Dr Hamilton comes from a background of clinical and academic general practice. His medical career began in hospital medicine, including 2 years as a physician in Malawi, followed by 11 years as a principal (and senior partner) in general practice. He is now a full-time primary care researcher, funded by the NHS. His main research interest is in diagnosis in primary care, particularly that of cancer, and he recently completed three diagnostic studies for the Department of Health on colorectal, prostate and lung cancers. The colorectal results in particular have borne fruit, in that further stud...