Page 46 - Eclipse - Autumn 2015

In honoured memory
The RVC is very proud of its community and we pay tribute to all those no longer with us who have devoted their lives to the College and the veterinary profession.
Mac Johnston
John Fishwick writes:
It was with great sadness that the veterinary profession learned of the death of Mac Johnston on 27 February 2015 in Inverness. For those who knew Mac, his many colleagues at the RVC, his former students and those farm animal and equine clients who he had worked with over many years,
it was hard to believe that Mac is no longer with us. He
had always been a character of great physical and mental strength, resourcefulness, good sense and good humour. To many he had appeared to be almost invincible. Mac
was a man of very many talents: he was rst and foremost
a clinician, an expert in veterinary public health, a teacher, student mentor and a great communicator.
Mac was a rst class and very popular equine and farm animal clinician. Former clients in Hertfordshire still enjoy sharing anecdotes about Mac’s veterinary activities and legendary cures even though he has not worked in the RVC’s Large Animal Practice for nearly 30 years. More recently when he retired from the RVC in 2006 he said he might be doing a very limited amount of equine practice work with local practice. In reality he was soon in great demand working as a member of Kessock Equine Vets in Inverness, again building great loyalty with a new set of clients, working pretty much at out until illness meant that he had to curtail his activities.
Mac graduated from Edinburgh in 1968 and after a lengthy spell in mixed practice he was recruited to the RVC in 1979 to work as an assistant in the newly formed Farm Animal Practice Teaching Unit. He rapidly built up the client base in the unit and earned the respect and appreciation of both farm and equine clients. In this role, whilst never losing his fascination and excitement for the individual clinical case, he progressively developed his interest in meat hygiene and public health and became a recognised expert and spokesman in this area. In 1998 he was appointed as RVC Professor of Veterinary Public Health.
Mac recognised that, historically, the veterinary profession’s reputation had been built on its contributions to biosecurity and food safety. He played his part in acting as an independent expert on UK government committees and
EU veterinary committees and working groups, focused
on the microbiological safety of food, antimicrobial resistance, meat inspection and risks around spongiform encephalopathies following the BSE crisis. Mac’s broad clinical and teaching experience also helped him to have
a balanced view on the teaching of veterinary public
health in the modern veterinary curriculum, and he was a leading gure in de ning an appropriate core of knowledge and skills for new Members of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons that was also acceptable to European accreditors and which satis ed EU Directives.
Mac will perhaps be best remembered by many in the profession as a great mentor to generations of veterinary students as they passed through their veterinary education. Mac was for many years, in addition to his many other duties
at the RVC, Senior Clinical Tutor. In this role his pragmatic and clear advice helped many students at a time when they needed guidance.
Above all, perhaps Mac’s greatest skill was as a communicator. He was able to deal with those from all walks of life in a straightforward and honest way, explaining issues clearly and often with great humour. He was able to deal with the national media on challenging matters such as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy and Foot and Mouth Disease explaining the issues simply, clearly and honestly. He was equally willing
to spend time with a distressed student, or to discuss the approach to a clinical case whilst standing around a cow with a group of students under the watchful eye of an interested farmer. His teaching was rst class and he was a great believer that veterinary graduates needed to be able to “do simple tasks well”.
Mac was awarded an OBE in 2004 for services to food safety, was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Health and an Honorary Fellow of the RCVS in recognition of his special eminence
in and services to veterinary science. He gained the Ward Richardson Award from the Royal Society for the Promotion
of Health for outstanding and innovative work in the eld of food hygiene, and the BEVA Equine Welfare Award in 2013. He was awarded a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine (honoris causa) from University of Nottingham. Mac’s nal professional honour was the award of Doctor of Science (honoris causa) from the RVC in 2014.
With the passing of Mac the veterinary profession has lost one of its great supporters and most effective advocates. Perhaps most of all Mac will always be remembered to those of us who knew him as a great colleague, whose good advice, measured response to a crisis and great company we all appreciated. We extend our deepest sympathies to his children Robin and Anna.