John Gillies | Island Wisdom

Dr John Gillies is an Edinburgh graduate who has worked in Malawi and as a general practitioner in rural Scotland, latterly in Selkirk for 16 years. He has been an undergraduate tutor, a GP educational supervisor and a training programme director with NHS Education Scotland. He was Chair of the Royal College of GPs in Scotland from 2010 to 2014 and deputy director of the Scottish School of Primary Care from 2015-2019. www.sspc.ac.uk He is an Honorary Professor of General Practice at the University of Edinburgh and the University of St Andrews. In 2019, he chaired a group for the Scottish Board for Academic Medicine which produced recommendations on increasing undergraduate exposure of medical students in Scotland to general practice. John is from North Uist Western Isles Scotland, proud of his Gàidhlig roots, language, and heritage. He co-directs the Compassion Initiative within the Global Health Academy, which works across disciplines to use the growing evidence for compassion in workplaces including healthcare. He is on the editorial board for a book of poetry for new doctors, “Tools of the Trade”, gifted to all new doctors in Scotland, published jointly by Scottish Poetry Library and Polygon Press in June 2022. He keeps fit — and tries to keep sane– by cycling and walking in the Scottish Borders, Western Isles and beyond.