Dr Lawrence G McAlpine
BSc(Hons), MB ChB, FRCP(Edin), FRCP(Glasg), FRCP(Lond), FACP(USA)
Consultant Physician in Respiratory Medicine and General Medicine.
Dr McAlpine graduated from the University of Glasgow in Pathology and Science with First Class Honours in 1978 and in Medicine in 1980. He trained broadly in General Internal Medicine and in Respiratory Medicine in hospitals in the West of Scotland. He is an accredited specialist registered with the General Medical Council in Respiratory Medicine and General Internal Medicine.
He was appointed as the only Consultant Physician in Respiratory and General Medicine at University Hospital Monklands in 1995 where he has led the development of a comprehensive service for the investigation and management of the full range of lung conditions. He established a Respiratory Investigation Centre, built a substantial multidisciplinary team, and promoted collaborative working with specialist colleagues including radiologists, oncologists, lung surgeons, physiotherapists and others – all to ensure that patient care is optimal. The standards, skills, and ethos allowed the hospital to be recognised as a training unit for future specialists in respiratory medicine.
In addition to providing care for outpatients and emergency admissions with lung problems, Dr McAlpine continues to assess and manage a wide range of general medical problems and acute medical admissions as an “internist”. This depth of experience is invaluable in treating the whole person and not compartmentalising clinical issues. He was appointed Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer in Medicine at the University of Glasgow and he continues to mentor medical students.
Research has also been a theme over the years – in asthma, COPD, lung cancer, pleural disease, smoking cessation, and others – with publications in the literature, presentations at scientific meetings, and two large doctoral projects conceived and completed in Lanarkshire.
Beyond the hospital, Dr McAlpine was Lead Clinician for Lung Cancer in NHS Lanarkshire for many years introducing a modern service specification including fast-track appointments, programmed investigation, specialist nursing support, and bringing chemotherapy treatment locally to the hospital. He was Chair of the Lanarkshire Asthma and Airways Group and chaired a number of the senior professional advisory committees for the NHS Lanarkshire Board.
Lawrence has contributed to medicine widely. He has held senior roles in the postgraduate training Deanery in medicine, in the British Thoracic Society, and in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow where he was variously a member of Council, Director of Medical Examinations, Director of Medical Education, and Vice President (Medical). He has held senior appointments in medical examinations in London and he led the international expansion of postgraduate assessment of knowledge, skills, and professional attitudes in medicine in many countries from Africa to the Far East on behalf of the UK Royal Colleges.
He is an elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and the Royal College of Physicians of London. He is an invited Fellow of the American College of Physicians.
Outside medicine, Lawrence enjoys the Scottish countryside, particularly in the Highlands, as well as international travel and motoring.
Professional memberships
- British Thoracic Society
- American Thoracic Society
- European Respiratory Society
- Royal Colleges of Physicians of Glasgow, Edinburgh, London
- American College of Physicians
