John is Professor of Rural and Remote Medicine, Rural Clinical School (RCS) of Western Australia, Bunbury, Western Australia. He was founding Head of the RCS in 2002–2007 and Head of the School of Primary Aboriginal and Rural Health in 2003–2007.
Born in Muirkirk, Ayrshire, Scotland and a former pupil of Prestwick and Ayr Academies, John graduated in medicine from the University of Glasgow in 1966. In 1968–1976, he practised as general practitioner in Kirkintilloch, and became a senior lecturer in general practice at the University of Dundee in 1977–1983.
In 1983 John was appointed as the first Professor of General Practice in New Zealand at the University of Otago, Dunedin. During 1992–1997 he was Professor and Chair of the Department of Family Medicine, University of the United Arab Emirates. In 1999–2002, after a short spell in Malaysia with the University of Sheffield, he returned to rural practice in Winton, Southland, New Zealand. At that time he was also Editor of New Zealand Family Physician, the journal of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.
John's research interests have been in the areas of Down syndrome, care of the elderly and chronic fatigue syndrome. He retains an abiding passion for the discipline of general practice, with particular emphasis on its benefits to people who live and work in rural, regional and remote locations.