John Macleod was appointed consultant physician at the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, in 1950. He had major interests in rheumatology and medical education. Medical students who attended his clinical teaching sessions remember him as an inspirational teacher with the ability to present complex problems with great clarity. He was invariably courteous to his patients and students alike. He had an uncanny knack of involving all students equally in clinical discussions and used
praise rather than criticism. He paid great attention to the value of history taking and, from this, expected students to identify what particular aspects of the physical examination should help to narrow the diagnostic options.
His consultant colleagues at the Western welcomed the opportunity of contributing when he suggested writing a textbook on clinical examination. The book was first published in 1964 and John Macleod edited seven editions. With characteristic modesty he was very embarrassed when the eighth edition was renamed Macleod’s Clinical Examination. This, however, was a small way of recognising his enormous contribution to medical education.
He possessed the essential quality of a successful editor – the skill of changing disparate contributions from individual contributors into a uniform style and format without causing offence; everybody accepted his authority. He avoided being dogmatic or condescending. He was generous in teaching others his editorial skills and these attributes were recognised when he was invited to edit Davidson’s Principles and Practice of Medicine.