Profile And Contributions To This Article

A tribute to John A J MacLeod

James  Douglas

James Douglas

qualifications: MD, FRCGP, FRCPE

United Kingdom

Dr Douglas attended the Royal High School in Edinburgh and is a graduate of University of Aberdeen. After hospital jobs in Aberdeen, he became involved in off-shire medicine in Aberdeen and researching the illnesses of deep-sea divers.

In 1979, he moved to Fort William to train in General Practice and to become the Medical Officer for the Underwater Training Centre in Fort William, where he continued his research interests.

He became involved in postgraduate medical education and the training of GPs.

He also became the Medical Officer for the newly emerging fish-farming industry in the West Coast of Scotland and was the first to describe the Occupational Health problems associated with that industry. In 1995, he gained his MD Thesis after describing a new cause of Occupational Asthma, which had been affecting his GP patients who were working at the new salmon processing factory.

In 1997, his General Practice became one of the first GP Research Practices in Scotland and he founded the Highland Primary Care Research Network. He continues to research flu immunisation and diagnosis in his Fort William patients and other primary care research projects.

In March 2000, he was appointed Director of the Remote And Rural Areas Resource Initiative (RARARI) on behalf of the Scottish Executive. This Initiative is tasked with addressing the many challenging issues, which face the NHS in the remote and rural areas of Scotland, by means of education, research and service re-design. The Initiative completed in March 2004.

In 2004, he was then appointed to Locality Clinical Lead for the Lochaber Local Healthcare Partnership, which aims to obtain better working relationships between national health service and local authority care systems. He remains in this post to date.

He continues to work part-time as a GP and is married with four children. His leisure interests include sailing and swimming.


Register Now
About our regions
News & Events

Pilot study of a cognitive behavioral therapy skills intervention for rural adults
article

Transitioning to rural practice together: a rural fellowship model (in 6 Ps)
article

NRHA 36th Rural Health Policy Institute, 11–13 February 2025, Washington, DC, USA
web link

RWAV Conference 2025: Dreaming Big and Driving Change in Rural Healthcare, 19–21 February 2025, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
web link

2025 European Forum on Prevention and Primary Care, 5 & 6 March 2025, Zagreb, Croatia
web link

WONCA South Asia Region Conference 2025, 4–6 April 2025, Bengaluru, India
web link

WONCA Asia Pacific Region Conference 2025: Primary Care Transformation; Implementing High-value, High-quality Care!, 24–27 April 2025, Busan Korea
web link

9th European Young Family Doctors' Movement (EYFDM Forum), 25–27 April 2025, Grande Région
web link

National Rural Health Conference 2025, 2–3 May 2025, Ōtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand
web link

NRHA 30th Health Equity Conference, 19–20 May 2025, Atlanta, GA, USA
web link

NRHA 48th Annual Rural Health Conference, 20–23 May 2025, Atlanta, GA, USA
web link

2025 International Rural Nursing Conference, 27–30 May 2025, Arlington, TX, USA
web link

BC Rural Health Conference 2025, 6–8 June 2025, Prince George, BC, Canada
web link

4th International Indigenous Health & Wellbeing Conference 2025, 16–19 June 2025, Adelaide Convention Centre, Kaurna Country, Australia
web link

14th EURIPA Rural Health Forum. Rural Reformation: Meeting Wellbeing and Healthcare Needs in Rural Communities, 26–28 June 2025, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
web link

Rethinking Remote 2025: Scotland's Rural Health Conference
web link

WONCA World Conference 2025: New Vision for Primary Health Care and Sustainable Development, 17–21 September 2025, Lisbon, Portugal
web link

NRHA 23rd Rural Health Clinic Conference, 23–24 September 2025, Kansas, MO, USA
web link

Rural Mental Health Conference 2025 (RMHC25), 5–7 November 2025, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
web link

4th EURACT Medical Education Conference, 23–25 April 2026, Iasi, Romania
web link

9th WONCA Africa Region Conference 2026, 10 & 11 September 2026, Gaborone, Botswana
web link

18th National Rural Health Conference, 14–17 September 2026, Adelaide, SA, Australia

Connect with us
Facebook
Bluesky
Twitter
Linkedin
Email
RSS feed