Remembering Mike Dean

Created - 01.03.2013

This short obituary is to celebrate a remarkable man.

From a modest background Mike won a scholarship to attend King’s School, Rochester. Typically contrary, he took A levels aged 16 and then had to sit O levels at 18 to gain entry to medicine at Jesus College, Cambridge and subsequently Westminster Medical School, London where he then undertook training in radiology. Mike was one of the very early pioneers of vascular interventional radiology in the UK and was fiercely proud of having achieved recognition of this art from the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital where he was consultant from 1967 to 2011. His passion drove him to found the British Society of Interventional Radiology along with some non-London friends, and become the Dean of the Faculty of Clinical Radiology and Vice-President of the Royal College of Radiologists from 2001 to 2003. He finally retired from clinical work aged 74.

Perhaps more important to Mike was love of his family and friends. As well as 4 children from his first marriage he brought up 2 step-children from the ever supportive Vera to whom he was married for 23 years. Mike loved the social life that came with his work, family and friends, and he was passionate about his food and wine. In and out of the hospital Mike had time for everyone. Many a glorious evening, at meetings or his beloved Radiology Visiting Club, was captured over dinner by his delightful conversation and a bottle of red. Erudite, wickedly funny, and chatty there was never time for a short conversation. By telephone when I wasn’t available, my wife, children or the dog would do just fine.

Sadly his heart eventually failed but his mind stayed bright to the end. He would like to be remembered as a delightful charming man as well as one of the guiding lights of Interventional Radiology in the UK. I don’t think anyone who knew him will fail to honour that memory.

PA Gaines

I first met Mike Dean in 1987. I had just taken up a consultant post in Sheffield and was about to give my first ever lecture. The other speakers were all eminent interventional radiologists and I felt very inexperienced and out of place! 

As I sat in the front row, with the other speakers, Mike came and sat next to me. I was too much in awe of him to have sat next to him! He sensed my nervousness and turned and offered me a polo mint and proceeded to put me at my ease. This was typical of him and one of his greatest attributes was his ability to make everyone feel comfortable in his presence. I do not think it is an exaggeration to say that everybody who met him liked and respected him.

I didn’t realise it at the time, but this was to be the beginning of a long and dear friendship. He became my “mentor”. He encouraged me in every step of my career and I would not be where I am today if it were not for him. He was always willing to listen and give wise advice. I expect that’s why our telephone conversations were always so long! 

He was a great man who achieved a great deal in his life. He was one of the original pioneers of angioplasty! He was President of the BSIR from 1995-97 and then became Dean of the Royal College of Radiologists. He was awarded Distinguished Fellowship of CIRSE in 2002, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to IR. He loved life and had a reputation for fast cars and good living. But he was above all else a devoted family man.

In recent years, his health had deteriorated and sadly on Feb 28th he died at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital where he had dedicated 40 years of his working life. He will be missed by all who knew him. Our thoughts and sympathy go to all his family and particularly Vera, his wife, who made his life so happy and content and was with him until the very end. May he rest in peace.

Anna Belli, London 

As a young registrar some years ago (will not say precisely how many), I made my way up to a small DGH in Shrewsbury. I felt a little despondent at having been sent out into the country away from the main hub for 4 months leaving my comfortable home in Bristol for a residential post combined with Oswestry. I met Mike Dean for the first time and I had no idea then that he was one of the godfathers of interventional radiology.

Although I had been considering a career in IR, Mike Dean was a tall ( for me anyway ), imposing thin man who constantly smoked cigars but had a real charm, warmth and enthusiasm for interventional radiology which very quickly rubbed off on me. On my first day he took me to the coffee room asked if I had ever done a trans-lumbar aortogram before? To which I replied no, do we still do these? He showed me the technique, hands breadth in and hands breadth above the iliac crest, keeping going with the 20cm 18 gauge needle until you hit something pulsating. I thought he was kidding! 

Now those of us training would probably feel very uncomfortable with introducing a new procedure to a trainee in quite that way in the modern era, but that was the real start of my IR career. After my 20th case I felt like an expert but I always knew  he was there for support, guidance and help if ever I needed it. He was a strong confident presence to help and guide me in my development as an interventional radiologist. Thanks to him and his colleagues I had a great time and learned a huge amount for which I am very grateful. Mike has gone now on a different journey and one day we will all join him. But as one of the pioneers or IR he has left behind a legacy of techniques he helped develop and a highly prized, important specialty for us and future generations. 

Interventional radiology has become a vital specialty which can and is delivering better care for patients in a wide range of practice. This is something we need to be proud of but we also need to think of what we will leave for our trainees and future generations of interventional radiologists when our time comes? Hopefully, a new generation of well-trained interventional radiologists for a start who in turn have a duty and a privilege to train the future interventional radiologists in the UK.

But we also need to have the right infrastructure and manpower planning to ensure that patients don’t suffer from unnecessary needless surgery or other specialists who dabble in procedures which requir skill and knowledge. I spoke to a company rep who asked my view of their company providing a crib sheet and equipment to other specialists for embolization in emergency situations because they don’t have a local interventional radiology service! The old saying goes: where there is a vacuum.

As interventional radiologists we need to ensure we provide a high quality and timely service to the right patients and right indications. The BSIR is currently engaged on many fronts to ensure the future of provision of high quality IR. Not least by ensuring that there is widespread provision of IR, that services are commissioned appropriately, there is an adequate workforce to deliver these services and interventionists who have the necessary education and training to provide a safe sustainable service. I want to thank Mike Dean for all his pioneering work and efforts for training me and others and wish him a fond farewell. I hope that we can ensure that his legacy continues to work for the betterment of patient care and I for one will be doing my best to ensure that IR is up to the job.

Raman Uberoi, Oxford