����Ӱҵ

When graduating students process out of the Gate of Honour at ����Ӱҵ College to walk along Senate House Passage to their General Admission this week, Dr John Latimer will be at the front of the procession together with Martin May, the Head Porter.

John is the Caius Praelector, the College officer charged with presenting members for their University of Cambridge degrees. He also officiates at matriculation, when students become Caians. General Admission, which takes place on Thursday, marks the conclusion of students’ undergraduate studies and the culmination of three or four years’ hard work. 

John became Praelector in 2012 and has only missed one graduation ceremony in 13 years. The position gives him great joy, particularly in comparison with his former day job, as a cancer surgeon.

John says: “One of my great enthusiasms is pantomime and being Praelector is essentially pantomime in Latin. It’s a very good fit! I enjoy the performative part of it and the social aspect.

“But what I enjoy most is being part of a day for students which is a source of unambiguous joy and satisfaction. Having been a cancer doctor for many years – a person nobody is ever pleased to see – to have a number of days a year where people are actually happy to see me made a really pleasant change from the day job.

“I love being Praelector. It’s huge fun. I realise the importance of this day, not just for students, but for their families and friends and supporters. It’s also a source of immense pride for the Fellows and staff of the College as well.”

Being Praelector is about testifying to graduating students’ academic prowess and moral character in a traditional, age-old ceremony.

“It’s been thought safer over the centuries for this perjury to be committed in Latin, rather than English,” John jokes.

Graduands are presented in groups of four and they each grab one of the Praelector’s fingers on their right hand – often thought of as a myth.

John says: “Until that point they’ve all assumed it’s some joke that’s been played on them by more senior students. The idea is that the majesty of what I have to say can flow through four students simultaneously, or what the engineers would call batch processing.”

John and Head Porter Martin May leading a procession at General Admission

In 2023 John retired from his full-time clinical work as an NHS gynaecological oncologist. He trained as a doctor at Guy’s (and then in Brighton, London, Nottingham, Adelaide and Bristol) and worked as a consultant at Addenbrooke’s for 23 years. 

He began supervising at Caius in 2004, brought in by Dr Julian Sale, who wanted a clinician to supervise pre-clinical medical students. Teaching human reproduction was the start of his College affiliation. He held the pastoral role of Clinical Advisor in 2010, then became acting Clinical Director of Studies in 2011 and Clinical DoS in 2012, a role which he continues to this day, now alongside Dr Zoë Fritz and Professor Mina Ryten.

John has always enjoyed teaching and held roles at the University of Cambridge. He takes a vicarious satisfaction when students become colleagues, or even his own physician on occasion.

He says: “There is no doubt that the training our students receive in Cambridge is absolutely outstanding. We have the benefit that they do a really intense basic science three years, which sets them up to be clinician scientists if they wish. But they can become whatever they want to be … we prepare them equally well to be a GP, or hospital doctor or researcher, in this country or abroad.

“When the students are successful, it’s easy to convince yourself that you’ve had a minor role. At the Caius medical students’ declaration earlier this month, of the 25 students, 12 received distinctions. Numerically, only five would be expected. Of course it’s the students who have done all the work, but it still gives me and the other medical Fellows immense pride.”

John has been Tutor for Discipline since 2020 and Registrary, an administrative role on College Council, since 2022. But it is his roles as Praelector and Director of Studies in Clinical Medicine which give him most satisfaction.

He ascribes Caius’ medical success to Dr John Caius, who re-founded the College in 1557, and the alumni who have called the College home, from William Harvey to Francis Crick, Howard Florey and more recently Sir Peter Ratcliffe who also won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2019. The intake of 25 medical students a year, with guaranteed accommodation for all six years, is an attraction, John believes. He also thinks having a Director of Studies for each year group provides excellent academic support, and there is ample pastoral support too.

“We’ve seen an improvement in results since widening participation, and we’re seeing just how well we perform with our clinical students,” John adds.

An informal test applied in final clinical examinations is “Would you be happy to be treated by this Caius medic at 3am when seriously ill?” 

“The answer is almost invariably yes!” John adds.