Dr Derek George Holden Sylvester, died 22nd September 2004

Derek Sylvester died on the 22nd September 2004. After graduating from St Marys Hospital (1946), he gained his MD (London) in 1952. Derek was appointed Physician in Charge of the University of Bristol Students' Health Service in 1959. He was an ardent supporter of the British Student Health Association (now BAHSHE) and was President in 1975. He researched several aspects of student health, and in a seminal paper over 20 years ago, he showed that cervical smears were not of benefit in students under 25 year old. Only now has the NHS adopted this policy (except in Scotland). He had a special interest in dermatology.

He was born in Suffolk of a long line of doctors and apothecaries going back to the 18th Century. Whenever possible, he wore a flower in his lapel picked from his garden that morning. His medical knowledge was excellent and his love of his subject showed in the way he cared for his patients. He was a wonderful colleague and had a calm, intellectually inquisitive approach to his work.

He retired from student health in 1985. He is survived by his wife Gill, his son and two daughters, and two grandchildren.