Dr Andrew Blaikie

Dr Andrew Blaikie, a recent recruit to the St Andrews Rotary Club, gave the customary vocational talk, about his life and career, to fellow members. Andrew, who is both a Consultant Ophthalmologist with NHS Fife and Senior Lecturer in Ophthalmology at the University of St Andrews, is at the heart of a joint project between the Club and the University to equip health care workers in Malawi with a revolutionary new device, the Arclight. Many of the causes of blindness can be treated if diagnosed early. However, traditional ophthalmoscopes are expensive to buy and difficult to maintain whereas the Arclight is equally effective as a diagnostic tool - but far cheaper at less than £10 - more robust and solar-powered. It also functions as an otoscope, for ear examinations. Andrew is one of the Global Health Team at St Andrews, which is continuing to develop the Arclight and to make it available to medical and nursing staff in low-income countries. Andrew grew up in Broughty Ferry and was clearly an adventurous spirit from his schooldays, there and at Dundee High, as evidenced by the scars he still bears on his right arm from sledging down the Whinny Brae! He used his elective opportunity while a medical student at Edinburgh to spend time in Cameroon, Kenya and Zimbabwe, which fired his interest in healthcare in Africa. Andrew also spoke about his family. His parents were both orphaned early on, as single children, so he has never had the extended family of which most of us have been a part. It was no surprise, therefore, that he told us about his own family: his wife, who is a Haematology Consultant at Forth Valley, and their three children, one of whom plays hockey, his own favourite sport, at national level. Peter Davidson thanked Andrew for the important work he is doing and his lively account of what led him to it.

A busy man who has had a busy career and yet finds time for hockey, family and Rotary