Gerard Carlin

Leadership and Management Fellow / General Practice / ST2 / MBBS

Gerard is GP trainee in the North East. Originally from Northern Ireland, he studied at Newcastle Medical School and completed his foundation training programme in Newcastle. Subsequently he worked as a trust grade doctor in paediatrics and completed 2 years of paediatric specialty training in the North East before switching to GP training.

Gerard hopes to utilise the fellowship to make a positive impact on the training experience of postgraduate doctors and dentists in the North East and North Cumbria. Gerard is undertaking a Senior Leader Higher Apprenticeship with Northumbria University to further develop his knowledge and skills in leadership and management.

Outside of work, Gerard enjoys spending time with his family and taking his black lab, Jasper, for long walks in the North East’s beautiful coasts and countryside.

Emily Flintoft

Leadership and Management Fellow / ST5 Trauma and Orthopaedics / MBBS MRes (Hon) MRCS

Emily is an Orthopaedic Registrar training in the North East. She graduated from Newcastle University (MBBS) in 2015, and also completed an intercalated research Masters degree in Cancer studies (2013-14). Emily completed both her Foundation and Core Training rotations in the North East, before obtaining a National Training Number in her chosen specialty here in 2019.

Emily is passionate about trainee engagement and wellbeing. She is particularly interested in the management of sleep deprivation in both doctors in training and the wider workforce, and Supported Return to Training, having used the SuppoRTT service herself following a period of parental leave. During the Fellowship, Emily will also be undertaking the Northumbria University Senior Leaders Higher Apprenticeship, which will provide her with knowledge and tools to be a more effective leader and manager in her future roles when she returns to clinical practice.

Outside of work, Emily can usually be found on outdoor pursuits with her family, or at soft play. She often travels “home” to East Yorkshire to spend time with her extended family.

Toby James

Leadership and Management Fellow / ENT ST5 / BSc MBBCH MRCSEd ENT

Toby is an ENT registrar in the North East. He graduated from Cardiff University in 2015 having intercalated in Neuroscience along the way. As well as the North East, he has worked in South Wales and Birmingham. He has spent two years working as a surgical registrar in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Toby is interested in the business of healthcare and is keen to improve the working lives of doctors in training. The fellowship will provide dedicated time and training to help develop the skills necessary to drive change in the NHS. He is studying on the Northumbria University Senior Leaders High Apprenticeship, on his way to undertaking an MBA – this will help him better appreciate how experience from business can translate to improving healthcare and working environments.

Toby loves playing squash, enjoys running and cycling in the hills but hates sitcoms.

Breon Samuel

Leadership and Management Fellow / General Practice ST1 / BSc. PGDip (MedEd). MD. FHEA

Bréon is a GP Registrar in the Northeast. Originally from the southern Caribbean Island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  She completed clinical rotations and electives in both the USA and UK before graduating as an MD from St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada, West Indies in 2014.

Bréon migrated to the UK permanently in 2017 as a Clinical Instructor on the Doctor of Medicine Programme at Northumbria University-SGU partnership.  There she performed the roles of Discipline Manager of Physiology, Module Leader for the 6-week Cardiovascular-Pulmonary-Renal block and Director of Taylor College.

She has extensive experience in lecture planning and delivery, management of courses/curriculum/examination/simulation; student support packages for examination strategy and pastoral care activities related to personal wellbeing. Bréon has completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Education at Newcastle University and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy through AdvanceHE. In her spare time, she enjoys puzzles and playing digital games. She joined the NHS as a Foundation Doctor in 2021.

During this Fellowship Bréon is progressing a Master’s in Medical Education with Newcastle University.  She is enthusiastic about wellbeing, particularly the mental aspects, and is keen to raise awareness of how to encourage psychological safety within our NHS teams.

Ailsa Innes

Ailsa is a general surgery registrar based in the North East. She completed her medical degree and an intercalated Masters in Research at Newcastle University, where she graduated in 2018. Since then she has completed foundation training, a year as a locally employed doctor, and core surgical training in the region, so has worked in nearly every acute trust in the region!

Ailsa has an interest in leadership within medical education and sat on the Board of Medical Studies as a medical student representative during her time at Newcastle University. While working as a core surgical trainee she was a scholar with the Healthcare Leadership Academy, where she learnt more about leadership within the healthcare setting and developed her interest in sustainability.  She is passionate about improving the NHS by making the lives of doctors in training better, which led her to seek out the opportunity of becoming a Leadership and Management Fellow.

In her spare time, Ailsa enjoys running, singing in a choir, cooking, and spending time with her two pet rabbits.

Ghazaleh Mohammadi-Zaniani

Leadership and Management Fellow / General Surgery ST4 / MBChB BMedSci (Hons) MRCSEd PGCert (MedEd) DipABRSM

Ghazaleh is a registrar in general surgery in the Northern Deanery. Originally from Newcastle, she hopped across the border to Edinburgh to complete her MBChB and intercalated BMedSci in Physiology, graduating in 2017. She returned to Newcastle for Foundation, subsequently completing a year as a teaching fellow, and then entering surgical training.

Ghazaleh’s interest in medical leadership came gradually, as she observed the varying levels of success and favour that different departments and educational institutions were ran. She is keen that her time as Leadership & Management fellow improves the experience of all residents in postgraduate training. Her interests lie in the support given to residents through PSWU and the SuppoRTT programme, and she is interested in the approach that PGMDE challenges are tackled, including how policy and process is influenced by the national landscape of the NHS. She is enrolled on the Senior Leader Higher Apprenticeship programme at Northumbria University, and hopes the skills and knowledge gained from the programme and fellowship will ultimately enable her to become a more effective leader in the future.

Outside of work, Ghazaleh enjoys playing in a local amateur orchestra and trying new places to eat. She recently completed The Wall – a 70 mile ultramarathon from Carlisle to Newcastle - and does not plan to repeat that experience any time soon.