Professor Ian Richardson

Professor of General Practice, born 3 April 1922, died 16 December 2010

Among the festive debris on our kitchen table at the end of last year, were two letters lying, by chance, alongside one another. One was from my aged mum, an avid reader of the Herald obituary column, enclosing an obituary of Professor Ian Richardson, professor of general practice in Aberdeen, and one was from the widow of Gibbie Abercrombie, the Auckland GP with whom I had done my GP student attachment.

As a student in Aberdeen in the early 70s, I had approached Professor Richardson to explore possibilities for doing an attachment in New Zealand. He was encouraging and kind and, rather than, as I had imagined, querying why I wanted to leave the Aberdeenshire fold, he contacted an old friend and colleague then living and working in Auckland and, several months later, I was welcomed into Gibbie's home and practice. Two months after that, I decided that I wanted to be a GP.

Gibbie had graduated from Edinburgh and had managed to combine medical studies and working as a doctor with playing rugby for Scotland. He and his wife emigrated and he set up practice on Auckland's North Shore. They had three sporting sons and several sporting grandchildren and a happy and fulfilled life until, around the age of 60, he developed motor neurone disease. My memory is of a very active, kind man who loved life, his work and thrived on helping people. (He might have been surprised that one of his grandsons forsook rugby for basketball. But he would have forgiven him when he gained a place on the NZ national team, the Tall Blacks.)

As a student from a non-medical, non-university educated family, I had often felt intimidated and vulnerable in a medical teaching environment where nearly everyone else seemed to speak the language and identify with the system. Both Gibbie and Professor Richardson encouraged me to feel that wider life experiences were valuable and that they contributed to how you practised and what kind of doctor you were. As Professor John Howie said in Professor Richardson's obituary:

‘He was devoted to the well-being of students. He nurtured young talent and promoted inter-disciplinary thinking and working …’1

In 1966, he had been appointed as a reader in the embryonic General Practice Teaching Unit and became professor in 1970, focusing on developing a pioneering health centre strategy for Aberdeen. He was responsible for producing the north-east Scotland workload study which provided data for research over the subsequent decade, promoted the idea of the 10-minute consultation ahead of its time and created a 12-place vocational training scheme. He was influenced by the work of Michael Balint and was involved with the RCGP, going on to chair the Board of Examiners.

My personal experience of him was of someone who listened, was non-judgmental and helpful to an undistinguished student with no overt academic aspirations:

‘His legacy is in the careers of countless people who were inspired by his thoughtfulness, his wise counsel …’1

What a privilege to have met and had my early life and career influenced by him. Thank you, Professor Richardson.