A NORTH-EAST doctor is celebrating after coming top in a nationwide medical exam.

Elizabeth Kendrick, 28, of Newcastle, has won the Fraser Rose Medal for obtaining the best results out of 1,700 candidates in the entrance qualification for the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Dr Kendrick, who was brought up in Hexham and studied medicine at Nottingham, was working as a GP in Northumberland but has now taken on a new role in Durham City working with nursing home residents.

"It was a surprise but a very nice surprise,'' she said of her success.

"I'm thrilled to have achieved the award. It was a tough exam and I never expected to do this well.

"To prepare I undertook a college preparation course and formed a study group with colleagues.

"We learnt a lot from each other and it provided really good peer support."

The exam, known as the the MRCGP, tests the quality of candidates' skills in areas including medical knowledge, communication and clinical judgement.

Dr Kendrick returned to the North-East in February and in July married Stuart Kendrick, a gastroenterology registrar at James Cook Memorial Hospital, in Middlesbrough.

She extended her three-year study for college membership by six months so she could pursue her interest in geriatrics.

She has just started working for the Durham and Chester-le-Street Primary Care Trust.

Dr Kendrick will travel to London to receive her award at a ceremony tomorrow.

The RCGP's president Dr Roger Neighbour said: "Achievement of the exam and membership of the RCGP are signs of a quality GP."