West Midlands North Foundation School

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.