The Easdale Doctor

When Patrick Gillies graduated from the University of Edinburgh’s distinguished school of medicine with honours in 1890, a high profilecareer as a surgeon lay ahead of him. Any city across the world would have welcomed him, and his university mentors, including the famousJoseph Lister, urged him to take up one of these opportunities. Gillies defied them all and returned to his home town of Easdale, determinedto continue the work his father had begun as a physician to the parishioners of the Slate Islands. Over the next 40 years Patrick Gillies workedtirelessly to sustain and improve the community services available in Argyll. Although he worked as a General Practitioner, Patrick involvedhimself in every aspect of the community, joining the Cullipool School Board, where he was determined to protest against its closure – a fighthe eventually won.This early battle is indicative of the rest of Gillies’ life which he spent investigating everything, from the drainage systems to preventativemedicine, and fighting for improvements, such as an isolation hospital for the Slate Islands and better medical provisions for school children. Inlater years he was able to apply his determination and sense in Army service in two wars.