Obituary for Jeremy Sherman (2 June 1959–22 January 2013)

Abstract

Jeremy Sherman was born in the old Queen Charlotte's Hospital on 2 June 1959. He has a brother David who is now a consultant gastroenterologist. Jeremy was educated at the City of London School where he was remembered for his back stage production of school plays and his love of electronics and gadgetry. In terms of sports he took up golf, which was to remain a lifelong interest. He qualified in dentistry at King's College in 1981 and it was here that he was probably inspired to pursue a career in oral and maxillofacial surgery by people such as Geoffrey Forman and Nasser Nasser. He worked as a senior house officer in Edinburgh then came down to Old Church before becoming a registrar at the Royal London Hospital where he worked for Professor Gordon Seward, Patrick James, Terry English, Hugh Cannell, and Brian Littler, amongst others. He then went on to study medicine at Manchester University Medical School, working part time in dental practice to pay his way, and it was here that he met Chi-Hwa Chan who eventually became a consultant colleague. He remained in Manchester to start his basic medical and surgical training and then went to Kingston in Surrey, Charring Cross, St George's, and the Royal Marsden at Sutton. He was awarded a Fellowship in Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCSE) in 1991, and in 1992 he became a registrar at Guilford Hospital where he stayed for two years before becoming a locum senior registrar on the circuit of Queen Mary's, Roehampton (Ashford, Kingston, St Peter's, and Chertsey). In 1996 he was appointed as senior registrar on an East Anglian rotation, which rotated from Guy's and St Thomas’ Hospitals group to Ipswich and then to Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. In 1998 he was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (OMFS). It is probable that he developed, amongst other topics, an interest in salivary gland surgery through his contact with Malcolm Bailey, Hugh Davies, and Professor McGurk. However, his most important find at Guy's was Jackie, who he married on 10 October 1998. Having gained the Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training (CCST) in January 1999 he became a locum consultant at Addenbrooke's Hospital in September of the same year. In 2000 he was appointed as a consultant at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, Welwyn, and the birth of his first daughter Jemima made his millennium year rather special. His second daughter Josie was born in 2002. Jeremy rapidly changed and improved the local OMF services in Welwyn and introduced an email referral system, a mucosal screening service, several databases – one for trauma – and a minimally invasive salivary gland service. He became a founder member of the Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Buckinghamshire OMFS network when the emergency and inpatient work of 5 hospitals were merged in 2004, and started operating on inpatients at Luton and Dunstable Hospital, which has become a centre for head and neck surgery. During this time he lectured on the course for part 2 of the examination for membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery, and was a tutor for the Royal College of Surgeons. He helped set up the objective structured clinical examination part of the examination for MFDS and ran a course in 2003, being an examiner for this and for MGDS. From 2004 he acted as regional advisor to the Royal College of Surgeons of England and was secretary and then chair of the Regional Consultant Group. He acted as a lead educational supervisor for some years and organised lectures on topics ranging from orbital trauma to the management of salivary gland problems. He developed a hands-on course for teaching and taught patient management skills for those undertaking general professional training. This course lives on and bears his name. He has published many articles in peer review journals and has lectured both nationally and internationally. For over a year, and with great dignity and strength of character, Jeremy fought bravely with pancreatic cancer. It was a tribute to him that his funeral service was extremely well attended, as was a separate memorial service held at Luton and Dunstable Hospital. A plaque now hangs on the wall of the two departments in which he worked. The wording is below. He is missed by us and by his patients as a meticulous clinician, a colourful, friendly character, and for the developments he brought to the speciality and our network. He leaves his wife Jacqueline and two daughters.