Graduated with a medical degree from Groote Schuur Hospital & the University of Cape Town in 1979 and then continued his surgical training in Bristol and Cardiff, specialising in Neurosurgery, before completing his training in Belfast during the Irish "Troubles". He was awarded a Master of Surgery degree by Bristol University in 1993 and then appointed as a Consultant Neurosurgeon in Hull in 1994. He has served on the Council of the Society of British Neurosurgeons, and examined for the Royal Surgical Colleges.