Philip Kessly

Philip Kessly

Former general practitioner Perth, Western Australia (b London 1922; q Edinburgh 1951; FRACGP), died on 18 August 2004 from aortic valve disease in August 2004.

Philip Kessly started as a pharmacist in 1937 before enlisting in the British Army, serving in India. As a medical student he won prizes in physiology, public health, and surgery. He joined a practice in Birkenhead, Merseyside but later migrated to Western Australia and practised in Mount Yokine until 1986. He gained honorary appointment as captain in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps.

He served as clinical assistant in dermatology at Royal Perth Hospital, he lectured on social aspects of medicine, and latterly he was part-time senior lecturer in general practice in the University of Western Australia. He focused on family health care and he helped to raise the standing of general practice as a specialty. From 1964 to 1980 he was a member of the West Australian Faculty Board of the Royal Australasian College of General Practitioners. He fulfilled his greatest role in his election as provost of the West Australian Faculty of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, which ultimately led to the establishment of a Department of General Practice in the University of Western Australia. He was a member of the branch council and later vice president and state president of the Australian Medical Association. He was federal councillor of the Australian Medical Association for five years, travelling to meetings in Sydney, New South Wales. In 1979 he was elected to the fellowship of the Australian Medical Association.

He loved walking around the Swan River, and his interests extended to water sports, scuba diving, and swimming. He used to swim every day. He continued working part-time in general practice despite ill health. A colleague described his sense of loyalty that was responsible for his continued attendance at a barber despite his extensive hair loss. The joke was: "He used to come in every month for a haircut. And it was just that—a single hair cut." A quiet achiever, he was a man of few words, even in committee; but he left an impression of orderliness and tidiness. He leaves his wife, Lilian; three children; and seven grandchildren. [Krishna Somers]