Home

News and Views

Reference

Education

Links and Services

Showcase Journal

fiogf49gjkf0d

RogerJones

fiogf49gjkf0dRoger Jones" align="left">

Roger Jones is Wolfson Professor of General Practice at The Guy's, King's, and St Thomas' School of Medicine, King's College, London, England. He grew up in the Forest of Dean , in the West of England, and was educated at Monmouth and Oxford University. He trained at St Thomas' and worked in general medicine, diabetes, and nephrology in Brighton and King's College Hospital, London. Here he learnt some of the techniques of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, largely by trial and error.

Professor Jones became a general practitioner in Hampshire in 1979. He was also a senior lecturer in primary medical care in Southampton, where he began his research into the epidemiology and natural history of gastrointestinal symptoms in the community, and in general practice.

He moved to the Foundation William Leech Chair of Primary Health Care in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1991, and returned to London in 1993 to his present position.

Professor Jones is the founding President of the Primary Care Society for Gastroenterology in the UK, founding Chairman of the European Society for Primary Care Gastroenterology, Editor of Family Practice, and Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Textbook of Primary Medical Care.

What made you decide to become a gastroenterologist?

I am not a gastroenterologist, but a primary care physician with a strong research interest in clinical gastroenterology. Two renal physicians immensely influenced me (bizarrely), Tony (later Lord) Trafford in Brighton and Victor Parsons at King's, where I developed an interest in the upper gastrointestinal complications of renal transplantation and chronic renal failure and learnt more about endoscopy. I set up an open-access endoscopy service for general practitioners, based in a community hospital in Andover, Hampshire, whilst a full-time general practitioner. I developed my research interests in dyspepsia and other gastrointestinal problems there and in Southampton.

Who was the teacher you admired the most?

Dennis Noble was an inspirational physiologist at Oxford, the late Joanna Sheldon the most lucid teacher of endocrinology I can imagine, and John Dent, whilst a Registrar at St Thomas', a fantastic clinical teacher.

Which research paper influenced you the most?

Probably Duncan Colin Jones' international working party reports in the Lancet on the classification of dyspepsia (Lancet 1998; 1; 576-9), because it raised fundamental questions not only of classification but also of aetiology, pathogenesis and natural history.

What is the most important fact that you have discovered?

Determination of the prevalence, pattern, and natural history of the common gastrointestinal disorders in the community and in primary medical care.

What is the biggest mistake that you have made?

Moving to Newcastle upon Tyne.

What is your unfulfilled ambition?

To write as well as J. P. Donleavy.

What is your greatest regret?

Leaving Oxford.

How do you relax?

With difficulty and a combination of the Saturday "Times" Crossword (a ritual), a book, friends, alcohol, or some combination of these.

What is your favorite sport?

Golf, closely followed by psychotherapy.

What is your best place in the world?

A perfect swimming pool, surrounded by a Roman loggia, in a beautiful old farmhouse outside Ronda in Andalucia, Spain.

What is your favorite film?

"Top Gun" and "Laurence of Arabia".

What car do you drive?

An old Citroen.

What is your best electronic 'toy'?

An ancient Sharp Memomaster, which not only contains all the telephone numbers and addresses that I need, but also crucial information that I find increasingly difficult to retain, such as pin numbers and access codes.

What book are you reading at the moment?

"The Constant Gardener" by John Le Carre.

Why did you get in involved in GastroHep.com?

A combination of Roy Pounder's charisma and enthusiasm, profound altruism, and the chance of having my own website.

View Favorite Slide