Celebrating three years of practice alongside Dr Ian Williams
This autumn marks three years since Dr Ian Williams joined The Hove Practice.
Ian has brought with him more than three decades of experience in medicine and a perspective on healthcare that extends well beyond the consulting room.
For many of his patients, what matters most is something very simple: having the time to talk to a doctor who listens. Ian is known for his empathetic, down-to-earth approach to general practice. His clinical interests are broad, ranging from general medical care, men’s and sexual health to lifestyle medicine, later-life wellbeing and the health of older people.
Throughout his work, there’s a common thread: taking time to understand the person as well as the medical problem.
A career with more than one chapter
Ian qualified in medicine in Cardiff in 1989 before working in New Zealand and later settling for many years in North Wales. His varied medical career has included general practice, anaesthetics and genitourinary medicine, alongside roles as a GP trainer, clinical lecturer, police surgeon and mountain rescue team doctor.
He gained his MRCGP in 1995, followed by a Postgraduate Certificate of Advanced Studies in Fine Art. He later completed a Master’s degree in Medical Humanities, an area exploring medicine through disciplines including literature, philosophy, history and the arts. This combination of medicine and creativity has become an important part of Ian’s career.
Where medicine meets storytelling
Alongside being a GP, Ian is an award-winning graphic novelist, cartoonist and writer.
In 2007, he coined the term Graphic Medicine to describe the intersection between comics and healthcare and founded GraphicMedicine.org.
What began as a way of exploring how comics could tell stories about illness, patients and healthcare has since developed into an international field of study and practice.
Ian is the author of the graphic novels The Bad Doctor and The Lady Doctor and his new book The Sick Doctor, inspired by his experience of cancer treatment, is due to be published in April 2027.
He has also created work for The Guardian and the Wellcome Collection, using drawing and storytelling to explore some of the human experiences that sit behind medicine: from listening and empathy, to the pressures experienced by healthcare professionals themselves.
In 2023, Ian was invited to appear on the British Medical Association’s Inspiring Doctors podcast, where he talked about medicine, communication, mental health, creativity and the development of Graphic Medicine.
Three years at The Hove Practice
It is perhaps no surprise that communication plays such an important part in Ian’s work as a GP too.
At The Hove Practice, our approach is built around giving our doctors time to listen, understand what matters to each patient and see their health in the context of their wider life. Ian’s experience, curiosity and interest in the human side of medicine make him a natural fit with that philosophy.
Three years on, we’re delighted to have Ian as part of our team and to celebrate the experience, individuality and warmth he brings to the Practice and to the patients he looks after.
Find out more
You can find out more about Dr Ian Williams on our Meet the Team page, or book an appointment with Ian on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.