ABSTRACT
John Horder originally intended becoming a professional musician, which led him to train as a classical pianist and organist under Jean Roger-Ducasse, at the Paris Conservatoire de Musique. Despite initially describing this study of medicine as ‘intellectually unsatisfying’ compared to his previous studies, and wondering if he had made a mistake, Horder returned to Oxford, in the midst of the creation of the National Health Service, and qualified in 1948. Shortly after retiring from general practice in 1982, and completing his time as president of the Royal College of General Practitioner, Horder committed to being the first chairman of the Centre for the Advancement of Interprofessional Education. He was appointed Order of the British Empire in 1971, Order of the British Empire in 1981 and awarded the Foundation Council Award in 1998. As a result of his outstanding work in the realms of interprofessionalism, he was awarded honorary doctorates of science by Kingston University and the University of Westminster.
