Galloway, John Millie Dow (1936 - 2022)
by
 
Alan Wilkinson

Asset Name
E010157 - Galloway, John Millie Dow (1936 - 2022)

Title
Galloway, John Millie Dow (1936 - 2022)

Author
Alan Wilkinson

Identifier
RCS: E010157

Publisher
The Royal College of Surgeons of England

Publication Date
2022-09-21

Subject
Medical Obituaries

Contributor
Peter Galloway, Peter Lee, Malcolm Galloway

Description
Obituary for Galloway, John Millie Dow (1936 - 2022), Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

Language
English

Source
IsPartOf Plarr's Lives of the Fellows

Date of Birth
21 December 1936

Place of Birth
Auchtermuchty, Fife

Date of Death
12 August 2022

Occupation
General surgeon
 
Vascular surgeon

Titles/Qualifications
MB ChB Edinburgh 1960
 
FRCS Edinburgh 1964
 
ChM 1969
 
FRCS 1988

Details
John Millie Dow Galloway, known by the Gaelic name Ian, was a general and vascular consultant surgeon in Hull. He was born on 21 December 1936 in the village of Auchtermuchty, central Fife, the son of Annan Galloway, an insurance salesman, and Agnes Galloway née Dow, a housewife. He was the second of three brothers. His secondary education was at Bell Baxter Grammar School in Cupar, where his fellow pupil was Alasdair Breckenridge, the renowned clinical pharmacologist. At the time, Ian was only the second child from Auchtermuchty to go to university. He entered Edinburgh University medical school at the age of 17, qualifying in 1960. After house jobs at Bridge of Earn, he became an anatomy demonstrator for a year, before starting his clinical surgical training in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Initially drawn to orthopaedics, he thought he should gain some further general surgical experience. Having passed the fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1964, he secured a post at Aberdeen. In Aberdeen he worked with George Mavor, whose work ethic and personality he greatly admired. Mavor became his long-term mentor. At this time he was active in research in venous thromboembolism and was awarded his ChM in 1969. In 1970, at the age of 33, he was appointed to the Hull hospitals as a general surgeon with a vascular interest. As the first of a new generation of surgeons in the hospital, he was influential in improving facilities, equipment and postgraduate education. He was appointed college tutor in 1974. Subsequently, as he was joined by younger consultant surgical colleagues, sub specialisation occurred in general surgery within the Hull hospitals. By 1980, with a vascular colleague, a permanent on call rota for vascular surgery was established covering east Yorkshire and offering support to hospitals in north Lincolnshire and north Yorkshire. A close working relationship with the radiologists interested in vascular imaging developed. Improved imaging meant angioplasty and stenting could become options in the management of patients with arterial disease. The early development of the combined weekly meetings between the vascular surgeons and radiologists held on Friday lunchtimes was beneficial to patient management, educational for the junior staff, and further improved working relationships. Ian’s ability to persuade management of the need for new equipment to improve patient care, such as duplex scanning facilities within the vascular department, enabled the assessment of patients with potential carotid disease and patients with complex venous problems by specifically trained vascular radiographers. As vascular surgery emerged as a definite subspecialty, Ian was involved at a national level on the Vascular Advisory Committee and as a member and secretary of the Peripheral Vascular Club. Later he was a council member of the Vascular Society, becoming its president in 1998. His interest in education and training in vascular surgery resulted in senior vascular trainees from Australia, South Africa and Greece coming to Hull to improve their surgical skills through the 1980s. With the changes to surgical training in the UK, Hull became a popular centre for trainee surgeons wishing to specialise in vascular surgery. Later, he was also instrumental in establishing an academic unit within the vascular department. He was, after 1980, an examiner for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, often examining in physiology, where he maintained an active interest. Within his department he always encouraged the staff to be self-critical about their work. He himself was clear his best years were in his mid-40s, with experience helping into his late 50s. In 1995, he became medical director of the Hull Hospitals Trust, a post he held until his retirement in 1999. His experience, wisdom and quiet effectiveness enabled him to support the Trust during its involvement with the Hull Postgraduate Medical School. He gave up all surgical practice in 1996, abandoning a successful private practice. Ian was a keen golfer, whilst his involvement was limited when working, in retirement he and his wife Margaret played many of the prestigious courses in the UK. He was captain of Hull Golf Club in 2002. His love of reading was lifelong; he had read most of the major authors between 1700 to 1900, in particular Scott and Hardy. He was a member of the council and subsequently (in 2002) president of the Hull Literary and Philosophical Society. Despite a heavy workload, Ian was a devoted family man. He met his wife Margaret whilst a young medical student, and they married in 1961. Their two sons, Peter and Malcolm, shared Ian’s interest in sport. He was club surgeon for Hull FC rugby league club for several years, visiting matches when work allowed. Retirement gave Ian and Margaret the opportunity to enjoy travel worldwide, to entertain in the house they both loved, and to enjoy the company of family and their grandchildren. Apart from a posterior cerebral stroke, age 78, successfully treated by radiological embolectomy, Ian he remained in good health. Sadly, for the last few years of their 60 years of married life, Margaret needed an increasing amount of care, which Ian was determined to deliver personally in their home. Margaret died in October 2021. Thereafter Ian’s health and fortitude rapidly deteriorated and he died on 12 August 2022 aged 85.

Sources
*BMJ* 2022 378 2333 www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj.o2333 – accessed 28 November 2022

Rights
Copyright (c) The Royal College of Surgeons of England
 
Image Copyright (c) Image provided for use with kind permission of the family

Collection
Plarr's Lives of the Fellows

Format
Obituary

Format
Asset

Asset Path
Root/Lives of the Fellows/E010000-E010999/E010100-E010199

URL for File
386030

Media Type
JPEG Image

File Size
89.40 KB