Spring 2022 (Volume 32, Number 1)
Tribute to Dr. Tom Hunter
By Barry Koehler, MD, FRCPC
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1943–2022
Thomas Hunter (1943-2022) died on January 11, 2022. A
lifelong bachelor, Tom is survived by his brother Alec, Alec's
wife, Trish, and niece Linsey, all of Newtonhill, Scotland.
Tom was born in Scotland. He graduated from Charing
Cross Hospital, University of London in 1967. He completed
his residency training at the University of Toronto, as
well as a year at the National Spinal Injury Unit, Stoke-Mandeville Hospital. He became a Fellow of the Royal
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in Internal
Medicine in 1973 and in Rheumatology in 1974.
After completing his training, he joined the Division of
Rheumatology at the University of Manitoba. He was appointed
Director of the Rheumatic Diseases Unit in 1982.
His particular research interest was in ankylosing spondylitis.
He moved to the University of British Columbia
(UBC) in 1986, where he continued to pursue his interests
in research, clinical care and teaching. During this time,
he acted as an Examiner in Rheumatology for the Royal
College (1994-1997). In Manitoba, he established, with
Dr. Ross Petty, a clinic to facilitate the transition of patients
moving from pediatric to adult care for their arthritis.
Upon his move to Vancouver, he and Ross established
a similar clinic.
Tom retired from his medical career in 1997, returning
to Scotland to be the caregiver for his aging parents. Never
one to remain idle nor to be completely removed from
medicine, he enrolled in the University of Edinburgh and
completed his MBA in 1998, his dissertation topic being
“An Analysis of the Procedures used by Hospital Managers
in the National Health Service to Manage the Complaints
of Patients.” He also started — and completed — a novel
of detective fiction. His frustration was the failure to find
a publisher.
Following his parents’ deaths, he elected to return to
Vancouver in 2013, with plans to continue his writing career.
He completed the Simon Fraser programme in Creative
Writing in 2015 and was well into the drafting of his
second novel. Unfortunately, Mother Nature threw him
a curve, with the development of a gastro-oesophageal
junction malignancy in the summer of 2016. Despite chemotherapy
and resective surgery, the tumour spread continued
over the ensuing years. Fatigue markedly curtailed
his writing. Despite this, he accomplished another of his
ambitions, visiting China. He did so in 2018 as a member
of the UBC Division of Rheumatology yearly teaching
programme in rheumatology for medical students at
Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University,
along with his colleagues, Simon Huang and Ian Tsang.
Despite Tom’s devotion to a truly English diet, he adapted
to, and enjoyed, both the different culture and its cuisine.
Tom is remembered by his colleagues for his strong
ethical sense and for his commitment to his patients. His
life led him along branching pathways which he trod with
persistence and with a twinkle in his eye.
Barry Koehler, MD, FRCPC
Clinical Professor Emeritus,
Division of Rheumatology
Department of Medicine
University of British Columbia
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