John Playfair obtained his MB from Edinburgh in 1872 and subsequently worked as assistant to Angus Macdonald. He served as Medical Officer to the New Town Dispensary and spent the greater part of his career at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, first as Assistant Physician and later as Physician. On retirement he was appointed Honorary Physician to the hospital. He became a Fellow of the College in 1876 and served as President on two occasions, from 1904 to 1906 and again in 1908. He died in Edinburgh in 1933.
