Dr James Robert Kyles
Personal details
Dr James Robert Kyles FFARCS LDSRCSEd LRCP&SEd LRFPSGlas DA
10/07/1916 to 26/12/1992
Place of birth: Edinburgh
Nationality: British
Post nominals:
CRN: 507363
Also known as: Jimmy
Education and qualifications
General education |
Daniel Stewart’s College, Edinburgh; Edinburgh University Medical School |
---|---|
Primary medical qualification(s) |
LRCP&SEd LRFPGlas (the Scottish ‘Triple’), 1942 |
Initial Fellowship and type |
FFARCS by Election |
Year of Fellowship |
1954 |
Other qualification(s) |
LDSRCSEd, 1940; DA(RCP&S), 1949 |
Professional life and career
Postgraduate career
Served in the RAMC, in Palestine & Normandy, for four years after qualifying, rising to the rank of Captain, also working as house surgeon to the Royal Northern Infirmary, Inverness sometime during that period. After WW2 he was supernumerary anaesthetist at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, then senior registrar at Bangour Hospital, Broxburn before being appointed consultant anaesthetist to the East Fife Hospitals, based in Kirkcaldy, in 1951. He retired in 1981.
Professional interests and activities
Jimmy was the first consultant anaesthetist in Fife, and had to organise and improve the service in a large and diverse area with scatterd cottage, maternity and general hospitals. The later development of a new district general hospital, the Victoria in Kirkcaldy, owed much to his foresight and innovative ideas: he brought the first electronic ventilator to Scotland, piloted an early central sterile supply service, introduced a staff ‘bleep’ system, and singlehandedly organised the hospital library for many years.
Clinical interests included epidural anaesthesia, producing a ‘Kyles’ modification of the ‘Wagner’ needle, research on diazepam & alcuronium, and organising an educational programme for anaesthetic technicians. He was president of both the Edinburgh & East (1965-6) and Scottish (1967-8) Societies of Anaesthetists.
Other biographical information
A distinguished rugby player, he was wing-forward for the formidable Stewart's FP team either side of WW2. He was married to Mary (Mimi) Helen Rennie and they had three daughters.
Author and Sources
Author: Dr Robert Palmer with assistance from Dr R A Bowie
Sources and any other comments: Obituary. BMJ 1992; 306: 1193 | A photograph can be seen at www.bmj.com/content/bmj/306/6886/1193.full.pdf