Kath Acres Publisher of New Start, Ex-Publisher of Inside Housing and a previous participant on Master Travel?s first tour examing at regeneration in China in 2003. Kath will be accompanied by Master Travel?s national guide, Zhang Zhong Jiu (Cheung). Cheung has organised and led tours examining housing, regeneration, education, medicine and social care and is a mine of information on Chinese history, culture and society.
Robert Arnott is Sub-Dean of Medicine and Director of the Centre of the History of Medicine of the University of Birmingham Medical School. He is an archaeologist, who specialises in the history of ancient medicine and disease. He is the author of a number of books and papers on the subject and regularly lectures in Europe and the USA.
David Austen MSc BSc FCOptom FAAO has been in independent Optometric Practice in Loughborough since 1973. He practises with four optometric colleagues and eight assistants. He belongs to many clinical and political optometric organisations, has many publications and has lectured extensively at home and abroad mainly in contact lenses, advanced clinical techniques, practice management and co-management schemes. David has organised the clinical content of previous Optometry Study Tours.
Andras Barbas MB ChB MD FRCS started his medical studies at the Semmelweis Medical School in Budapest but these were interrupted at the time of the Hungarian Uprising in 1956 in which he took an active part. Forced to leave Hungary as a refugee Andras Barbas came to England and qualified at the Medical School of Manchester. Andras Barbas trained as a surgeon in Manchester, London and Norwich and obtained the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons, London. He has had numerous articles published in Medical and Surgical Journals, including: "Speaking at a Medical Meeting" a monograph co-authored with Prof James Calnan and he has illustrated a book on medical history, entitled "Discoverers of Circulation". Andras Barbas was recently awarded an Honorary Membership of the Hungarian Association of Surgeons.
Bob Becker Bob Becker is a full-time, Senior Lecturer in Palliative Care joint teaching appointment between Staffordshire University Faculty of Health and Science and the Severn Hospice. He has successfully managed this appointment for twelve years now and runs a range of palliative and cancer care modules for the university. He is also committed to providing palliative care teaching to statutory, voluntary and charitable organisations as part of his hospice role. In recent years he has developed a national and international reputation within palliative care through his teaching and advisory role in a number of European countries. Bob is an experienced external examiner to several universities is an active member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Palliative Nursing and has an extensive publishing profile.
Jonathan Dencer Brown , BSC, FC Optom, was the Secretary of Optical Practitioners Standing Conference. Jonathan lived and worked in Kenya and has successfully led previous Master Travel tours to Cuba, India and Kenya and is an experienced and popular tour leader.
George Castledine After training as a general nurse George Castledine attended Oxford University, and Liverpool University. He worked at several staff posts a variety of clinical specialities in Manchester, gained experience in social and community health work and later became a clinical lecturer. George set up first nursing degree course linked to Cardiff Medical School, and founded a Department of nursing at the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education. George moved to Birmingham as Professor of Nursing and Community Health at The University of Central England, where he held the post of Assistant Dean. He now holds a joint Clinical Professorship and Consultant of Nursing between the University and The Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust. He was made a fellow of the Royal College of Nursing in 1980 for his outstanding contribution to clinical nursing. He has been a visiting professor at many universities around the world and has worked in the Middle East and Africa for various aid agencies. George writes a regular column for the British Journal of Nursing and is its Consultant Editor. He has also written several books and led previous study tours.
Bal Chauhan is Managing Director of ABC Social Care providing consultancy services to statutory and voluntary sector public bodies. He was Head of Services for Older People and Adults and Chair of the Alzheimer’s Society Branch in Coventry. He is an Interim Manager and managed a Community Multi-Agency Learning Disability Team more recently. He is lecturing with the Open University in Managing Care. Bal has over 35 years of multi-cultural social work experience as both a practitioner and senior manager. He led a successful study tour on Care of the Elderly in China in 2006 and is leading a further tour in 2007. He is currently developing proposals on care of people with dementia in China in partnership with voluntary, private and statutory bodies in China. Bal has also led a successful tour of remote China (Yunnan) and Tibet in 2006.
Candy Cooley currently manages the specialist palliative care team working across Worcestershire, including the Consultant team, specialist Nurses and Lymphoedema services. She is also responsible for the strategic direction of NHS services working in close partnership with Hospices, the Acute Trust, Cancer Networks, private hospitals, local education establishments and Social services. Worcestershire is a rural population with clear localities and commitment to three cancer networks. Previously Candy worked for over 14 years in an academic capacity teaching cancer and palliative care at undergraduate and post graduate level and is particularly interested in supporting staff in all clinical settings to feel confident and competent to deliver the best care and for them to be able to act as the patients advocate. This includes the skills of communication, leadership and teamwork. She is the Consultant editor of the International Journal of Palliative Care and an Honorary Executive of the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care (ISNCC).
Dr Dame Karlene Davis , DBE, Hon DSc, MA, BEd, HONS, RN, RM, MTD. Karlene Davis has been General Secretary of the Royal College of Midwives since 1997. She is strongly committed to bringing more midwives into the profession, ensuring that the Royal College of Midwives provides a service which supports all midwives whether in practice, education or research. Dame Karlene has vast international experience and broad ranging perspectives. Her international activities include her role as Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Midwifery, President of the International Confederation of Midwives and member of the Steering Group of the European Forum of National Nursing and Midwifery Associations (EFNNMA) at the WHO. She uses her involvement in international arenas to champion the role of the UK midwife and midwifery practice in general. Karlene Davis was awarded a Dame Commander of the British Empire in the Queen?s Birthday Honours in 2001 for services to the National Health Service and midwifery and has received Honorary Doctorates of Science from the Universities of Brighton, Kingston, Greenwich and Nottingham.
Lesley Dawson is currently a physiotherapy educator at the University of Brighton and previously worked in the Middle East for a number of years. She led groups of physiotherapists on tours to China and Russia in 1988 and 1989. She has an interest in cross-cultural issues that affect physiotherapy practice and education. As part of this interest, she has been part of international projects with physiotherapy associations in the Czech Republic, Jordan, Afghanistan and Kenya.
Christalla Demetriades , (Talla) graduated with a degree in Medieval Ecclestical History and went on to work in publishing. Talla has lived and worked in the UK, Australia, Cyprus and Guatemala where she is currently building a house. Talla has traveled extensively and is an experienced, enthusiastic and popular tour leader. Having led tours to China, India, Argentina, Mexico, Guatemala and a Mediterranean Cruise.
Professor Philip Dowell Professor Philip Dowell qualified at the London hospital and after a number of hospital jobs entered general practice. Some years later after working in the West Indies he won an international fellowship to study to Eastman Dental Centre in the USA. He continued his post graduate studies at the University of Wales College of Medicine and subsequently taught both under graduates and post graduates in the area of periodontology. He is a specialist periodontist and immediate past president of the British Society of Periodontology. Philip Dowell has lectured both nationally and internationally and is the author of many publications. He is visiting professor for the University of Surrey and Regent for the UK for the International College of Dentists.
Bob Dunster
Professor Harold Ellis CBE, DM, MCh, FRCS, Emeritus Professor of Surgery University of London. Since retiring from Westminster Medical School Professor Ellis has been teaching Anatomy ? now at Guys Hospital. Professor Ellis has been awarded a number of honorary degrees and awards from surgical associations including the Royal College of Surgeons, the Army, the Association of Clinical Anatomists and surgical associations in Sri Lanka, Isreal, Greece and France. He is currently the President of the Armed Services Combines Assessment Board in Surgery and Honorary Freeman of the Company of Barbers. Professor Ellis?s has written a number of books on the History of Medicine and Surgery including ?A History of Surgery,? ?Operations that made History? and ?Surgical Case Histories from the Past.? l.
Dr Chris Everett has worked in medicine for over 40 years and has travelled extensively. As a student he took part in a 19,000 mile round trip to the Congo. Dr Everett returned to the UK and following a number of hospital appointments he moved to General Practice based in Alton in Hampshire. However the travel bug led him back abroad, working in General Practice, Anaesthetics and Obstetrics in Kenya, Brunei and Indonesia. He also managed to fit in additional duties as a police surgeon and a pilot medical examiner. Following retirement he has kept busy with sailing, golf and local history.
Harry Field is Chairman of the Master Travel Club and has wide experience of health services within the UK and internationally. Harry has travelled extensively, leading tours throughout China, South America, Africa and Asia. Leading tours for Master Travel for over ten years he has led tours examining subjects from Forensic Psychiatry to Early Years Education. His groups are always informative, educational and fun.
Joyce M Filer , graduated as an Egyptologist and went on to study ancient pathology at post-graduate level. She is an experienced cemetery archaeologist and for ten years was Curator of Human and Animal Remains in the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, British Museum. She is the human and animal remains consultant to several museums, including Eton College Myers Museum and the Petrie Museum of Egyptology, University College, London. She is involved in many research projects, including the CT scanning of mummies. Joyce has taken many study groups to Egypt and South America and is well-known on the Egyptology lecture circuit. She regularly appears in television documentaries and publishes widely on many aspects of ancient Egypt, particularly health, medicine and disease.
Linda Flockhart
Dr John Ford spent his professional life as a General Practitioner in Kent. During that time he furthered his interest in the History of Medicine and served as part time Historian to St Thomas? Hospital, London, and as President of the British Society for the History of Medicine and of the Section of the History of Medicine of the Royal Society of Medicine. He is an examiner for the Diploma in the History of Medicine of the Society of Apothecaries of London and since his retirement from clinical practice has devoted his time to medical history. He is currently President of the Faculty of the History and Philosophy of Medicine and Pharmacy of the Apothecaries. He has published widely in the subject and is a frequent guest lecturer.
Susan Hagan is a practising Aromatherapist and Ayurvedic Practitioner and Teacher. She teaches Post- Graduate courses on many varied subjects all of which are composed from her personal experiences in the field of Complementary Medicine. She is the International Chair of the International Federation of Professional Aromatherapists and in this capacity co-operates with Master Travel to lead a yearly trip abroad for the members of this Association. Susan trained in Ayurvedic medicine whilst resident between 1968 and 1981 in Nepal. She married the eldest son of Boris Lissanevitch, the famous host of the 300 Club in Calcutta, the Royal Hotel and the Yak and Yeti Hotel Kathmandu. She leads Educational and Therapeutic Tours to Nepal and India thereby introducing both students and lay members of the public to the great benefits of Ayurvedic treatments in an authentic, traditional environment.
Kate Hargreaves is a housing professional with over 30 years experience in the public and private sectors. She has worked in housing (particularly property development) in the Seychelles, Canada and the U.K. and has traveled extensively worldwide. She is currently Managing Director of Property People magazine, a weekly independent business-to-business publication for the housing sector.
Christine Holt is a fully qualified Professional Golf Association professional and an established teacher played with the English Under 23's was Bolton Champion and a Lancashire County Player. Since 1986, after a successful career in both amateur and professional golf, Christine has specialised in the design, organisation and administration of top quality, corporate golf events. Christine works with Mickey Walker on Master Travel golf events.
Rob Hutchinson Rob has had a 37 year career in social work. He was Director of Portsmouth for almost nine years and responsible for children’s services in Hampshire for a further nine years. He chaired the Assoc of Directors Children’s Committee for several years, has given evidence to Parliamentary Committees, was one of six Advisers to government on Every Child Matters, is a Trustee of NSPCC, Chairs Research in Practice and the International Initiative and is on a variety of national boards. He is currently acting as a consultant on children’s issues to local and central government.
Gordon Jackson has enjoyed a distinguished 25 year career as a consultant physician (Cardiology) at Lewisham Hospital including five years as Clinical Director. He has always been deeply involved in medical education and training, and was appointed Chairman of the National Association of Clinical Tutors in 1996 and Site Dean for the Lewisham campus of Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ medical schools in 2000. Gordon’s enthusiasm and charm have earned him many extra-curricular engagements, from training chalet girls in the Swiss Alps to leading walking tours in the Greek Islands.
Anne Jackson-Baker Anne has been a midwife for 36 years, practicing clinically for 20 years in East Anglia and the north west of England before becoming a midwife teacher and later the first Royal College of Midwives (RCM) Senior Professional Officer for the north of England. She was appointed the first Director of the RCM UK Board for England in 1994, a post she held until her retirement from the College in 2006. Her responsibilities included the strategic, professional and policy issues that affect maternity, women and children’s services. Anne is currently enjoying undertaking consultancy work on midwifery leadership, maternity workforce planning and the organisation of maternity services throughout the UK. In May 2007 she was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the RCM in recognition of her outstanding contribution to midwifery.
Dr Kandiah qualified as a Medical Doctor in Sri Lanka in 1977. He has worked as a GP in the UK since 1987. Dr Kandiah visited Cuba as part of a medical delegation in 2000 and has since visited the country many times. Dr Kandiah had attended primary health care conferences in Havana and has given many talks on the Cuban health care system. Dr Kandiah has worked closely with Cuban Medical professionals on primary care in Cuba.
David Kemp a Director of Master Travel, has designed a number of tours through China. He and our local guide Cheung have been a popular and knowledgeable team on previous Master Travel tours.
Dr Raija Kuisma is a senior lecturer in Physiotherapy Science at the University of Brighton. Dr Kuisma worked for ten years in physiotherapy in Hong Kong. While in Hong Kong Dr Kuisma worked on a variety of rehabilitation projects.
Barbara Kuypers is General Manager for the Women and Children?s Services and a Head of Midwifery and Gynaecology in a London Hospital Trust. Barbara is a Nurse and a Midwife with now over 25 years experience working with International and UK experience. From 1982 she worked as a Midwife with various non-governmental organizations and agencies with international projects in Hong Kong, the Middle East, Zambia and The Gambia before returning to London to work in the NHS in 1988.
Christiane Leinhaas is Operations Manager at Master Travel, where she arranges and organises all our tours, not only to China but also to many other far-flung corners of the globe. Christiane, a gifted linguist and photographer who has travelled extensively in Latin America, Africa and Asia, has accompanied a number of previous Master Travel tours to China.
Christopher Liu is Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at the Sussex Eye Hospital, and Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School. He was born in Hong Kong but moved to England aged 15 for his secondary and medical education. His clinical and research interest is in anterior segment surgery. His extracurricular passions are music, art, haute cuisine and travel. He was Tour Leader to the highly acclaimed 2004 Royal College of Ophthalmologists Study Tour to China. The embryonic plans for the current Egypt Tour were conceived mid-2004 and preliminary steps for a Tour to North India for Winter 2006/7 have already been taken. Christopher is married to Vivienne and they have three small children who are also well travelled.
Dr Anne MacAlister has been a GP in Lanarkshire for 23 years. Anne has an interest in all alternative medicine with special interest and post graduate training in homoeopathy acupuncture and hypnotherapy. Anne works as a doctor at a number of rock concerts and has traveled extensively to China, Tibet, India, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Australia, Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, Alaska, USA. South Africa, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and throughout Europe.
Canon Dr Richard Marsh is Canon Residentiary and Director the International Study Centre at Canterbury Cathedral. He has a long association with the Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches. He is the author of Black Angels: the art and spirituality of Ethiopia and Prayers from the East and has traveled extensively.
Dr Colin Niven OBE was invited by Dulwich College to pioneer their new schools in China, in his capacity as Master of Schools for Dulwich College in China. He went on to become the headmaster of the new Dulwich College Shanghai. Dr Colin Niven has enjoyed a long career teaching French and German. Colin has taught at Samuel Pepys Comprehensive; Fettes; Sherborne; was headmaster at the Island School, Hong Kong; St George’s in Rome; at Alleyn’s School Dulwich before leaving for China. Colin’s experience of teaching and of being a headmaster in the UK, Europe, Hong Kong and in Shanghai will provide real insight into education in China.
Debbie Peniket (MSc, RGN, RM, RHV) who has had a 29 year career in general nursing and midwifery but mostly within community services as a General Health Visitor and as a Specialist Health Visitor for People with Physical Disabilities. Interested in the management of long-term neurological conditions, she undertook a Masters Degree in Advanced Clinical Practice at the University of Birmingham in 1998. Following this, she worked as a Nurse Consultant until September 2003 when she took up her current post as Assistant Director of Nursing and Therapies in South Birmingham Primary Care Trust.
Professor John Richardson Professor John Richardson is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for the History of Medicine at Birmingham University. He travels worldwide leading tours for the Royal British Legion, taking undergraduates and Service personnel on adventurous training or expeditions, and running history of medicine battlefield tours.
Caroline Shuldham
Dr Kit Sinclair , current Hong Kong resident and is President of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT). Upon completing her occupational therapy studies at Washington University in St Louis, USA, Dr Sinclair worked with the Peace Corps in South Korea. She later assisted the founding of Hong Kong?s sole OT education program at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Dr Sinclair has made significant contributions to the People?s Republic of China for over 15 years, pioneering the practice of occupational therapy. She has been taking students to China on a regular basis for fieldwork and development activities over this period. She is Official Advisor to the Association of Rehabilitation Therapists, part of the Chinese Association of Rehabilitation Medicine. She has received grants, a Fellowship and an International Service Award from Rotary International for her teaching and rehabilitation work. As president of the WFOT, her main focus is in the development of occupational therapy worldwide, human rights for occupational participation and the advancement of occupational therapy in community based rehabilitation. Through her doctoral studies and her particular interest in the development of clinical reasoning through innovative teaching and learning, she developed The Sinclair Matrix of Clinical Reasoning.
Robert Sloane BA FIHM has spent a career in health services management having joined the National Health Service in 1964 as a management trainee. Since that time he has worked at every level in the NHS. He has also worked in the private sector and extensively overseas. He was from 1993 Chief Executive of the Andover Community NHS Trust, which became a national reference model as a ?virtual? Primary Care Trust. Since April 2001 he has been working independently in a range of primary care settings in the United Kingdom and internationally. He has led two Primary Care Trusts and worked on a range of development projects in health and social care. Robert has been involved with Master Travel for over ten years and was the originator of the Study Tour to New Zealand which he has since led. He has, throughout his career played an active part in the Institute of Healthcare Management in the continuing professional development of health service managers.
George Thomas was the London Borough of Harrow's first Director of Social Services and Housing, serving for twelve years. He had previously worked in Central Government as an Inspector in Child Care. He left Harrow to become Executive Director of the Hong Kong Housing Society. The Society provided low cost housing and associated social service facilities and involved frequent contact with housing providers in China. On return from Hong Kong George accepted an invitation to become part-time Director of the National Council for Voluntary Child Care.
Dr Mike Townend MB, ChB (Hons), Diploma in Travel Medicine is Tutor in Travel Medicine at the University of Glasgow and St Martins College, Lancaster and co-author of Travel Health for the Primary Care Team. Mike is a member of the International Society of Travel Medicine and te International Society for Mountain Medicine and is on the Executive Committee of the British Travel Health Association. He is an expert on Travel Medicine and has led previous trekking tours to Nepal, Ecuador and Peru and a previous health care study tour to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Before taking up tour and trek leading he was a member of several Himalayan climbing expeditions and has traveled overland from the UK to the Himalaya by Land Rover. He lives in the Lake District, where for many years he was a GP, and now spends most of his time, when not traveling abroad, as a writer and lecturer.
Suzanne Truttero is the LSA Midwifery Officer for London and responsible for the regulation of 4,500 midwives in the capital. Suzanne has worked in both acute and community settings and has management and education expertise. Her academic achievements in management and law equip her for her role as a lecturer in four of the London based Universities. Her key interests lie in the development of a workforce that is able to provide maternity services in environments that address choice for women and their families.
Dr Sam Tucker Dr Tucker, qualified at Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg and arrived in the UK as a registrar specialising in Paediatrics, becoming a consultant and working at Hillingdon, Ealing, Mount Vernon and Brompton Hospitals. Dr Tucker was an associate Professor at Brunel University, Director of Research at Hillingdon Hospital and an examiner in Paediatrics at the Royal College of Physicians. He was President of the Paediatric section of the Royal Society of Medicine 1987/88 and has been treasurer of the section since 1989. He again became President in October 2005. Dr Tucker has travelled extensively, is a trustee of the Friends of Russian Children and has twice visited China. Accompanying Dr Tucker is our Chinese National Guide, Zhong Zhang Jiu, or Cheung as he is known. Cheung is a mine of information and will be able to answer any questions and give a general background about life in China. Cheung has worked with Master Travel since 1993, specialising in leading health care study tours. His knowledge of China's culture, history, health and social care will help provide a real insight into China today.
Jamie Veitch is co-founder and director of the weekly regeneration magazine New Start and an avid rock climber. Jamie has traveled extensively within China, has worked in social policy publishing for the last ten years and is particularly interested in social enterprise and economic and community development
Dr Clare Vernon has been a Clinical Oncologist at the Hammersmith Hospital, London for over 20 years and is also Visiting Professor of Oncology to the Universities of Alexandria, Abuja (Nigeria), Hong Kong and Lahore. She is an ex-President of the European Society for Hyperthermic Oncology, has studied History of Medicine with the Society of Apothecaries and Homeopathy at the Royal Homeopathic Hospital and has lectured and published widely on Complementary therapies, Hypethermic research, and breast and bowel cancer.
Mickey Walker is one of the most respected and influential figures in women's golf. Culminating in Europe's Solheim Cup Victory in 1992, Mickey has enjoyed a highly successful career. Following success as an amateur, she played on both the European and US Tours before becoming the first women in Britain to become Head Professional at the Warren Golf Club. Since then she has forged a reputation as a highly regarded coach with the Curtis Cup, LGU Elite Squad and the Solheim Cup. Mickey Walker has also won six European titles between 1979 and 1984, won the Golf Writers Trophy in 1992, awarded the OBE for her services to golf in 1993, elected honorary member of the Professional Golfers Association in 1996 and is currently a golf commentator for SKY Television.
Cathy Warwick is currently General Manager Women and Children's services at Kings College Hospital in London. Cathy is also Head of Midwifery, Chair of the Midwifery Committee of the Nursing Midwifery Council and an honorary professor of Midwifery at Kings College London. Cathy lectures, writes and advises on midwifery issues with a particular interest in the organisation of care and the promotion of choice for women. Catrhy has travelled widely both on her own and with her family, visiting midwifery units in America, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
Sue Weir RGN, DHMSA is a former Westminster Hospital nurse and a registered London "Blue Badge? Guide and author of ?Weir's Guide to Medical Museums in Britain?. Sue later developed a special interest in medical history and runs her own company, Medical History Tours, taking groups of visitors to places of medical historical interest. Sue is a founding member of the Medical Museums Group in London has a Diploma in the History of Medicine of the Society of Apothecaries and is Secretary to the Faculty of the History and Philosophy of Medicine and Pharmacy at the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and member of the Apothecaries' Lecturers Committee. Sue is a founder member of the executive committee of the Friends of the Wellcome Library and is President-Elect of the History of Medicine Section of the Royal Society of Medicine.
Tom White Tom White CBE is a former Director of Social Services for Coventry, founder and ex President of the Association of Directors of Social Services, previous Chief Executive of NCH Action for Children, Director of National Children Homes and a founder president of the European Forum for Child Welfare. Tom has led previous Master Travel study tours to China (including several Community Care tours), Romania, Ecuador, Vietnam and South Africa. Tom is an experience and popular tour leader.
Dr Andrew Williams is a consultant community paediatrician specialising in paediatric neurodisability and community child health. He is currently President of the British Society for the History of Paediatrics and Child Health and has published on different aspects of child health between the 16th - 19th centuries. His previous research has been on childhood stroke and cerebrovascular disease as well as using the children’s drawings of Thomas the Tank Engine as a universal paediatric neurodevelopmental test. Andrew is a member of Thare Mache, the container classrooms charity for the developing world and a performed playwright.
Jan Williamson is a consultant reflexologist, yoga teacher and pre - and post-natal therapist. Jan, a director of the School of Complementary Health in Exeter. Jan travels throughout the world lecturing on yoga and reflexology and has written a number of books including Precision Reflexology.
Robin Williamson has been a practicing surgeon for the last 30 years, first as Professor of Surgery at Bristol and then from 1987 at the Hammersmith Hospital, London. He recently stepped down as Dean of the Royal Society of Medicine but remains actively engaged as Emeritus Dean and member of Council. Although his main clinical interest has long been pancreatic surgery, six years as Dean of the RSM involved him in arranging conferences across the whole field of medicine as well as the informal conversaziones at Wimpole Street, with speakers including the Prince of Wales, Lady Boothroyd, Michael Palin and Adam Hart-Davis. He has travelled widely throughout the world, both professionally and for pleasure, has visited mainland China and Hong Kong (both pre- and post-1997) many times, and has lectured and operated in six continents (not including Antarctica). Having a librarian wife has widened his reading, while four grandsons have challenged his ingenuity at playing games. Interests when time permits include lighthouses, military history, swimming slowly and political geography.
David Wilson was Director of Environmental Health for seven years and a Director of Housing for eight years at Coventry Council. For the last ten years David has been a Board Member of the Orbit Housing Association and Chairman of the Orbit Housing Group (which includes the Orbit Housing Association) for the previous four years. David has traveled extensively and led several study tours to China and Ecuador.