Mr Doherty undertook undergraduate and postgraduate medical training in Newcastle upon Tyne before proceeding to Ophthalmology specialist training in both the Northern and Yorkshire Deaneries. He subsequently completed an eighteen-month Glaucoma subspeciality fellowship at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. He was appointed as a Consultant in Glaucoma and Cataract treatment at Sunderland Eye Infirmary in September 2013.