An introduction to KCATO

In this article, we explore how King’s Clinical Academic Training Office (KCATO) supports professional development across King's Health Partners.

What is KCATO?

KCATO stands for King’s Clinical Academic Training Office, which exists to support clinical academics (health professionals engaged in research alongside their clinical work) across King’s Health Partners (KHP). 

Healthcare providers with significant involvement in research deliver better patient outcomes, and clinical academics play a key role in this. However, the balance between research and clinical practice often makes a clinical academic career path challenging. 

That’s where KCATO comes in. Whatever your career stage or health professional background, KCATO offers guidance, funding opportunities, professional development programmes and events to support your clinical academic career. Whether you’re just getting started or already research-active, our ambition is to provide you with the tools you need to succeed. 

How can KCATO help develop my career? 

KCATO regularly runs a mix of online and in-person events designed to support your career development as a research-active health professional. These include webinars and workshops on topics such as writing fellowship applications, developing a funding pitch, writing for publication, becoming an independent researcher, and fostering resilience. 

Our flagship event is our annual King’s Clinical Academic Research Symposium, which brings together around 100 clinical academics from across KHP. You can view and register for these events on our KCATO events page. 

We also host on-demand training and signpost to other KHP resources on the KCATO SharePoint Hub. To help you navigate the range of training on offer across the partnership, we have organised our SharePoint Hub around the KCATO Health Professional Researcher Skills Development Framework. This framework was developed from several UK and international researcher and clinical frameworks, and it breaks the available training into categories to help you identify the training that is most relevant to your current needs. 

What funding opportunities are available through KCATO?

KCATO bids for and manages funding that supports research time for health and care professionals. These include the Integrated Academic Training (IAT) programme for medical and dental trainees, pre- and post-doctoral fellowships offered by the King’s Health Partners Centre for Translational Medicine, and the NIHR INSIGHT Programme South London which offers research master’s studentships for nurses, midwives and professions allied to healthcare. 

Check out our funding page to learn more. 

Who can benefit from KCATO opportunities?

Our events are free and open to all health professionals working or studying at a KHP organisation. This includes King’s College London and its partnering NHS Trusts: Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital, and South London and Maudsley. 

The on-demand training on the KCATO SharePoint Hub is also free to access for all KHP staff and students. You can request access by filling out this form, where you’ll also have the option to sign up for our monthly newsletter. 

Eligibility for our funding calls varies by programme, so make sure to visit our funding page for more information. 

Can KCATO help profile my work and impact?

Alongside providing practical support for research-active health professionals, KCATO uses its platform to champion clinical academic careers. We are always keen to hear from you about your successes, whether you’ve published a paper, won a grant or fellowship, or presented at a conference.

Please get in touch with the team to let us know about your achievements, and you may be featured in a news story, or in our newsletter and social media. 

Our events are another great opportunity to present your work and network with other health professional researchers. In particular, our annual Symposium offers the opportunity to present your work as a poster or pitch.  

Where can I find out more?

Visit the KCATO website to read more about our mission and the support we offer, including our current funding opportunities. 

To stay up to date with our latest events and funding opportunities, follow us on LinkedIn and sign up for our monthly newsletter. We look forward to welcoming you into the growing KCATO Network!