A tribute to Dr. John Tomlinson
Dr. John Tomlinson.
d. 11 June 2012
12 June 2012
Dear friends and colleagues
Today I was devastated to hear about the sudden and unexpected death of an old friend and widely respected colleague John Tomlinson. Without a doubt, John was a true gentleman and colleague whose indisputable friendship and passionate care for providing help to others was beyond dispute. I very much looked forward to my meetings, my dinners and just attending events with John whose generosity and genuine kindness was unsurpassed.
When the BMJ agreed to commission and publish a series of articles about sexuality, and then amalgamate them as the ABC of Sexual Health it was a complete surprise to John (and to so many other colleagues). This most respectable journal would at last take the topic of human sexuality seriously and offered opportunities to educate our colleagues by publishing the series of articles that John either commissioned or wrote. The ABC of Sexual Health was edited by John, a physician at the Men’s Health Clinic, Winchester and London Bridge Hospital, and formerly general practitioner in Alton and honorary senior lecturer in primary care at the University of Southampton. It was a privilege to work with John on this project on the second edition and then with a second chapter when the project was extended overseas following the death of our mutual friend Padmal de Silva.
Much of John’s time following his retirement from medicine was devoted to the good work of the national charity, the Sexual Advice Association - formerly the Impotence Association, then the SDA and now of course the Sexual Advice Association. John offered his time tirelessly to supporting the charity and providing his skill and expertise to answer the many emails that come into the charity on such a regular basis. I persuaded him to share this vast experience with others, as our venture within the charity was unique. In the true spirit of cooperation, John went on and shared his experience and findings with one of the student doctors attached to the service here in Sheffield and together we published a paper last year in the IJCP . We went on to present the findings at the WAS meeting in Glasgow last summer. Just a few days ago John emailed me to ask me whether I had seen the latest article in Trends in Urology that Linford had lead written. This morning I arrived at my office in urology to find the journal with a copy of the article. Hours later, I heard the tragic news whilst still in clinic.
There are only a handful of individuals who have been so strongly influential in my training and experience in sexual medicine and up there amongst those teachers and mentors for me was John. My heartfelt condolences to his wife Pat and to his family. John your revered commitment to Sexual Heath and Sexual Medicine will always be remembered by so many of us.
Kevan.
Kevan R Wylie. MB MD DSM FRCP FRCPsych FRCOG IF FRSPH FAcadMEd
Consultant in Sexual Medicine, NHS, Sheffield. UK.
Honorary Professor, Sheffield Hallam University, UK.
Honorary Reader, University of Sheffield, UK.
Adjunct Associate Professor, Sydney Medical School, Australia.
Visiting Professor, Yerevan State Medical University, Armenia.
Associate Editor, Journal of Sexual Medicine.