Blogs

SAS Week 2023 - Dr Naomi Knapper

My name is Naomi Knapper, I am a specialty doctor in emergency medicine, based at the Northumbria hospital in Cramlington. I was first employed by the trust in 2006 as a clinical fellow, and I’ve been a specialty doctor at Northumbria since 2009. I chose to pursue a non-training career pathway due to a chronic health problem. A non-training career brings the advantages of a stable workplace with colleagues who know you and removes the pressures of having to sit and pass exams to an external schedule, all while working demanding rotas.

The department gains by having permanent specialty doctors as we can fulfil some of the roles that traditionally were consultant roles. I have been a clinical supervisor for foundation doctors for 10 years and an educational supervisor for 7 years. I am also the mortality lead for the emergency department, which involves reviewing the quality of care we give our patients and feeds in to both the ED and business unit governance groups as well as working with the other department leads.

Almost 2 years ago I became a foundation tutor for the trust, working with 2 other foundation tutors and the lead foundation tutor. Alongside our team of postgraduate administration staff, we are responsible for the delivery of the foundation programme within Northumbria. It is a multi-faceted role as we are responsible for our trainers, as well as our trainees, providing training and support. We report to the Northern Foundation School, who visit yearly to review the quality of training we provide.

I have recently completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education and am starting the Diploma in October, in order to support my work as a foundation tutor. The support received from the SAS funds has been instrumental in me undertaking these further studies.