Oswald Taylor Brown OBE,

FRCP(Glasg) The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, is an institute of physicians and surgeons in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by Peter Lowe after receiving a royal charter by James VI in 1599, as the Glasgow Faculty, it originally exist ...

FRCP(Ed) The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that sets the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by Royal charter ...

(11 October 1916 – 26 March 2006) was a Scottish consultant

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

geriatric medicine Geriatrics, or geriatric medicine, is a medical specialty focused on providing care for the unique health needs of older adults. The term ''geriatrics'' originates from the Greek γέρων ''geron'' meaning "old man", and ιατρός ''iatros' ...

based in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

from 1951 until 1979. He is recognised as an early architect of geriatric care services in Scotland.

Background

Oswald Taylor Brown was educated at Glasgow High School and

Strathallan School Strathallan School is an independent boarding and day school in Scotland for boys and girls aged 7–18. The school has a campus at Forgandenny, a few miles south of Perth. School roll The school has 73 full-time staff, and 18 part-time staff ...

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

. He graduated from the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in the summer of 1939 with a degree in medicine. At the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he volunteered to join the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

with whom he attained the rank of squadron leader. He crossed over to France with the invasion forces on

D Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

+ 6 and served there and in Germany until the end of the war in 1945. Oswald Taylor Brown was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

on three separate occasions.

Career

After Oswald Taylor Brown had been demobilised in 1946 he returned to Glasgow and joined the unit of Professor Noah Morris where he developed his interest in the new speciality of geriatrics. Morris foresaw that demographic changes made it inevitable that competently organised and led services for an ageing population would soon be required. Morris sent Brown to meet Dr

Marjory Warren Marjory Winsome Warren ( 28 October 1897 – 5 September 1960) is one of the first geriatricians and considered the mother of modern geriatric medicine. Early life and career Warren was born in London, to Walter Richard Warren (a barrister) and hi ...

at the

West Middlesex University Hospital West Middlesex University Hospital (WMUH) is an acute NHS hospital in Isleworth, West London, operated by Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. It is a teaching hospital of Imperial College School of Medicine and a designated ac ...

, whose pioneering work impressed him and he decided that geriatrics would become his speciality. On return to Glasgow he was appointed assistant physician at the

Southern General Hospital The Southern General Hospital (SGH) was a large teaching hospital with an acute operational bed complement of approximately 900 beds. The hospital was located in Linthouse in the south west of Glasgow, Scotland. All facilities and services have b ...

with the task of setting up a new 'geriatric service'. In 1951 he was appointed the first consultant physician in geriatric medicine in Scotland, serving

Tayside Tayside ( gd, Taobh Tatha) was one of the nine regions used for local government in Scotland from 15 May 1975 to 31 March 1996. The region was named for the River Tay. It was created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, following recom ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and

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. Further posts would be created throughout Scotland in the 1950s. The new service was based at

Maryfield Hospital Maryfield Hospital was a hospital in Stobswell, Dundee, Scotland. Originally a poorhouse hospital it became Dundee's second main hospital after Dundee Royal Infirmary. It closed in the 1970s following the opening of Ninewells Hospital. Histor ...

but was soon expanded to hospitals throughout Tayside. The service was based on a combination of acute admission and rehabilitation units, supported by adequate beds for long-term care. The effective treatment of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

with

Streptomycin Streptomycin is an antibiotic medication used to treat a number of bacterial infections, including tuberculosis, ''Mycobacterium avium'' complex, endocarditis, brucellosis, ''Burkholderia'' infection, plague, tularemia, and rat bite fever. Fo ...

freed many beds and he often acknowledged the significant contribution that this made to the expansion of the service. Oswald Taylor Brown opened the first university department of geriatric medicine in Scotland. His expertise was recognised when he was appointed honorary senior lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine at the

University of St. Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. He was also a founding member of the British Geriatric Society.

Awards

* Appointed an

Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1969.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Oswald Taylor 1916 births 2006 deaths Medical doctors from Glasgow People educated at the High School of Glasgow People educated at Strathallan School Alumni of the University of Glasgow Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh Scottish airmen Royal Air Force squadron leaders Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Academics of the University of St Andrews Officers of the Order of the British Empire Scottish geriatricians 20th-century surgeons