Published on: 1 August 2025
Newly graduated doctors are setting out on their first days of working in medicine after taking up roles here in the North East.
South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust has welcomed 93 Foundation Year 1 doctors to its hospitals and services. This matches last year’s intake, the largest it had ever recruited.
Many of them have studied their five year medical degrees and completed training sessions with the NHS in the region.
Now the graduates are ready to help treat patients. The Foundation Doctors will be based at Sunderland Royal Hospital and South Tyneside District Hospital. They will also spend time at Hopewood Park in Sunderland, which is run by Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust.
The FY1 intake which has joined STSFT pictured with members of the team who support them during their time at the Trust.
Among the new starters are 17 who have graduated from the University of Sunderland’s School of Medicine. The Trust has forged a strong link with the school and many new starters will be familiar with its wards and staff, having spent their university placements at its hospitals.
They are among a total of 77 doctors to graduate from the university’s flagship MBChB Medicine degree, with 48% originally from the region, while 58% of those to complete the course will remain in the North East as they start their careers.
They are the second cohort of students to graduate from the course.
Of the 93, 30 Foundation Doctors have joined the Trust from Newcastle University’s own School of Medicine, with another eight joining after studying at its Malaysian campus.
They are among the 342 medical students who graduated at the Newcastle campus and 133 from Malaysia.
The Trust is part of the Find Your Place campaign, which aims to attract doctors, dentists and pharmacists to the region, as well as encourage its graduates to stay here and launch their careers.
Foundation training takes two years. These are known as Foundation Year 1 (FY1) and Foundation Year 2 (FY2) doctors.
Each will spend time working in medicine, surgery and in community placements during this part of their training.
Following this, they will move on to speciality training. This will depend on interests and career development plans. They could potentially become GPs, which takes another three years of training, or consultants, which can take between seven and 10 years.
Dr Nigel Stout, a Consultant Physician with the Trust, is also its Foundation Tutor. He was among the team on hand to welcome the newcomers at a day packed with talks and training.
He said:
"It’s brilliant to be welcoming these graduates as our latest intake of Foundation Doctors. They have spent five years training for this moment and we are delighted they have come to us to start the next stage of their careers.
"Several of them will have already spent time with us on our wards and with our specialist teams during their placements while they were students. To see them back with us is testament to the support and training we offer."
Dr Shaz Wahid is the Trust’s Executive Medical Director. He is also Consultant Physician with a specialist interest in Diabetes and Endocrinology as well as Acute and General Medicine.
He said:
"It is a proud moment for us to see our new doctors join us. Many of them will have seen me and other colleagues during placements, so will be familiar with us and our wards and services.
"This is also our second year where we have been able to offer graduates from the University of Sunderland’s School of Medicine the chance to take the next step in their life as a doctor with us.
"To keep the knowledge and skills of those people, along with graduates from Newcastle, here in the North East can only strengthen our NHS."
Professor Mark Shipley is Deputy Head of the School of Medicine and Undergraduate Programme Lead at the University of Sunderland. He is also a Consultant in Respiratory and General Internal Medicine for the Trust.
He said:
"This week marks a proud moment for the University’s School of Medicine as our latest cohort of medical graduates begin their careers as doctors. Their dedication, resilience, and passion for healthcare have been evident throughout their studies, and we extend our heartfelt congratulations to each of them on reaching this important milestone.
"We are particularly pleased to see a high number of graduates choosing to continue their journey at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust. They are important partners in our clinical education programme and have provided high quality clinical placements and educators throughout the course.
"On behalf of the School of Medicine faculty at the University of Sunderland, I would like to thank everyone involved, from placement providers and clinical educators, to academic and administrative colleagues."
Professor Paul Paes is Head of School of Medicine at Newcastle University.
He said:
“It is a fantastic moment to see our new doctors starting their first days looking after patients and becoming part of our health teams.
"They have spent several years training around the region to get to this point. Having recently celebrated their graduations they are excited to be making this next step and we are very proud of their achievement.
"It is wonderful that so many of our graduates stay in the region and contribute to making our health services some of the best in the country.”
