IPC’s Refugee Doctors Project, known as REPOD, is one of the leading initiatives in the country that helps doctors and other medical practitioners who come to the UK as refugees to transition into the NHS..

REPOD is a partnership between IPC, Health Education England North East (HEENE) and health trusts in the North East of England. As part of the project, IPC provides English classes two days a week to enable refugee doctors to pass the IELTS or OET exams. These qualifications in English language are required for medics trained in other countries to practise in the UK. After passing the IELTS or OET, doctors are then required to pass two medical exams (PLAB 1 and PLAB 2) before they can apply for jobs within the NHS. Working with local health trusts, IPC supports these medical practitioners in finding clinical placements and ultimately applying for NHS jobs.