Major General Tim Hodgetts CB CBE KHS OStJ DL
DSc PhD MMEd MBA MBBS FRCP FRCSEd FRCEM FFPH FIMCRCSEd FEPS FCMI FRGS CMgr
Presentation Title: Common military medicine challenges in an increasingly unstable world
Major General Tim Hodgetts is the Master General of the Army Medical Services and the elected Chair of the Committee of Chiefs of Military Medical Services in NATO. He retired as the Surgeon General of the United Kingdom Armed Forces in 2024. His voluntary charity roles are as Trustee of London’s Air Ambulance, Trustee of The Poppy Factory, Trustee of citizenAID, and Patron of Style for Soldiers.
Tim qualified with distinction in 1986 from Westminster Medical School, London, and accredited as a Consultant in Emergency Medicine in 1995. He holds fellowships with the Royal College of Physicians of London, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, Faculty of Pre-hospital Care, Emergency Planning Society, Institute of Healthcare Managers, Chartered Management Institute, and the Royal Geographical Society. He has a PhD in Public Health; a Master’s Degree in Medical Education; a Master’s Degree in Business Administration; and is a Chartered Manager. He graduated from Joint Command & Staff College in 2011 and the Royal College of Defence Studies in 2018.
Tim was first appointed a Professor in 1998 at the European Institute of Health and Medical Sciences, then at University of Birmingham (2001); City University of London (2013); and the Defence University of Belgrade (Military Medical Academy) by distinction (2023). He was the inaugural Defence Professor with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine from 2008-2010; and the tenured Penman Foundation Professor of Surgery in South Africa for 2011.
Tim’s previous senior military leadership appointments have included Head of the Army Medical Services (2018-21); Commissioner at the Royal Hospital Chelsea (2018-21); Medical Director for UK Defence (2014-17); Medical Director for NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (2011-13); Defence Consultant Adviser in Emergency Medicine (1997-2008); and the Military Clinical Director of the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (2001-2008).
Tim was made Officer of the Order of St John in 1999; Commander of the British Empire in 2009; and Companion of the Order of the Bath in 2023. He received the Danish Defence Medal for Meritorious Service in 2010, and the Order of Military Medical Merit (United States Army) in 2022. He was Queen’s Honorary Physician from 2004 to 2010, became Queen’s Honorary Surgeon in 2018 and has been King’s Honorary Surgeon since 2022. Tim has been a Deputy Lieutenant for the County of West Midlands since April 2023.
In 2010 Tim received the Defence Scientific Adviser’s Commendation for contribution to research and has been awarded 19 academic medals, including the prestigious Mitchiner Medal of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. His academic department was twice recognised nationally as the “Training Team of the Year” and in 2006 he was honoured with the personal accolade of Hospital Doctor of the Year throughout the NHS. He was named in a British Medical Association dossier as one of the most innovative doctors in the country.
