John Meecham

bmj;393/jun05_4/e107534/VS1F1vs1Born in Oldham, John was then educated at Birkenhead School before reading medicine at the University of Liverpool. His early postgraduate training included house appointments at Sefton General Hospital, where exposure to cardiology shaped a lifelong professional interest.Before committing fully to general medicine, John broadened his clinical experience as a senior house officer. He then completed two years of national service in Singapore at the British Military Hospital, where he worked as a junior specialist in obstetrics and gynaecology.He married Margaret in 1960 and took up hospital posts at the chest unit at Broadgreen Hospital. He completed an MD on transfer factor estimation in adult congenital heart disease. He was also a fellow at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, where he undertook research into genetically inherited disease in the Amish community.In 1966 John was appointed consultant physician at Birkenhead General and St Catherine's hospitals. His expertise lay in cardiology, but he...