Summer
2014
meadows, which, if nothing else, was a good
excuse for a pleasant stroll and chat with
friends. The Field Club also allowed me to
spend a memorable month in the summer
holidays after Lower Sixth, camping in the
Gower Peninsula, observing otters and
generally listening intently to the banter of
the older boys.
I also found the CCF to be great fun,
particularly learning to shoot, going on
annual camps at RAF stations Binbrook
and Cranwell, and having the chance to fly
on Field Days. I was a Corporal in the RAF
section and, probably because no one else
was keen, I was put in charge of drilling the
new recruits. I therefore spent many Friday
afternoons marching my squad up and
down the school drive and saluting all and
sundry. It probably cured me of any wish to
enter the forces myself, but later on it gave
me some insight into the career choices of
two of our children, my daughter who is an
Army Reservist and our middle son who is
an o
cer in the Royal Navy.
Career
In 1971 I left MTS to enter Bart’s Hospital,
London, as a medical student. In those
days rugby was said to be the dominant
theme at medical school interviews, and
the apocryphal story was told that one
could expect to be thrown a rugby ball
by the Dean. If you caught it and passed
it back you were in, if you dropped it you
would not get an oer and if you caught it
and drop kicked the ball back you would
get a scholarship. Needless to say, despite
this forewarning at the several interviews I
attended, rugby was never mentioned!
Medical school was fantastic fun and I
rapidly discovered girls, sport, beer and
hard work, in that order, and thoroughly
enjoyed my time there. In those days the
nurse training of the famous London
teaching hospitals in many ways resembled
finishing schools for the daughters of well-
o families. Male medical students were
outnumbered about three-fold at Bart’s,
and we were therefore in great demand for
parties, Matron’s Ball etc, so it made a very
welcome change frommy rather monastic
existence at MTS.
In 1976, at the tender age of 23, I
managed to fool London University into
letting me qualify as a doctor and I was let
loose on the unsuspecting British public.
After pre-registration house jobs in London
and Edinburgh, I gravitated towards
ophthalmology – probably in part because
of my experience at MTS with my optics
project, but also partly because the surgical
firms that I had worked on generally
seemed to have more fun.
Training posts followed in Edinburgh,
where as well as learning about ophthalmic
surgery I met and married Jennifer,
developed a life-long love of Scotland, and
in my spare time became club doctor for
Heriot’s Rugby Club in Edinburgh. This
was very enjoyable but could be rather
hairy on match days – as my knowledge of
sports medicine was rather limited and the
club boasted several international players.
Life as a Consultant Ophthalmologist
Further ophthalmic training occurred
after moving to Leicester where I was
appointed as a Lecturer in the newly
opened medical school, before I was
appointed as a Consultant Ophthalmic
Surgeon in Birmingham in 1986.
I have never regretted my choice of
ophthalmology as a specialty, because it
combines aspects of medical and surgical
expertise with the opportunity to make a
huge dierence to the lives of patients. It
has allowed me to work in several dierent
roles over the years, as a NHS consultant
for 28 years, carrying out elective and
emergency eye surgery, as a partner in a
busy private practice and for the last seven
years as a university professor, working as
a teacher and in clinical research. A typical
working week for me now has evolved from
when I first started as a consultant, and
might include research clinics conducting
clinical trials, lecturing and supervising
undergraduate and post graduate students,
as well as working in a large NHS hospital
seeing patients.
Despite the many well-publicised
tribulations currently aecting the NHS, I
am still convinced that medicine in general
is a fantastic career to follow and opens
up a huge range of career opportunities
world-wide, and I was extremely pleased
when our oldest son qualified as a doctor.
Although I have not visited the school
since leaving, if my experience is typical,
MTS provides excellent career preparation
for aspiring medical students. If I had
to give two pieces of advice, they would
be: never be afraid to ask questions, no
matter how trivial they might appear and
secondly, get stuck in to as many school
activities as possible.
Clive House 1970
