Sir Donald Irvine, former President of the General Medical Council and current Chair of the Warwick Medical School Faculty of Medicine Advisory Board, will receive an Honorary Degree today (22).

Sir Donald will receive his Honorary Doctor of Science at a graduation ceremony at the University of Warwick this afternoon.

After qualifying from Newcastle Medical School in 1958, Sir Donald was a general practitioner in Northumberland for 35 years. Between 1983 and 1985 was Chairman of the Council of the Royal College of General Practitioners. In 1995 he was elected President of the General Medical Council, the first general practitioner to hold that office.

Throughout his career Donald has had extensive teaching and research interests, focused primarily on general practice and on standards of practice and the quality of healthcare. As chairman of the GMC Standards Committee he was responsible for the development of Good Medical Practice, which sets out the duties and responsibilities of every UK doctor and the standards which form the basic template for modern medical regulation and education.