Professor Lewis Gillanders

Professor Lewis Gillanders

Professor Emeritus of Radiology Aberdeen b 1925; Glasgow 1947; FRCR, FRCP Ed, FFRRCSI (hon), died from Alzheimer;s disease on 24 December 2002

07 February 1925 to 24 December 2002

Lewis Gillanders qualified at the University of Glasgow and after two years in the Royal Army Medical Corps, he worked as a general practitioner in his father's practice in Cromarty and later in Invergordon. He trained in Radiology in Glasgow and later worked in Birmingham. Lewis Gillanders was appointed in 1958 as a Consultant Radiologist in Aberdeen and in 1964 became Consultant in Charge of Radiology Services in Grampian.

In the early years of his tenure, he was instrumental in developing the practical aspects of angiography. Together with radiographers and biomedical physicists, a number of devices were manufactured to allow peripheral angiography to be performed and these Heath Robinson apparati continued for many years!

He is perhaps best remembered for his introduction of the Foresterhill system for measuring workload, used throughout Scotland until recently. He established the DMRD course from the University of Aberdeen in 1967 in order to increase the Aberdeen training profile. He foresaw the major development of his specialty and the requirement of many new specialists to perform ever more complicated work. He continued the academic role of the Department by creating a Senior Lecturer post in 1980 to increase the research and teaching aspects of the Department. He was awarded a Personal Chair in Radiology from the University of Aberdeen in 1977.

He had many roles throughout his career in Clinical Radiology within the Royal College of Radiologists including Chairmanship of the Standing Scottish Committee and the Vice President from 1981 to 1983. He was also a Past President of the Scottish Radiological Society. From 1979 to 1984 he served on the General Medical Council and he retired in 1988 with the University Court conferring upon him the title of Professor Emeritus.Lewis Gillanders was instrumental in developing the Training Programme in Aberdeen and for developing the basis of the modern department that exists today.

His interest in education which extended through the Royal College of Radiologists and the Scottish Radiological Society was also demonstrated in his membership of other Academic Radiological Societies, his founder membership of the 62 Radiological Club and in the role he played within the Department itself. Lewis worked hard at whatever he did and it was always to a high standard. Since the time of Lewis' appointment up till the present day, Aberdeen is responsible for providing radiology services to Orkney and Shetland and in the early days, Lewis performed the bulk of the monthly visits.

I remember in 1976 during my first visit to Shetland with Lewis, being given a pair of red goggles to put on in the plane to ensure that I was dark adapted for fluoroscopy as there was no image intensification present at that time! His dedication to providing the service in the Islands particularly to Orkney was well known and many a dram was consumed on the shores of Scapa Floe with his long time surgical colleague Bill Groundwater.

He enjoyed many outside activities and is the only person I know to have achieved a hole in one at a par 4!He is also best remembered by his older colleagues for his squeaky shoes and performing angiography dressed in a string vest and braces! Lewis was a sociable man who enjoyed the company of the many trainees who passed through the Department. His Christmas parties were legend. Those invited were expected to participate in the festivities with a party piece.

Musical (I use the word advisedly) performances were popular, and Lewis himself sang George Formby songs and played the ukulele. His conjuring tricks were rather like those of Tommy Cooper and usually ended in disaster.

He was always there, approachable and acting in a very gentlemanly fashion, as such being extremely well respected by those within the Department and by Clinicians in general.

In spite of his Scottishness, Lewis was actually a Lancashire lad, having been born in Oldham, and his wife Nora comes from the other side of the Pennines in Yorkshire. He is survived by his wife, Nora, his son and daughter and five grandchildren.