Ian Prior

IAN AMBURY MILLER PRIOR

1923 - 2009

MB CHB (NZ) 1945, MRCP (LOND) 1951, MRACP 1954, MD (NZ) 1954, FRACP 1960, 
FRCP (LOND) 1971, FNZCCM 1980, FRS (NZ) 1981, HON DSC (VUW) 1988

Ian was House Surgeon, Wellington Hospital in 1946-47, Medical Registrar at New Plymouth Hospital in 1948, and Pathology Registrar in Dunedin in 1949.
He went to England in 1950 to be Research Registrar, Department of Medicine, University of Leeds, followed by two years as Registrar, National Heart Hospital in London.

He returned to Wellington Hospital and was Senior Medicial Registrar 1953-54, and participated in a number of cardiac catheterisations.
He was appointed Assistant Physician in 1955.  On a Fulbright Scholarship, he spent one year at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston (1957-58).
On return to Wellington he again participated in cardiac catheterisations, introducing new techniques including the first transbronchial left heart catheterisation (with the help of Tim Savage) on 9/7/58.   Ian had brought the special needle back with him from the States.
On 15/4/59 he studied an 11yr old girl with congenital AS using the transbronchial route to LA and the LV was catheterised by direct transthoracic puncture.

Ian had hoped for a senior role in clinical cardiology but there was no opening available to him in Wellington.   He was, however, appointed to be Director of the newly-created Medical Unit in 1959, and it was in this role that he forged a career in epidemiology.  He was appointed Director, Epidemiology Unit, Wellington Hospital in 1970 and held this post until 1986.