Introduction
Born Northern Ireland, not far from the great basalt causeway that links the island to Scotland under the sea, I grew up in Manchester, England and won a W.H. Rhodes Scholarship to Canada before attending Liverpool Medical School. After graduating with distinction at the age of 23, I taught Anatomy at the University and later trained in General Surgery, attaining the F.R.C.S. in London in 1976. I went on to complete a postgraduate degree in Embryology where an interest in developmental abnormalities led me to pursue a career in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.