In Depth:  Professor David Cranston

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Dr Montagu Barker 1934 –2015

Dr Montagu Barker 1934 –2015

Professor David Cranston

Monty Barker was born in Glasgow on 12 March 1934. After studying classics he turned to a career in medicine, training at St Andrews and Dundee.

In 1954 he was diagnosed with TB meningitis and for one month was expected to die. He recovered and a career in psychiatry followed, partly though the advice of a senior college who told him ‘You don’t have to be bonkers to become a psychiatrist’. He was appointed as a consultant in Bristol, where junior staff and medical students found him an excellent teacher, although at times quite intimidating.