Major General Hodgetts says:

I was very humbled to be informed the Worshipful Society was awarding me this year’s Galen Medal for Therapeutics. When I looked at the list of previous awardees over the last 100 years I was genuinely shocked to be in the company, and mentioned in the same breath, as Fleming for the discovery of penicillin or Charnley for invention of the prosthetic hip, amongst other eminent names marking milestones in medical intervention. Thank you, it means a very great deal.

Having retired from active duty military, after 41 years of commissioned service, I remain the Master General of the Royal Army Medical Service, a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of West Midlands, an Honorary Professor at two universities, and a trustee of three charities. So plenty to keep me active, but I have also taken on an independent strategic review of an NHS Trust to keep me on my toes. My mantra is “legacy” and to do things (teaching, writing, charity and advisory work) that uses my knowledge to improve the experience, safety and outcome of patients, and to build the next generation. So very Hippocratic, if not Galentic (if that’s even a word)!