Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust is one of three major teaching hospitals for Manchester medical school. In excess of 300 students are based at Salford Royal for the clinical course (years 3-5) with a further 200 junior doctors in training. A further 250 diploma and postgraduate nursing and other clinical professions undergo training within the Trust. Both clinical and medical student numbers are scheduled to rise significantly over the next 2-3 years.

The Trust receives £2.73 million via the R&D Levy in support of external grant income amounting to £5.66 million. There were 360 active research projects and 332 peer reviewed papers published in 2000. The Trust and Faculty of Medicine operate a joint R&D strategy with major research programmes at Salford Royal in Dermatology, Diabetes, Gastrointestinal sciences, Musculoskeletal disorders and Neuro-injury. Total income from SIFT and related training contracts amount to almost £8 million.