David Dowse was a general surgeon in Nova Scotia, Canada. He was born in Dublin on 17 January 1937, the son of Richard Victor Dowse, a gynaecologist and obstetrician, and Ellen née Heard. His parents moved to Ceylon, where his father was a physician in Colombo, and then, during the Second World War, moved to Kenya. David was educated at Michaelhouse, in Natal, South Africa, and then returned to Ireland, to study medicine at Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated in 1962. As an undergraduate he won university and national titles for swimming and diving. He completed his junior posts in Dublin and in Northern Ireland, and then worked for a time in general practice before specialising in surgery. He did registrar posts at St Catherine’s Hospital, Tralee, at Greenwich District Hospital and at Queen Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton. After passing his FRCS, he emigrated to Nova Scotia, Canada, where he was appointed as a general surgeon to the Fishermen’s Hospital in Lunenberg (1972 to 1996) and to South Shore Regional Hospital, Bridgewater (1980 to 1996). He had many interests, chief of which was sailing in the waters of Nova Scotia. He died of Alzheimer’s disease on 23 September 2009, leaving his wife Heather née Stuart, two sons (Martin and Peter) and two daughters (Suzanne and Rosalie).