John James Woodward qualified MB BS in Melbourne in 1935 and proceeded to a post of resident medical officer at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, the following year. He then worked at the Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital in 1937 before joining the Indian Medical Service in which he served throughout the second world war. He became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1947 and a Fellow of the College in 1948. He was appointed consultant orthopaedic surgeon to the Alfred Hospital and held this post until he retired. He died in 1983.