or St3 entry).
As it provides a national training number AND time and resources for academic development, the application process is intensively competitive, particularly in certainly specialties and regions. Competition ratios can range from 5:1 to 30:1 applicants to posts.
In order to be appointed for an ACF job you will need to show evidence of excellent clinical skills and a strong record of academic achievement both in medical school and the first years of your foundation training.
First Choice ACF aims to the help you #beattheratio and provide every First Choice ACF member world-class guidance in how to make the most out of the opportunity of the NIHR ACF application process.
Testimonials
First Choice ACF has launched in 2021. Please see feedback for our sister platform First Choice AFP below:
"First Choice AFP is an excellent platform for all medical students interested in pursuing academic career. It covers all the aspects of preparing AFP application."
Aleksander, Imperial College London
"I can honestly say it has been incredibly useful in getting me started on my own answers & has given me the push I needed. It gives great advice on how to structure my answers & multiple examples for each subsection. They have also stated that if you try their resource and decide that it’s not for you, they will happily provide you with full refund up to 14 days after your purchase too!"
Alice, Newcastle University
"Comprehensive and concise coverage of key points that should absolutely be addressed during the white space question sections. Highlights key principles and techniques for composing a strong response (these were particularly helpful, as many I had previously not been aware of!). Good layout, whereby a question is asked, and the user can then take the time to formulate an idea/response, before viewing the most optimal technique/response to use (much better than just showing the response straight away)"
Catrin, Queen Mary's University of London
"First Choice AFP is an affordable and valuable resource for any aspiring academic foundation doctor, sure to boost confidence and bolster preparation in applying to their programme of choice. The blank space question bank in particular is insightful, with real world examples to draw on. This also highlights the benchmark students should be aiming for in preparing for their application. The opportunity for students from disadvantaged backgrounds to apply for a full grant promotes equality of opportunity within First Choice AFP. Overall, I would recommend this resource to anyone in their clinical years of medicine who is serious about applying to the AFP."
Michael, Queens University Belfast
"With each section, the website provides specific, in-depth and practical advice in writing your white space questions - this advice extends beyond AFP application and will be useful for any written application format. It's by far the most comprehensive resource I've come across"
Nathan, Hull-York University
"First Choice AFP is an excellent resource in helping me understand the process of making an AFP application. It was easy and user friendly while also being very in-depth in its content. Lastly, the management team have been extremely supportive through my experience and I feel they were very approachable when it came to any concerns I had."
Shiraz, University of Dundee
"Been looking at First Choice AFP for a few weeks whilst thinking through academic foundation placements. It’s been so useful having everything in one place and being able to get to the UoA’s websites so easily. Highly recommend!"
Thomas, University of Warwick
"Explanatory material for virtually every AFP whitespace question with in depth explanation and multiple examples - as far as I can tell there is no other resource like this! This site had much more information than the AFP Secrets book, which everyone seems to be using. I like the style of providing a framework for questions rather than "write this" - it encourages people to think about the process involved in writing a good WSQ"
Final year medical student, Cambridge University