Lifetime Achievement Award 2024 – Dr John Spicer
Nomination of Dr John Spicer for the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award
John’s medical career started when he graduated from Middlesex Hospital Medical School in 1977 (in the same graduation year as Nick Cambridge). His junior posts were in the Midlands and then he escaped to sunnier climes of Australia and New Zealand, working as both a GP and psychiatrist – this psychiatric experience would help prepare him for the population of South Norwood.
He became a GP partner at Woodside Health Centre in 1985 and remains to this day, having survived the multitude of practice splits, mergers and take overs! John and I merged our practices in 2008, forming Woodside Group Practice.
John was the VTS programme director at Croydon for a number of years – inspiring generations of junior doctors, many of whom still work in Croydon, including myself.
John remains passionate about educating the younger clinicians, specialising in Medical Ethics and how art integrates with medicine. He is a Course Tutor and Examiner for the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries in London and lectures and tutors for Barts, King’s and St George’s. He was the Head of GP School from 2010, and then Head of Primary Care Education and Development (South London) for Health Education England from 2014. He has also been involved with medical schools in Brunei and Gozo.
John is a very well-respected author and his publications spread across six pages of his CV. They include clinical reviews, clinical research, books and chapters. John is particularly interested in ethics and education, and he is often invited to speak across the world.
Having worked with John for over 25 years, I have been fortunate to experience his wisdom, humour, patience and knowledge first hand. However, I have also struggled to decipher his handwriting and instructions, struggled to understand the Latin he casually drops into practice meeting discussions.
I feel that John is a worthy recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award – but this does NOT mean that John is ready to retire!
Dr Ruth Clery
