Starting work as a doctor is an incredibly important time in your life as you put everything you have learnt into practice. All of us worry; most of us learn on the job and it can be a very anxious but exciting time!
Choosing the right foundation school is one of the most important career decisions you’ll ever make as this formative training becomes the cornerstone of your future medical career.
In the North East and North Cumbria, we are consistently proven to deliver excellence in postgraduate medical training and career development. We have been ranked number one in England for overall satisfaction for six years running in the GMC annual training survey.
Our aim is to produce doctors who are well equipped with the necessary competencies to progress to post-foundation training. We are committed to providing the very best care we can for our patients. This goes hand in hand with training our doctors of today and tomorrow.
We want you to be the very best that you can be and we will do our best to help, support and guide you if you choose us for your training. If you choose north Cumbria for your foundation training you can receive a £7,000 payment as part of the targeted enhanced recruitment scheme.
If you choose us for your foundation training you could also enjoy many of the academic opportunities we have to offer. Our unique integrated two-year research-based academic foundation programme gives you the opportunity to experience a protected four-month academic rotation in foundation years one and two.
You will be supported and mentored by a clinical academic throughout and, as an honorary member of Newcastle University’s staff, you will have the opportunity to attend postgraduate lectures from any of the taught courses within the faculty of medical sciences.
If that isn’t enough to tempt you most trainees are able to produce at least one abstract from their academic period to present at a national or international meeting. Many of our trainees have co-authored manuscripts published, and many are successful in obtaining an academic clinical fellow post, within the region or nationally, on completion of the programme.
Northern Foundation School Director, Dr Jon Scott: “We work tirelessly to ensure that your experience within foundation programme is as rewarding as possible so that you are fully equipped to be a professional, empathetic, patient-centred doctor who is suitably prepared for whatever your future career holds.”
Here is one very good reason……we will provide you with a fully integrated two-year research-based academic foundation programme. As a trainee on the academic foundation programme director, you will have the opportunity to experience a protected four-month academic rotation in both F1 and F2 – this arrangement is unique to our school.
We should probably also mention that our academic programmes are trainee centred and with guidance from the academic foundation programme director, you will be encouraged to seek a supervisor to join or develop a project in your subject area of interest.
Projects can be predominately in clinical-based research with patient contact, more translational-based research using patient samples and investigating them in a laboratory environment or basic science research-based predominately in a laboratory. Clinical exposure and experiences are encouraged during the academic period.
You will be mentored by a clinical academic throughout your training and, as an honorary member of university staff, you will have the opportunity to attend postgraduate lectures from any of the taught courses within the Faculty of Medical Sciences.
If that wasn’t enough to tempt you most trainees are able to produce at least one abstract from their academic period to present at a national or international meeting. Many have co-authored manuscripts which have been published, and many are successful in obtaining an academic clinical fellow post, within the region or nationally, on completion of their academic foundation programme.
Informal enquiries to the academic foundation programme director are encouraged before applying for a post, and help and advice can be provided to find and contact a supervisor in your desired area of interest. Informal visits can be arranged and are encouraged.
Regardless of which trust you work in, as a specialty trainee in our region you will be employed by a single employer known as the lead employer trust (we call it the LET!). You can visit the LET website here.
We are here to make sure your employment, whilst training in the North East and North Cumbria, runs as smoothly as possible. We are hosted by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. Your statutory rights for continuous employment are held by one Trust holding contract of employment and remaining on one payroll system.
We work in partnership with Health Education England North East to ensure you are supported throughout your career. We handle all human resources and payroll matters including payment of travel expenses, study leave expenses and most importantly, making sure you get paid!
We carry out all pre-employment checks and there is a dedicated helpdesk for you throughout your employment should you need to get in touch.
We manage all your statutory rights such as maternity, paternity and special leave. We work closely with all 11 NHS trusts and local general practices to ensure that your rotations go smoothly too.
Nine out of 11 NHS trusts are members of our regional collaborative bank which allows doctors to work additional shifts (at the level in the specialties they have the competence to work in). The system allows you to be paid weekly where your payslips are available on the electronic staff record (ESR) portal (where you will also see your monthly payslip).
Feel free to contact us if you would like to know more or have any questions.
“I have loved this place ever since I moved here for university. The people have been so friendly and welcoming from day one and you are surrounded by some of the most beautiful countryside England has to offer. I have spent most of my time studying and working in James Cook hospital, I feel it offers all the excitement and variety of a tertiary specialist hospital whilst maintaining a very friendly district general hospital feel.”
“I have felt very supported working in the hospitals here. Northumbria trust deals with a lot of general medicine which I feel is important to get experience in as a new doctor.”
“The deanery and hospitals here are really keen to take into account trainees experiences, they frequently ask us for feedback and they actually do respond to it, which does make a change, it feels like your voice is being heard.”