I graduated from Glasgow University in 1983. My internships were in general medicine, oncology and paediatric surgery, including neonatal special care. Prior to starting my training in ophthalmology I spent a year in histopathology and then eighteen months in general medicine, emergency medicine and neurology. As an Ophthalmology Registrar I trained at the Tennent Institute, Glasgow, during which I took an overseas placement in the University of the West Indies, Barbados, working at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Bridgetown. I came back to a Senior Registrar position, first at QMC, Nottingham, then at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, where I later became the Senior fellows in Oculoplastics. I exchanged with the oculoplastic fellow in Amsterdam and worked in the Orbita Centrum at the AMC. I then spent a year visiting world leaders in adnexal disease in Melbourne, New Orleans, and Los Angeles. In 1996 I was appointed as an NHS consultant at Harold Wood and Whipps Cross, later at Barts and the Royal London. After a few years, and after a sabbatical in orbital disease in Vancouver, I returned to Barbados at the invitation of the head of ophthalmology there to set up a comprehensive orbital, lachrymal and oculoplastic regional referral service in the Eastern Caribbean. I currently work part-time for Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Shoreham-by-Sea.

In addition to ophthalmology, I am qualified in aviation medicine and carry out pilot and ATCO medicals for the Civil Aviation Authority and the Federal Aviation Administration. My interests include flying, scuba diving and sailing. I was trained as a pilot by the Royal Air Force (University Air Squadron). I hold the PADI open water diver, advanced diver, rescue diver and Nitrox certificates. I gained my RYA Coastal Skipper/ Yachtmaster ticket in 2011. I am a keen reader and writer of crime fiction. I believe in lifelong learning and am currently studying for PADI Divemaster and Ocean Yachtmaster.