The training programme director – Dr Madhava Badanahatti

Specialty Programme Co-ordinator – Joanne Stronach

HR Officer, Lead Employer Trust – Allyson Ashwell

Stroke medicine can be taken up as a sub-specialty. It is commonly chosen by trainees who are already within specialty training, taking 1-2 years out (depending on the amount of transferable skills from their original specialty) of their original specialty training to gain an extra qualification in stroke medicine. Stroke training is commonly sub-specialised with trainees who are already specialising in: Acute Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine. However, other specialties can also have common links to stroke medicine, making it a very useful subspecialty, giving the trainee more specialised knowledge into stroke medicine as well as their chosen specialty.

The primary purpose of sub-specialty training in stroke medicine is to promote the development of physicians with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to function as an expert consultant resource within specialist stroke services. The detailed role of a stroke physician will vary depending on the type of service within which they are practicing. The training programme recognises this but expects all stroke specialists to have core knowledge and skills in all areas of diagnosis, investigation and treatment relevant to the care of stroke patients.

Stroke physicians require skills in service development, team working, teaching, critical appraisal and service evaluation. They should be familiar with stroke research methods and keep up to date with relevant research findings.

The programme is open to all trainees holding MRCP(UK) and an NTN in one of the following medical specialties:

• Geriatric Medicine
• Neurology
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Cardiology
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• General Internal Medicine

HEENE has an excellent training programme for stroke medicine, where trainees gain experience in specialised stroke hospitals. Due to this, many trainees from all over England choose the North East to study stroke medicine. However, there are limited positions to sub specialise in stroke medicine in HEENE so application to the programme is very competitive. It is highly recommended that any trainees who have an interest in stroke medicine as a sub specialty have a discussion with the Dr Madhava Badanahatti, the stroke medicine training director as they will be able to offer advice on the training programme and application.

To find out more information about current vacancies please view the HEE Website

To find out more about our region and Trusts please visit the Find Your Place website.