SPCR intern 2025: Anita McAuley

I’m Anita McAuley and I am a medical student working as an intern with the Workforce and Learning Research Group at the University of Oxford sponsored by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) School for Primary Care Research (SPCR) this summer.

Effective primary care delivery makes all the difference when it comes to maximising patient outcomes and reducing health inequalities: this is an area I have explored through conversations with patients and healthcare professionals in my clinical attachments. General practice in the UK is currently facing a number of challenges and consequently I believe that now more than ever it is essential to be critically analysing the system, listening to patient experiences and reflecting on the areas of practice and policy that need to be reformed so that we can adapt to meet the needs of our ever-changing populations. 

I am delighted to be working on the ‘compound pressures’ project, looking to understand how these increasingly complex set of challenges facing our healthcare system are impacting general practice and investigating potential responses and solutions to these. I am also excited to be exploring the use of patient and public involvement and the use of AI in qualitative research through this project. 

Prior to this internship I took the opportunity to be involved in many aspects of medical research. In medical school, I spent time doing lab-based research on respiratory immunology. Recently inspired by issues I encountered working with dementia patients, I presented and won joint first prize for the best oral presentation in the Sheffield National Neurology and Neurosurgery conference 2025 for my work on “Deprivations of Liberty”. I have also worked in community health with Sheffield Play Partnership to help understand the benefits of adventure play opportunities for children; this work will be presented at the Royal College of General Practitioners Conference in Newport in October 2025.

As an aspiring researcher, this internship provides space to deepen my knowledge in an area of personal interest and actively contribute to research that will have a real-world impact. Through this opportunity I hope to explore my own interests and utilise this as a stepping stone into getting involved with more research in the future.