North West School of Surgery - Mentorship, Advice and Connection Hub

North West Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education

A career in surgery is challenging but also rewarding. Whether you are a medical student or postgraduate doctor in training, you may face issues that fall outside your supervisors’ areas of expertise. In such cases, being able to talk through professional and personal issues in a confidential and supportive manner could have an important role in job satisfaction and overall wellbeing.

At NHS England – North West, supported by the School of Surgery, the Mentorship, Advice and Connection Hub (MACH) has been created. It is open to medical students, foundation doctors, trust grade doctors, core and higher surgical doctors in training. By connecting surgical doctors in training with a suitable mentor, MACH aims to facilitate advice and support on a range of different topics including pastoral or professional issues, such as career progression and development, work-life balance, flexible training, exam performance and professional relationships. The mentors are surgeons of all grades working in the North West, who have undergone mentorship training and can offer ongoing support and guidance outside the clinical environment. Our role is to bring you in contact with a mentor with experience in the area you seek advice on and ensure a quality mentoring relationship.

Getting Involved

If you would like to have a mentor or are keen to be a mentor, please fill in the application forms below. If you have any queries, you can contact the MACH team via surgicalcareersnw@gmail.com

 Mentor application form

 Mentee application form

 MACH framework

Key People

Sadie Khwaja

Consultant ENT surgeon

Penny Birmpili

Vascular surgery resident doctor

Mina Mesri

Core surgical resident doctor

MACH podcast - "It's Always Sunny in Surgery"

We are Assad and Jamie. We're two surgical trainees in the North of England. As part of our interest in medical education and mentoring, we've been tasked with creating a podcast that provides adequate exposure of surgical training.

This is the podcast that aims to dissect, to probe, to anatomise and analyse what it is to be a surgical trainee. Welcome to It's Always Sunny in Surgery. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MACH Specialty Leads

MACH specialty Resident Doctor Representatives

RCSEd Surgical Specialties Podcast Series

Join the College for its latest podcast series, aimed to educate and inspire the next generation of surgical professionals.

The series covers 11 different surgical specialties, ranging from cardiothoracic to remote and rural surgery, delivering key insights on the journey, challenges and opportunities each discipline has to offer.

Each session includes speakers from across the spectrum of the career path, from those just starting out as medical students, to more senior positions and through to consultant level, offering exciting insights at each stage of the journey.

Not to be missed, stream the latest episodes via the RCSEd App, Spotify or other streaming platforms.

Or, go to https://www.buzzsprout.com/1788197 for the full episode list.

Page last updated 15 March 2023