Professors of Military Surgery

Professors of Military Surgery

Defence Professors of Surgery

Transition to ‘Defence Professor of Surgery’

Until 1995, professorial posts were single service: the Royal Navy had its Professor of Naval Surgery, the Army had its Professor of Military Surgery, and the Royal Air Force the Cade Professor of Surgery. With the creation of the tri-service Royal Defence Medical College (RDMC) at Millbank in 1995 it was decided to amalgamate the three posts, and Surgeon Captain Philip Barker RN was appointed as the first Tri-Service Professor of Clinical Surgery in 1996.

Colonel Peter Roberts remained in a non-clinical role as Professor of Military Surgery until Millbank closed in 2000 and he demitted the office. Surgeon Captain Barker then assumed the title of Professor of Military Surgery, which was now designated by the Royal College of Surgeons as an obligatory clinical post, and all the clinical professors (Medicine, Surgery, General Practice, and later Emergency Medicine) moved to the new Royal Centre of Defence Medicine (RCDM) in Birmingham.

The title changed again shortly before the end of Surgeon Captain Barker’s tenure (1996 – 2006), to Defence Professor of Surgery, a title inherited by his successors, Surgeon Captain Mark Midwinter RN (2008 – 2014), Surgeon Captain Rory Rickard RN (2014 – 2021), Colonel Linda Orr (2021 – 2024) and Colonel Nigel Tai (2024 – date).