Ronald Charles King

After house jobs at Barts, and two years as a demonstrator in physiology at the medical school, Ronald Charles King (“Ronnie”) spent a year as instructor and research assistant in gastrointestinal medicine at the University Hospital, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, where he was present when a flexible glass gastroscope was used to visualise the interior of the duodenum for the first time. After further posts at the old Metropolitan Hospital and back at Barts, he was appointed a consultant in general medicine at the Kent and Sussex Hospital, Tunbridge Wells. While always championing the role of the general physician in the district general hospital, he also developed interests in diabetes, gastroenterology, and, later, …