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College Roll Bio
Twhigg, John Martin
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Qualifications
DSO (1941) ED (1943) MB ChB NZ (1923) MRCP (1927) MD NZ (1931) FRACP (1938) (Foundation) FRCP (1947)
Born
13/09/1900
Died
08/04/1970
John Twhigg was born in Dunedin, a son of the manse. His secondary education was at Otago Boys' High School 1913-17. He undertook his medical studies at Otago University and was awarded a university blue in athletics. He was a house officer at Palmerston North Hospital until 1925, thereafter spending a year as a resident medical officer at the Porirua Mental Hospital. Proceeding to London, he was a resident at the Park Royal Hospital, and in that period took his London Membership examination, to return to Wellington in 1928 where he was to spend the rest of his practising life. He was promptly appointed an assistant honorary physician to the Wellington Hospital and from 1931 to 1939 held the position of senior honorary physician with, in addition, charge of the diabetic outpatient department.
John Twhigg had been involved in the Territorial Army since student days, and volunteered for overseas service early in World War II. He embarked as commanding officer 5 NZ Field Ambulance, to serve first in the United Kingdom in the period of the Battle of Britain, then in the campaigns of Greece and Crete, and later in North Africa during the early battles of the Western Desert. His DSO was awarded for meritorious service in the field during the Crete campaign. After capture in 1941 he was held as a prisoner of war in Italy for three months, then was repatriated to Egypt under the terms of the Geneva Convention and returned to New Zealand. From August 1942 he served as ADMS 3 NZ Division, based on Bourail, New Caledonia and in May 1943 was promoted to DDMS, 2 NZEF (Pacific) with the rank of brigadier. With the withdrawal to New Zealand of army units from the Pacific theatre after the British Solomons campaign he left for London in early 1945 to take charge of the repatriation of New Zealand prisoners of war from Europe.
Returning to New Zealand in 1946, he resumed his position on the Wellington Hospital staff as senior consultant physician until his retirement in 1960. In the same period he practised as a private consultant physician in the city. He held the position of chief medical officer in New Zealand for the AMP Society from 1956 to the time of his death. He made a consistent and fruitful contribution to teaching over many years, initially as an honorary clinical tutor from 1929, and from 1937 as a lecturer in clinical medicine. He was chairman of the Wellington division of the BMA in 1948 and from 1950 was a member of the executive committee of the council. He had a special interest in rheumatic diseases, being a founder and the first chairman of the New Zealand branch of the Empire Rheumatism Council (later New Zealand Rheumatism Association) and a member of the executive committee from 1948 to 1958. He was a foundation Fellow of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians and held office as a member of the Dominion committee from 1958.
John Twhigg set an impeccable example as a senior consultant physician With a passion for detail and meticulous in his clinical standards, he had an imposing and restrained presence which sometimes concealed a kindly nature and a deep compassion for the sick. A Scotsman at heart, he held a very firm line when negotiating fees with medical examiners as CMO of the AMP Society. He was honest and straightforward to the letter. He suffered a major myocardial infarction in 1951 which was managed at home and without anticoagulants in line with his clinical convictions. Thereafter he was able to give almost twenty years more of service to clinical medicine, balancing his workload against his disability with characteristic caution and wisdom. His versatility and capacity to give unstinting service were probably best illustrated by his contribution in the Crete campaign where, as a specialist physician, it is understood he made a substantial surgical contribution.
In 1930 Dr Twhigg married Miss Barbara Roberts, daughter of Sir John Roberts. They had three daughters. Mrs Twhigg survives at the time of preparation of this biography.
Author
JL ADAMS
References
Munk's Roll
,
6
, 440-1;
NZ Med J
, 1970,
71
, 313-4, 390-1.
Last Updated
May 30, 2018, 17:35 PM
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