Dr David Keir Fisher

Dr David Keir Fisher

22/03/1894 to 06/12/1985

Place of birth: Glasgow

Nationality: British

CRN: 715359

Education and qualifications

General education

Schooling not known; Anderson College of Medicine

Primary medical qualification(s)

LRCP&SEd LRFPSGlas (the Scottish ‘Triple’), 1923

Initial Fellowship and type

FFARCS by Election

Year of Fellowship

1948

Other qualification(s)

LDS, RFPSGlas, 1923

Professional life and career

Postgraduate career

Because his parents could not afford to fund his medical training, Fisher worked as a dental technician for 5 years to save enough to become a medical student in 1913. The next year he joined the 4th Royal Scots Fusiliers, serving in Gallipoli & Egypt, and transferring to a field ambulance unit after recovering from wounds. After the war he returned to studies in both medicine and dentistry, qualifying in both disciplines in 1923. He then worked in general practice in Blantyre, returning to Glasgow in 1930 to work as an anaesthetist based at the Dental Hospital. Appointed a consultant (primarily at the Dental Hospital, but also at the Royal Infirmary) on the inception of the NHS in 1948, he retired from GRI in 1959 and the Dental Hospital in 1961.

Professional interests and activities

Fisher was a dental anaesthetist in the traditional style, but hypnotherapy was a major cinical interest and he founded the Scottish branch of the British Society of Medical and Dental Hypnosis.

Other biographical information

Predeceased by his wife, he had a daughter and twin sons. He maintained strong links with the church and remained active into retirement, travelling to the Upper Nile in his 90th year, and contributing considerably to the discussion of a clinical meeting only two weeks before his death.

Author and Sources

Author: Prof Tony Wildsmith

Sources and any other comments: Obituary. BMJ 1986; 1: 275-6 I thank Dr WLM Baird for reviewing the script.