| Description Of Item | Girdwood was Professor of Therapeutics at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (1962–82), Dean of the Faculty of Medicine (1975–79), and President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (1982–85).
Content - childhood illnesses; student life at University of Edinburgh including lectures by E B Jamieson and Sydney Smith; University of Edinburgh Church of Scotland Society and the nature of their impromptu debate; influence of Stanley Davidson and Derrick Dunlop; reason for not joining the Royal Medical Society; thwarted ambition to be neuro-surgeon; improvement in treatment of meningitis; developed his interest in blood disorders; how he became Professor of Therapeutics and establishment of clinical pharmacology; wartime service including blood transfusions for Japanese prisoners of war; public awareness of medical procedures (33 minutes); experiences of examining students on cases and use of spy services to pass exams; retirement speeches; Committee on Safety of Medicines as result of thalidomide. |