# List of University of Edinburgh medical people

List of University of Edinburgh medical people is a list of notable graduates as well as non-graduates, and academic staffs of the University of Edinburgh Medical School in Scotland.

## Pioneers in medicine

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| Thomas Addis | MB 1905, ChB 1905, MD 1908 | Scottish-American physician, described the pathogenesis of haemophilia as well as the concept of renal clearance, demonstrated that normal blood plasma could correct the defect in haemophilia |
| Thomas Addison | MD 1815 | English physician, discovered Addison's disease, pernicious anemia and Addison-Schilder syndrome |
| William John Adie | MB 1911, ChB 1911, MD 1926 | British physician, described Adie syndrome and narcolepsy |
| Arthur Cecil Alport | MB 1905, ChB 1905, MD 1919 | South African physician, described Alport syndrome |
| Thomas Annandale | MD 1860, Regius Chair of Clinical Surgery 1877–1907 | Scottish surgeon, performed the first repair of the meniscus, the first successful removal of an acoustic neuroma and introduced the pre-peritoneal approach to inguinal hernia repair |
| Martin Barry | MD 1823 | English pathologist, discovered the segmentation of yolk in the mammalian ovum and demonstrated that sperm could be found inside the ovum |
| Edward Baxter | 1877 | Pioneer medical missionary to East Africa, Church Missionary Society, hunter, guide to first 'Ladies Mission' |
| Sir George Beatson | MD 1878 | Surgical oncologist who pioneered oophorectomy, the removal of the ovaries in the treatment of breast cancer |
| James Begbie | MD 1821 | Scottish physician, first described Graves' Disease, also known as Begbie's disease, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh |
| Benjamin Bell | 1767 | Scottish surgeon, father of Edinburgh's school of surgery, a significant advocate of the 'dualist doctrine' suggesting syphilis and gonorrhea were not the same disease |
| Charles Bell | MD 1798 | Scottish anatomist and neurologist, discovered Bell's palsy and the functions of the roots of the spinal nerves |
| John Hughes Bennett | MD 1837 | English physician, first to describe aspergillosis and first identified leukaemia as a blood disorder |
| James Blundell | MD 1813 | English obstetrician, performed the first successful human to human blood transfusion |
| Richard Bright | MD 1813 | English physician, discovered Bright's disease, known as the "father of nephrology" |
| David Bruce | MB 1881, CM 1881 | Scottish pathologist, identified the cause of sleeping sickness and discovered Malta fever and brucellosis |
| Sir Thomas Lauder Brunton | BSc 1867, MD 1768, DSc 1870 | Discovered organic nitrates had the ability to alleviate angina pectoris |
| William Budd | MD 1838 | Scottish physician, first recognized that infectious disease was contagious and could be spread through feces |
| John Murray Carnochan | 1834 | American neurosurgeon, performed the world's first successful surgery for trigeminal neuralgia |
| John Cheyne | MD 1795 | Scottish physician, discovered Cheyne-Stokes respiration, Physician General to the British Armed Forces in Ireland |
| Matilda J. Clerk | MBChB 1949 | First Ghanaian woman to win an academic merit scholarship for university education abroad and second Ghanaian woman to qualify as a physician |
| Ezekiel Quarmina Allotey Cofie | LDS, RCS Ed. 1949 | First Ghanaian dental surgeon |
| Abraham Colles | MD 1797 | Irish physician, discovered and described the Colles' fracture, Colles' fascia and Colles' ligament |
| Dominic Corrigan | MD 1825 | Irish physician, described Corrigan's pulse and was Liberal MP for Dublin |
| Peter C. Doherty | PhD 1970 | Australian veterinary surgeon, discovered how T cells recognise antigens in combination with major histocompatibility complex proteins, awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Cuthbert Dukes | MD 1914 | English pathologist, devised the Dukes classification system for colorectal cancer |
| Charles Odamtten Easmon | MBChB 1940, DTM&H 1941 | first Ghanaian surgeon and the first Dean of the University of Ghana Medical School |
| Richard Eastell | MB 1977, ChB 1977, MD 1984 | British physician, pioneered treatments in osteoporosis |
| Robert Edwards | PhD 1955 | British physiologist, developed in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| John Fothergill | MD 1736 | Scottish physician, first identified and named trigeminal neuralgia |
| Thomas Richard Fraser | MD 1862, Professor of Medicine 1877–1918 | Scottish physician, described the calabar bean and the strophanthus hispidus |
| Ian Frazer | BSc 1974, MB 1977, ChB 1977 | Scottish-Australian physician, discovered the link between HPV and cervical cancer, co-invented the HPV vaccine for cervical cancer, CEO and Director of Research at the Translational Institute of Research, University of Queensland |
| David Ferrier | MB 1868, CM 1868, MD 1870 | Scottish neurologist, mapped the cortical function of the brain, the idea that specific areas of the brain are associated with specific behaviours |
| Valentín Fuster | PhD 1971, Research Fellow 1968–71 | Prominent Spanish cardiologist, only cardiologist to receive the two highest gold medals and all four major research awards from the world's four major cardiovascular organizations, named as "one of the best doctors in America and New York" since 1992, leader of the CNIC-Ferrer polypill project, demonstrated platelets' role in CABG occlusion |
| Olivier James Garden | BSc 1974 MB 1977, ChB 1977, MD 1987, FRCS (Edin) 1994, Regius Chair of Clinical Surgery 2000-present | British surgeon, performed the first liver transplant in Scotland in 1992, president of the International Hepato-Pancreto-Biliary Association 2012–14 |
| Robert Marcus Gunn | MB 1873, CM 1873 | Scottish ophthalmologist, discovered Gunn's Sign and the Marcus Gunn pupil |
| John Scott Haldane | MB 1884, CM 1884 | Scottish physiologist, invented the decompression chamber, first proposed placing a "canary in the coal mine" to warn of dangerous carbon monoxide levels, international authority on ether and respiration, discovered the Haldane effect on hemoglobin |
| George Harley | MD 1850 | Scottish physician, demonstrated that the colour of urine was due to urobilin |
| Percy Theodore Herring | MB 1896, CM 1896, MD 1899 | English physician, discovered Herring bodies |
| William Hewson | 1762 | English surgeon, isolated fibrin, known as the "father of haematology" |
| Henry Hill Hickman | 1820 | Scottish general practitioner, considered one of the "fathers of anesthesia", first experimented with carbon dioxide as anaesthesia on dogs |
| Thomas Hodgkin | MD 1823 | English pathologist, described Hodgkin's lymphoma |
| James Hope | MD 1825 | English physician, discovered the murmur of mitral stenosis |
| Thomas Wharton Jones | 1827 | Scottish ophthalmologist, discovered the germinal vesicle in the mammalian ovum and described the origin of the chorion |
| Matthew Kaufman | MB 1967, ChB 1967, Prof. Anatomy 1987–2007, Prof. Emeritus 2008–13, FRS (Edin) 2008 | British physician, first to derive embryonic stem cells from mouse embryos |
| George Kellie | MD 1803 | Scottish surgeon, described the Monro-Kellie doctrine on intracranial pressure |
| James Lind | MD 1748 | Scottish military surgeon, pioneer of naval hygiene, conducted the first ever clinical trial, developed cure for scurvy and typhus, first proposed fresh water could be obtained from distilling sea water |
| Lilian Lindsay | LDS, RCS Ed. 1895 | First British woman to qualify as a dentist, first female president of the British Dental Association |
| Robert Liston | 1815 | Scottish surgeon, inventor of artery forceps and the Liston knife, known as "the fastest surgeon alive" |
| Sir Henry Littlejohn | MD 1847, Prof. Medical Jurisprudence 1897–1906 | Scottish surgeon and public health officer, developed IV saline injection for cholera, Edinburgh's first Medical Officer of Health and co-founded the Royal Hospital for Sick Children |
| B. K. Misra | PDC 1984-'87 | Indian neurosurgeon, first neurosurgeon in the world to perform image-guided surgery for aneurysms, first in South Asia to perform stereotactic radiosurgery, first in India to perform awake craniotomy and laparoscopic spine surgery. |
| Alexander Monro | MD 1755, Prof. Anatomy and Surgery 1754–98 | Scottish physician and anatomist, described the lymphatic system, elucidated the musculo-skeletal system, described the foramen of Monro, described the Monro-Kellie doctrine on intracranial pressure |
| James Rutherford Morison | MB 1874, CM 1874 | Scottish surgeon, discovered Morison's pouch |
| Susan Ofori-Atta | MBChB 1947 | First Ghanaian woman to train as a physician |
| Sir William Brooke O'Shaughnessy | MD 1829 | Irish physician, introduced cannabis (medical marijuana) into Western medicine, inventor of IV therapy, pioneered work on telegraphy and installed 3500 miles of telegraph lines in India |
| Philip Syng Physick | MD 1792 | American surgeon, "father of American surgery", pioneered the use of the stomach pump, designed needle forceps |
| Isabella Pringle | MBChB 1909 | Scottish physician and pioneer of child health |
| James Hogarth Pringle | MB 1885, CM 1885 | Scottish surgeon, developed the Pringle manoeuvre, a technique of occluding the portal triad to control hemorrhage, first surgeon in Britain to carry out a saphenous vein graft, pioneered the hindquarter amputation |
| John Reid | MD 1830 | Scottish physician, described the function of the glossopharyngeal and vagus nerves |
| Agnes Yewande Savage | MD 1929 | Scottish-Nigerian physician, first woman of West African heritage to qualify in orthodox medicine |
| Randy Schekman | Exchange student 1970 | American cell biologist, discovered cell membrane trafficking, discovered machinery regulating vesicle traffic, awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| Edward Henry Sieveking | MD 1841 | English physician, pioneer in epilepsy treatments, invented the aesthesiometer, used to measure two-point discrimination, Physician to King Edward VII |
| Sir James Young Simpson | MD 1832 | Discovered chloroform anaesthesia in 1847, revolutionising obstetric and surgical practice |
| James Spence | 1832, Prof. Systemic Surgery 1864–82 | Scottish surgeon, President of the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh, the tail of Spence is named after him |
| Graham Steell | MB 1872, CM 1872, MD 1877 | Described the Graham Steell murmur |
| Sir Thomas Grainger Stewart | MD 1858, Prof. Medicine 1876–1900 | Scottish physician, described multiple neuritis |
| Harold Stiles | MB 1885, CM 1885, FRCS (Edin) 1889 | British surgeon, known for research in tuberculosis and breast cancer, performed first pyloromyotomy |
| William Stokes | MD 1825 | Irish physician, discovered Cheyne-Stokes respiration and Stokes-Adams syndrome |
| John Struthers | MD 1845 | Scottish anatomist, discovered and described the vestigial organ Ligament of Struthers which was used by Charles Darwin to argue the case for evolution |
| Mary Broadfoot Walker | MD 1935 | Scottish physician, demonstrated the effectiveness of physostigmine in the treatment of myasthenia gravis |
| John Collins Warren | MD 1801 | American surgeon, performed the first surgery under ether anesthesia in 1846, first dean of Harvard Medical School, co-founder of Massachusetts General Hospital |
| John Clarence Webster | MB 1888, CM 1888 | Canadian OB/GYN, known for the Baldy-Webster operation to retrovert the uterus by shortening the round ligaments |
| William Charles Wells | MD 1780 | Scottish-American physician, known for the first description of acute rheumatic fever |
| Patrick Heron Watson | MD 1853 | Scottish surgeon, pioneer of anaesthetic development, advocate of women training in medicine |
| Robert Willan | MD 1780 | English physician, founder of the speciality dermatology, described several dermatological diseases including impetigo, lupus, psoriasis, scleroderma, erythema infectiosum and ichthyosis |
| Samuel Wilson | MB 1902, ChB 1902, BSc 1903, MD 1912 | British neurologist, described Wilson's disease |
| Gordon Wishart | MB 1983, ChB 1983, MD 1992 | British breast surgeon, identified P-glycoprotein in breast cancer, introduced early patient discharge following breast surgery, pioneered minimally invasive parathyroid surgery, pioneered pre-operative axillary lymph node breast cancer staging |
| William Withering | MD 1766 | English botanist and physician, discovered digoxin |
| Alexander Wood | MD 1839 | Scottish physician, invented the first hypodermic syringe |
| William Cleaver Woods | MB 1882, ChM 1882, MD 1882 | British Australian, physician, politician and pioneer in Australian medical science specializing in X-rays for diagnostic applications and perhaps the first in the world to utilize X-rays for the treatment of cancer Dr. Kadambini Ganguly: First woman student of Calcutta medical college , first practicing woman doctor of India and first western medical trained woman doctor of South Asia and whole of the British colonial countries |
| Guy Alfred Wyon | MD with distinction 1915 | One of the 1916–1917 team which resolved the issue of potentially-fatal TNT poisoning in British World War I shell factories, preventing further deaths of female employees |
| Nanshan Zhong | MD 1981 | Chinese pulmonologist, discovered the SARS virus in 2003, President of the Chinese Medical Association |

## Founders of medical schools and universities

| Name | Class year | Notability | Reference(s) |
| Francis Badgley | MD 1829 | Co-founder and professor of the Université de Montréal Faculty of Medicine | |
| Samuel Bard | MD 1765 | Founder and President of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, described diphtheria, presidential physician to George Washington | |
| George Birkbeck | MD 1799 | English physician and founder of Birkbeck, University of London | |
| John Carson (physician) | 1776 | Original Trustee, University of Pennsylvania and original incorporator and Fellow of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia | |
| Dugald Christie | MB 1882, CM 1882 | Founder of Mukden Medical College in China, now known as the China Medical University | |
| Godfrey Howitt | MD 1830 | Co-founder of the University of Melbourne Medical School | |
| Andrew Fernando Holmes | MD 1819 | Co-founder and dean of the McGill University Faculty of Medicine | |
| Francis Richard Fraser | MB 1910, ChB 1910, MD 1922 | Founder and first director of the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, now part of the Imperial College School of Medicine, vice-chancellor of the University of London | |
| Sophia Jex-Blake | 1873 | Founder of the London School of Medicine for Women (now UCL Medical School) and the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women | |
| John Morgan | MD 1763 | Founder of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, founder of the American Philosophical Society, served as Chief Physician and Director General of the Continental Army | |
| Charles Nicholson | MD 1833 | co-founder and chancellor of the University of Sydney, co-founder of the University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine | |
| Benjamin Rush | MD 1768 | Founding Father of the United States, Surgeon General of the Continental Army, founder of Dickinson College | |
| Nathan Smith | 1797 | New England physician, founder of the Yale School of Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, University of Vermont College of Medicine and the medical school at Bowdoin College | |
| John Stephenson | MD 1820 | Co-founder of the McGill University Faculty of Medicine | |
| Thomas Peter Anderson Stuart | MB 1880, CM 1880, MD 1882 | Co-founder of the University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine | |
| Colin S. Valentine | LLD 1876 | Medical missionary, founded coeducational Agra Medical Training Institution | , |
| Benjamin Waterhouse | 1778 | Co-founder of Harvard Medical School | |

## Leaders in medicine

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| John Abercrombie | MD 1803 | Wrote Pathological and Practical Researches on Diseases of the Brain and Spinal Cord, the first textbook on neuropathology, known for Abercrombie's degeneration, the deposition of amyloid between cells |
| William Alison | MD 1811, Prof. Medicine and Physic 1822–56 | Scottish physician, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, advocate of preventative social medicine |
| Andrew Balfour | MB 1894, CM 1894, MD 1898, BSc 1900 | Scottish physician, Medical Officer of Health in Khartoum, Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine |
| Thomas Graham Balfour | MD 1834 | Scottish physician, President of the Royal Statistical Society, Staff Surgeon at the Royal Military Asylum |
| Joseph Bell | MD 1859 | Scottish surgeon, lecturer at the University of Edinburgh Medical School and personal surgeon to Queen Victoria, served as the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes |
| Seneka Bibile | PhD 1952 | Founder of the Sri Lanka National Pharmaceuticals Policy |
| Alexander Biggam | MB 1911, ChB 1911, MD 1942 | Scottish physician, Major General in the British Army, Honorary physician to King George VI |
| Sir Gilbert Blane | 1773 | Physician to the King (George IV and William IV) and the Prince of Wales, instituted health reform in the Royal Navy |
| James Couper Brash | BSc 1908, MB 1910, ChB 1910, Chair of Anatomy 1931–54 | British anatomist, President of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland from 1945–1947 |
| Walter Channing | 1811 | American obstetrician, co-founder of Boston Lying-In Hospital, now Brigham and Women's Hospital, Professor of Obstetrics and Medical Jurisprudence at Harvard Medical School 1815–54 |
| Robert Christison | MD 1819, Prof. Medical Jurisprudence 1822–32, Prof. Materia Medica and Therapeutics 1832–77 | Scottish physician, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, President of the British Medical Association, Physician in Ordinary to the Queen in Scotland, expert in toxicology, key witness in the Burke and Hare trial |
| John Conolly | MD 1821 | English psychiatrist, co-founder of the British Medical Association |
| James Craik | MD 1750 | Physician General of the Continental Army, personal physician and close friend of George Washington |
| Graham Creasey | BMSc 1970, MB 1972, ChB 1972, FRCSEd 1979, Residency in Neurosurgery 1972–1986 | Scottish neurosurgeon, Professor of Spinal Cord Injury Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine |
| William Cullen | 1736, Prof. Physiology 1756–89 | President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (1746-7), President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (1773–75), first physician to the King in Scotland |
| Daniel John Cunningham | MD 1876, Prof. Anatomy 1903–1909 | Scottish physician and anatomist, author of Cunningham's Textbook of Anatomy and Cunningham's Manual of Practical Anatomy |
| Stanley Davidson | MB 1919, ChB 1919, Chair of Medicine 1938–59 | British physician, author of Davidson's Principles and Practice of Medicine, the first medical textbook to sell over a million copies |
| Andrew Duncan Jr. | MA 1793, MD 1794, Prof. Med Jurisprudence 1807–32 | Creator of the journal Edinburgh New Dispensatory, Chief Editor of the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal |
| Andrew Duncan Sr. | 1768, Prof. Medicine 1773–1824 | President of the Royal Medical Society and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, first physician to the King in Scotland, founder of the Harveian Society, founder of the first lunatic asylum in Edinburgh |
| Emmanuel Evans-Anfom | MBChB 1947, DTM&H 1950 | Ghanaian physician, university administrator and public servant; Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (1967−1973) |
| Joseph Fayrer | MD 1859 | English physician, physician to King Edward VII, expert on snake venom |
| Wong Fun | MD 1855, PhD 1857 | First Chinese student to study medicine in the west, Deputy-Chief of Boji Hospital |
| William Tennant Gairdner | MD 1845 | President of the British Medical Association |
| Kate Granger, MBE | MBChB 2005 | Founded the #HelloMyNameIs campaign |
| John C. Boileau Grant | MB 1908, ChB 1908 | Anatomist, author of Grant's Atlas of Anatomy |
| James Gregory | MD 1774 | President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and author |
| Charles Hastings | MD 1818 | English physician, co-founder of the British Medical Association |
| Gertrude Herzfeld | MD 1914 | First practising women surgeon in Scotland, chair of the British Medical Association |
| Francis Home | MD 1750, Prof. Materia Medica 1768–98 | President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, co-founder of the Royal Medical Society, made the first attempt to vaccinate against measles |
| Sir Robert Hutchison, 1st Baronet | MB 1893, CM 1893, MD 1896 | Scottish physician, author of Hutchison's Clinical Methods |
| Charles Illingworth | MB 1922, ChB 1922, MD 1929, ChM 1939 | President of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow, Surgeon to the Queen in Scotland |
| Obadiah Johnson | MB 1886, CM 1886, MD 1889 | Nigerian physician, second Nigerian to qualify as a doctor, author of A History of the Yorubas from the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the British Protectorate |
| Adam Kuhn | MD 1768 | Co-founder and President of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, founding Professor of Materia Medica at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine |
| John Coakley Lettsom | 1768 | Philanthropist, founder of the Medical Society of London |
| Barry Kay | MBBS 1963 | Immunologist and president of the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology |
| Lim Boon Keng | MB 1892, CM 1892 | Singaporean physician, co-founder of the Singapore Chinese Girls' School, recipient of the Order of the British Empire as an officer, President of Xiamen University |
| Robert Lim | MB 1919, ChB 1919, PhD 1920, DSc 1924 | Singaporean physician, Lieutenant General and Surgeon General of the Army of the Republic of China |
| David Maclagan | MD 1805 | Physician to the Forces, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh |
| Douglas Maclagan | MD 1833, Prof. Forensic Medicine 1864–1885 | Scottish physician, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, President of the Royal Medical Society and the President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh |
| John George Macleod | MB 1938, ChB 1938 | Scottish physician, author of Macleod's Clinical Examination |
| Normand MacLaurin | MD 1854 | Vice-President of the Executive council of the Legislative Council of New South Wales, Chancellor of the University of Sydney |
| Samuel Manuwa | BSc 1926 | Nigerian surgeon, Inspector General of Medical Services and former Chief Medical Adviser to the Federal Government of Nigeria |
| Barbara Mawer | BSc 1957, PhD 1961 | Biochemist and medical researcher, regarded as a "highly influential figure in the calcium homoeostasis field" |
| Sir James McGrigor, 1st Baronet | 1788 | Founder of the Royal Army Medical Corps |
| Claire McLintock | MBChB 1989 | President of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (2018–2020), President of the Society of Obstetric Medicine of Australia and New Zealand (2007–2009), President of the Thrombosis and Haemostasis Society of Australia and New Zealand (2009-2011), Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2019 "for services to haematology and obstetrics" |
| B. K. Misra | PDC 1984-'87 | Indian neurosurgeon, Vice-President of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies, former President of the Asian Australasian Society of Neurological Surgeons, and the Neurological Society of India. Recipient of Dr. B. C. Roy Award, the highest medical honour in India |
| Frederick Montizambert | MD 1865 | Canadian physician, first Director-General of Public Health in Canada, President of the Canadian Medical Association, President of the American Public Health Association, inductee to the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame |
| Robert Muir | MA 1884, MB 1888, CM 1888, MD 1890 | Scottish pathologist, author of Muir's Textbook of Pathology |
| George Newman | MD 1895 | English physician, Chief Medical Officer of England |
| Thomas Bevill Peacock | MD 1842 | English cardiologist, founder of the London Chest Hospital and expert on valvular heart disease |
| Philip Raffaelli | MB 1979, ChB 1979 | Surgeon General of the British Armed Forces, Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy, Governor of the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust |
| Mabel L. Ramsay | 1904, 1905 | First woman president of the Plymouth Medical Society, third woman elected a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons |
| Hugh Robson | MB 1941, ChB 1941 | Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield |
| Sydney Selwyn | BSc, MB, ChB, MD | Authority on the history of medicine, designed the Florence Nightingale 10 pound note, pioneer in bone marrow transplantation |
| Sheila Sherlock | MB 1941, ChB 1941, MD 1945 | First woman in the UK to be appointed professor of medicine, published over 600 papers, founded the liver unit at London's Royal Free Hospital |
| William Shippen Jr. | MD 1761 | Surgeon General of the Continental Army, co-founder and president of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia |
| Austin Smith | PhD 1986, MRC Prof. of Stem Cell Research 2003–06 | Co-recipient of the Louis-Jeantet Prize for Medicine, Director of the Wellcome Trust/MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute |
| John Smith | MD 1847 | Founder of the Edinburgh school of dentistry, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, President of the British Dental Association, co-founder of the Royal Hospital for Sick Children |
| Sydney Smith | MB 1912, ChB 1912, MD 1914, Regius Chair of Forensic Medicine 1928–53, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine 1931–53, Rector of the University of Edinburgh 1954–57 | Scottish forensic pathologist, published the textbook Textbook of Forensic Medicine in 1925 |
| Thomas Stewart Traill | MD 1802, Prof. Med Jurisprudence 1833–1862 | Founder of the Royal Institution of Liverpool and the Liverpool Mechanics' Institution |
| Ekkehard von Kuenssberg | MB 1939, ChB 1939 | founder and President of the Royal College of General Practitioners |
| Alexander Burns Wallace | MB 1922, ChB 1922, Reader 1946–1970 | Scottish plastic surgeon, co-founder and president of the British Association of Plastic Surgeons and founding editor of the British Journal of Plastic Surgery, developed the Wallace rule of nines, a guide to estimate the proportion of body affected by burns |
| Joanna Wardlaw | BSc 1979, MB ChB 1982, MD 1994, Professor of Applied Neuroimaging 2002–present | Internationally recognised expert in neuroimaging |
| Robert Whytt | 1734 | President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, first physician to the King in Scotland, wrote book on diseases of the nervous system |
| David Wilkie | MB 1904, ChB 1904, MD 1909, ChM 1909, Prof. Systematic Surgery 1924–38 | Scottish surgeon, regarded as the "father of British academic surgery" |
| Caspar Wistar | MD 1786 | American physician and anatomist, described the posterior part of the ethmoid bone, President of the American Philosophical Society and Society for the Abolition of Slavery |
| Asrat Woldeyes | MD 1959 | Ethiopian surgeon, physician, university dean, and political party leader |

## Pioneers in science and humanities

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| John Anderson | MD 1862 | Scottish zoologist, first curator of the Indian Museum in Calcutta |
| Joseph Black | MD 1754 | Scottish physician and chemist, discoverer of carbon dioxide, latent heat and specific heat |
| James Braid | 1814 | Scottish surgeon, pioneer of hypnotism and hypnotherapy |
| Alexander Crum Brown | MA 1858, MD 1861, Prof. Chemistry 1869–1908 | Scottish physician and chemist, discovered the double bond of ethylene, introduced the name kerogen for insoluble organic matter in oil shale |
| Robert Brown | 1793 | Scottish botanist, named and described the cell nucleus and cytoplasmic streaming, discovered Brownian motion, discovered the difference between gymnosperms and angiosperms |
| Thomas Brown | MD 1803 | Scottish metaphysician |
| Charles Darwin | 1827 | English naturalist, published the theory of evolution, author of On the Origin of Species and The Descent of Man |
| Erasmus Darwin | 1755 | Physician, poet, author and evolutionary biologist |
| Robert Edmond Grant | MD 1814 | Scottish physician, biologist, mentor of Charles Darwin |
| William Gregory | MD 1828, Chair of Chemistry 1844–1858 | Scottish chemist, introduced "muriate of morphia" and "Gregory's salt" a mixture of morphine and codeine |
| Thomas Charles Hope | MD 1787, Prof. Medicine and Chemistry 1799–1843 | Scottish physician, chemist, discovered the element strontium, demonstrated that water reached its maximum density at 4C in "Hope's experiment", President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh |
| James Hutton | 1747 | Scottish physician and geologist, known for theories on deep time and the Gaia hypothesis |
| John Kirk | MD 1854 | Scottish physician, botanist, companion of David Livingstone, identified the Zanzibar red colobus, British Consul in Zanzibar |
| Neil Gordon Munro | MB 1888, CM 1888, MD 1909 | Scottish physician and anthropologist, one of the first people to study the Ainu people of Hokkaido |
| Richard Owen | 1825 | English biologist, coined the word "Dinosauria", opponent of the theory of evolution |
| William Prout | MD 1811 | English physician and chemist, known for Prout's hypothesis, discovered hydrochloric acid in the stomach and improved the barometer |
| David Boswell Reid | MD 1830 | Scottish physician and inventor, expert on ventilation, President of the Royal Medical Society |
| Daniel Rutherford | MD 1772, Prof. Medicine and Botany 1786–1819 | Scottish physician, chemist and botanist, first to isolate nitrogen in 1772 |
| Charles Wyville Thomson | MD 1845 | Chief scientist of the Challenger expedition, discovered animal life at depths of 1200m |
| Edward Turner | MD 1819, Lecturer in Chemistry 1823–27 | Scottish chemist, first Professor of Chemistry at University College London |
| Thomas Young | 1794–95 | English polymath and optical physicists, performed Young's interference experiment and contributed in the fields of optics and solid mechanics |

## Non-medical accomplishments

| Name | Class year | Notability |
| William Johnston Almon | 1836 | Nova Scotian physician, Canadian Senator from Nova Scotia, Canadian MP for Halifax |
| William Babtie | LRCP (Edin) 1880, LRCS (Edin) 1880 | Scottish surgeon, recipient of the Victoria Cross, Lieutenant General in the British Army |
| Hastings Banda | MB 1941, ChB 1941 | Malawian politician, 1st President of Malawi from 1966 to 1994 |
| Gustavus Richard Brown | MD 1768 | United States Representative from Maryland, physician at George Washington's deathbed. |
| William Buchan | MD 1761 | Author of the book Domestic Medicine |
| Logan Campbell | MD 1839 | New Zealand physician, Mayor of Auckland, co-founder of Auckland Savings Bank, Superintendent of Auckland, known as the "Father of Auckland" |
| William Crawford | MD 1781 | United States Representative from Pennsylvania's 5th and 6th Congressional districts |
| John Crawfurd | MD 1803 | Scottish physician, Governor of Singapore |
| James C. Crow | MD 1822 | Scottish inventor of the sour mash process for creating Bourbon whiskey, creator of the Old Crow brand of Bourbon whiskey |
| Campbell Mellis Douglas | MD 1861 | Canadian army surgeon, recipient of the Victoria Cross |
| Henry Edward Manning Douglas | LRCP (Edin) 1898, LRCS (Edin) 1898 | Scottish surgeon, recipient of the Victoria Cross, Major General in the British Army |
| Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle | MB 1881, CM 1881, MD 1885 | Novelist, creator of the character Sherlock Holmes |
| Bernard Friedman | MB 1921, ChB 1921 | South African surgeon, co-founder of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party |
| Oliver Goldsmith | 1754 | Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, author of the novel The Vicar of Wakefield and the children's tale The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes |
| James Graham | MA 1879, MB 1882, CM 1882, MD 1888 | Australian physician, 38th Mayor of Sydney |
| William Jardine | MD 1802 | Co-founder of Hong Kong conglomerate Jardine, Matheson and Company, Whig MP for Ashburton |
| Henry Halcro Johnston | MB 1880, CM 1880, MD 1893, BSc 1893, DSc 1894 | Scottish botanist, represented Scotland internationally in rugby union, Colonel in the British Army |
| James Jones | MD 1796 | United States Representative from Virginia |
| Kerry Lang | MB 1998, ChB 1998 | British triathlete, British Triathlon Vice Champion of the Year 2009 |
| Henry Latimer | MD 1775 | United States Senator from Delaware |
| Lim Chong Eu | MB 1944, ChB 1944 | Malaysian politician, served as Chief Minister of Penang for a record 21 years, co-founder and president of Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia |
| George Logan | MD 1779 | United States Senator from Pennsylvania |
| Robert McIntyre | MB 1938, ChB 1938 | Scottish politician, leader of the Scottish National Party from 1947 to 1956, first SNP MP for Motherwell |
| Valentine Munbee McMaster | MD 1853 | British army surgeon, recipient of the Victoria Cross |
| Samuel L. Mitchill | MD 1786 | United States Senator from New York |
| David Monro | MD 1835 | Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, MP representing Waimea |
| George Ernest Morrison | MD 1895 | Australian adventurer, The Times correspondent in Peking during the Boxer Rebellion |
| John Moultrie | MD 1749 | American politician, acting governor of East Florida |
| Mungo Park | 1791 | Scottish explorer, first westerner to have travelled to the Niger River |
| John Rae | MD 1833 | Scottish explorer, discovered the fate of the Franklin Expedition, discovered Rae Straight, showed that King William Land was an island |
| Peter Mark Roget | MD 1798 | British physician and author, published Roget's Thesaurus |
| Samuel Seabury | 1753 | First American Episcopal bishop, first bishop of Connecticut |
| Bhagvat Singh | MB 1895, CM 1895 | Indian prince, Maharaja of the princely state of Gondal |
| Samuel Smiles | MD 1832 | Scottish author and biographer, wrote the book Self-Help |
| William Henry Thomas Sylvester | LRCS (Edin) 1853 | British army surgeon, recipient of the Victoria Cross |
| Robert Stirton Thornton | MB 1884, CM 1884 | Minister of Education for Manitoba, President of the Medical Council of Canada |
| Alec Boswell Timms | LRCP (Edin) 1903, LRCS (Edin) 1903 | Scottish-Australian rugby union forward, played for Scotland and participated in the 1899 British Lions tour to Australia |
| Thomas Tudor Tucker | MD 1770 | United States Representative from South Carolina, longest serving Treasurer of the United States, presidential physician to James Madison |
| John Batty Tuke | MB 1881, CM 1881, MD 1890 | Scottish psychiatrist, Conservative MP for the University of Edinburgh and St Andrews |
| Sir Charles Tupper | MD 1843 | 6th Prime Minister of Canada and father of confederation |

## Faculty (who were not also graduates of the medical school)

| Name | Department | Notability |
| George Barger | Prof. Chemistry in Relation to Medicine 1919–37 | British chemist, identified tyramine, contributed to the synthesis of thyroxine and Vitamin B1 |
| Clare Blackburn | Chair of Tissue Stem Cell Biology 2011-present | British embryologist, first to grow a whole organ, a thymus, inside an animal |
| John Crofton | Prof. Respiratory Disease and Tuberculosis 1952–77, Dean of Medicine 1964–66, Vice Principal of the University 1969–70 | British physician, pioneered the treatment of tuberculosis, known as the Edinburgh method |
| William Cullen | Prof. of Chemistry and Medicine 1755–66, Prof. of Institutes of Medicine 1766–73, Prof. of Medicine 1773–90 | Scottish physician, first demonstrated artificial refrigeration |
| Vincent du Vigneaud | National Research Council Fellow 1928–29 | American biochemist, discovered oxytocin, awarded the 1955 Nobel Prize in Chemistry |
| Charles ffrench-Constant | Professor of Medical Neurology 2007-present | British neurologist, first to identify adult glial precursor cells |
| John Gaddum | Chair of Materia Medica 1942–58 | British pharmacologist, discovered Substance P, a neuropeptide |
| Varsha Jain | Research | "Space gynaecologist" |
| Robert Evan Kendell | Chair of Psychiatry 1973–90, Dean of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine 1990–94 | Welsh psychiatrist, Chief Medical Officer of Scotland 1991–96 |
| James Learmonth | Chair of Surgery 1939–56 | Scottish surgeon, performed lumbar sympathectomy on King George VI to treat his vascular disease |
| Joseph Lister | Prof. Clinical Surgery 1869–77, FRCS (Edin) 1855 | Scottish surgeon, introduced carbolic acid to sterilize surgical instruments |
| Barrie Marmion | Robert Irvine Chair of Bacteriology 1968–79 | English microbiologist, developed the first vaccine against Q fever |
| Edvard Moser | Post-doctoral researcher 1995–97, Honorary Professor | Norwegian neuroscientist, discovered entorhinal grid cells, awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| May-Britt Moser | Post-doctoral researcher 1995–97 | Norwegian neuroscientist, discovered entorhinal grid cells, awarded the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| John Savill | Prof. Medicine 1998-present, Dean of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine 2002-present | Scottish physician, CEO of the Medical Research Council 2010-present |
| Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer | Chair of Physiology 1883–1933 | English physiologist, regarded as the founder of endocrinology, discovered adrenaline, coined the terms endocrine and insulin |
| Robert Sibbald | Prof. of Medicine 1685–1722 | Scottish physician, first described the blue whale, founder of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh |
| Edwin Southern | Post-doctoral researcher MRC Mammalian Genome Unit 1967–85 | Developed the Southern blot, founder of Oxford Gene Technology, received the 2005 Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research |
| James Syme | Prof. Clinical Surgery 1833–48, FRCS (Edin) 1823 | Scottish surgeon, invented the Mackintosh raincoat, conducted the first exarticulation of the hip, known for Syme's amputation |
| Michael Woodruff | Chair of Surgical Science 1957–76 | British transplant surgeon, performed the first ever kidney transplant in the UK at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in 1960 |
| Andrew H. Wyllie | Prof. Experimental Pathology 1992–98, FRS 1995 | Scottish pathologist, discovered the importance of programmed cell death, coined the term "apoptosis" |