Post by Deborah Udy Okusaga Akanne (@deborah_udy_okusaga)

You Have Published Research. So Why Is Your Academic Evidence Scoring Below A Candidate Who Has None?

This post is for the internationally trained doctor who has done what many of their colleagues have not.

You published.

You contributed to indexed research. You have your name on papers in peer-reviewed journals. You have a research record that most Trust Grade SHO and Clinical Fellow applicants cannot match.

And the panel gave you a 2 on the Audit and Research criterion.

Below the candidate who has never published anything — but who answered the question correctly.

I want to explain exactly why this is happening — because it is one of the most demoralising experiences a research-active IMG can have, and it is entirely the result of a framing problem rather than an evidence problem.

Here is what the NHS Audit and Research criterion is actually assessing — and it is not what most internationally trained doctors think.

The person specification criterion reads: Ability to appraise research critically and apply research outcomes to clinical problems.

That is a two-part criterion. And most candidates answer only the first part.

They describe their research. They name their publications. They explain their methodology. They present their findings.

And the panel scores them on the second part — which they have not addressed at all.

Applying research outcomes to clinical problems.

This is the NHS's specific articulation of evidence-based medicine — and it goes beyond conducting or publishing research. It requires the candidate to demonstrate that they read clinical research critically, identify its applicability to their clinical context, and change their practice or contribute to service improvement based on what the evidence shows.

The verified framework the NHS uses for this is the NICE Evidence Review process — which every NHS clinician is expected to engage with regardless of whether they conduct original research.

NICE guidelines are updated when new evidence changes the recommended clinical standard. Every clinician is professionally obligated to identify when their practice needs to update in response to new NICE guidance and to implement that update.

For a research-active doctor, the answer to the research question has two components — and both must be present:

Component 1 — Your research contribution: I have contributed to [number] published research outputs in [specialty area]. My most significant contribution was [named paper — title, journal, year] — which investigated [specific clinical question] and found [specific finding]. This research was published in [journal] and has been cited [X] times.

Component 2 — Applying research to clinical practice: Beyond my own research, I maintain a regular critical appraisal practice — reviewing NICE guidelines updates in my specialty, reading BJOG / BMJ / Lancet [relevant specialty journal] monthly, and identifying where new evidence requires a change in clinical practice.

A specific example: in [year], the NICE guideline for [specific condition] was updated to recommend [specific change]. I identified this update, presented it at our departmental journal club, and contributed to a protocol amendment that aligned our practice with the updated evidence. This is how I understand evidence-based medicine — not as research consumption, but as research-to-practice translation.

The second component is the one that scores. Not because your publications are not valued — they are. But because the panel is scoring whether you can close the loop between research and practice.

And that loop is what evidence-based medicine in the NHS requires every clinician to demonstrate.

📩 If you have published research and are not getting the scores your academic record deserves in NHS interviews — DM me "NHS" today.

Your evidence is strong. Your answer framework needs rebuilding. And that is a fixable problem.

Post 4 arrives at 2:00 PM — specifically for the HCA applying for Band 3 roles in NHS settings for the first time. The question that appears on every Band 3 person specification — that every HCA candidate reads and thinks they understand — but that most answer in a way that immediately signals to the panel they have not worked in an NHS environment before.

Today I am going to show you the answer that signals the opposite.

#ResearchAndAudit #NHSInterview2026 #EvidenceBasedMedicine #IMGDoctor #NIGEGuidelines #ClinicalAudit #TrustGradeSHO #ClinicalFellow #NHSRecruitment #SovereignHealthcareAdvisoryGroup #NHSJobs2026 #MedicalResearch #GMCRegistered #CriticalAppraisal #InternationalMedicalGraduate

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