The West Midlands North Foundation School (WMN) is an organisation of Acute NHS Trusts, Community Trusts and Primary Care Trusts within Staffordshire and the Black Country. These include:

 

Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust (RWH)

The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust

The Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust (SATH)

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust

 

The WMN Foundation Programme offers rotations in a wide variety of specialities. Teaching Trusts encompass all major specialities and have large, unrestricted emergency intakes.  Junior doctors working in these hospitals will have busy and rewarding general experience in whichever speciality they work.   All trainees have the opportunity to experience community based placements which may include psychiatry, public health and general practice.  All are designed to deliver competency in generic skills as outlined in "The Trainee Doctor" (General Medical Council) and UKFPO Curriculum  to provide a solid basis for progression to training in any specialty.  This provides an opportunity to explore a variety of career choices during the Foundation years.  The school is among the highest performing in terms of progression to Specialty Training. 

Embarking on Foundation Training can be a daunting prospect.  All supervisors within the School are GMC recognised and aim to provide good support for trainees.  Orientation is provided in well-established shadowing and induction programmes.  All major Trusts run high quality simulation training programmes to develop clinical skills and team working.  All trainees are encouraged to take part in quality improvement programmes and there are regular opportunities to present this and other work at School forums.  Many Foundation Trainees go on to present their work at national and even international meetings.

 

The Trusts support the training of medical undergraduates from Keele, Birmingham and Leicester Universities.  Foundation trainees are encouraged to take an active part in teaching and most Trusts run courses to help trainees develop their teaching skills. 

As well as local graduates, the Foundation School attracts medical graduates from all over the UK and the world.

The school is situated near the centre of the UK with excellent road, rail and air links.  There are 3 major airports in the region with a very comprehensive schedule of internal and International flights. The road and rail networks in particular offer excellent links to all major cities and areas of interest in the UK be it for shopping and nightlife (Birmingham, Stoke and Manchester) or the great outdoors in the shape of Cannock Chase, the Peak District, Lake District and North Wales. London in particular is a little over 1 hour by train and with proposed introduction of HST possibly even less.

 

The area also boasts many major attractions such as Alton Towers, Drayton Manor Park West Midlands Safari Park, Warwick Castle to name but a few. The West Midlands arguably has the largest diversity of leisure activities in the UK and almost certainly the most accessible.  Many of the trusts run a variety of extracurricular activities from Skiing to music.  UHNS has an amateur orchestra that trainees are welcome to join.

 

The overall satisfaction of our trainees with our Programme is reflected in the GMC reports. (See the GMC Training Surveys for more details) and Wolverhampton appeared in the top ten Trusts for overall foundation trainee satisfaction last year.  

The careers service is very well established, with dedicated careers advisors and counsellors. Less-than-full-time training is welcomed, and the region has one of the best support services in the country for such trainees.
 

WMN School encourages Foundation doctors to participate in local (Trust) forums and the University Foundation Committees and Foundation Programme Management Group. Additionally, there are national forums conducted by the UKFPO.

 

Please see trainee testimonials here.

 

Linked application at programme level

Not applicable at allocation to programme stage.

 

Contact Information 

Head of School: Dr Chipo Ndlovu (chipo.ndlovu@nhs.net)

Foundation Programme Co-ordinator: 
Postgraduate Dean: Professor Andy Whallett
Education Quality and Performance Manager: Jason Mistry

 

 

Burton Hospitals NHS Trust   Vicki Hall
Dr Ahmed Haroun Carolyn Beddoe
Dr Himaz Marzook  
     
Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust (RWH) Dr Diarmuid Mulherin Debra Baker
Dr Helen Steed Lyndsey Wilson
   
Mr Jag Samra  
     
The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust

Dr Ragunath Durairajan

Foundation Training Programme Director – FY1

Abbie Merryman (from 3/6/24)

Postgraduate Co-ordinator - Foundation

Dr Ali Al-Sharifi

Trust Foundation Training Programme Director – FY1

Victoria Blakeway

Dr Tamar Saeed

Foundation Training Programme Director – FY2

Kate Holmes

Medical Education Manager

Dr Athanasios Georgalas

Trust Foundation Training Programme Director – FY2

Wendy Wheeler

Assistant Postgraduate Manager

 

Professor Atiq-ur Rehman

Director of Medical Education

 
 

Dr Haroon Siddique

Deputy Director of Medical Education

 
The Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust (SATH) Dr Jennifer Rowlands Samantha Jones
Dr Christopher Mowatt Sharon Percival
Dr Adrian Marsh Samantha Membury
     
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust Dr Nicholas Munyani Diane Jackson
Dr Mark Poulson Deborah Gregory
Dr Will Carroll Kate Cavanagh
Dr Caroline Pruefer  
Dr Amy Kennedy  
     
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust Dr Tony Thomas Mandy Littler
Mr Will Goude
 

 

Page updated: August 2023