My father, Dr Peter Tun, who has died aged 62 of Covid-19, travelled in 1994 from his native Burma (now Myanmar) to Britain to work as a doctor in the NHS. His career took him into the training of doctors, and eventually earned him the role of associate postgraduate dean (2012-16) at Oxford Deanery training centre, which prepares medical graduates for their first NHS jobs.
Much loved by his colleagues, he had expertise in a wide range of areas, from diseases related to stroke, brain and spinal injuries to muscle spasticity management, the benefits of medicinal marijuana, nutritional rehabilitation and mindfulness therapy.
Peter was born in Yangon, in Burma (now Myanmar), the eldest son of U Tin U and Cheery Tin Gyi. He won a scholarship to study medicine at the University of Yangon and as a young freshman enjoyed participating in shot put and discus-throwing tournaments. After graduating in 1981, he started as a research medical officer for a WHO-sponsored project on maternal and child healthcare. From 1985 to 1994 he worked as a GP across the villages of the Ayeyarwady Delta.
He had fond memories of riding around in a jeep through many villages, helping to heal the sick and asking his patients only to pay what they could afford. He was an advocate for providing education as a tool to transform the lives of the communities he served.
During this time he met his future wife, Daw Win Mar. They would go on to have two sons, Minko (my brother Michael) and Ye Aung (me). As a testament to his tenacity, Peter decided to build a new home from the ground up for his family. That house still stands with a back garden full of banana trees beneath a hot tropical sun.
Peter brought his family to the UK in 1994. We lived in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, before moving to London, where in 1997 Peter became a member of the Royal College of Physicians and the British Society of Rehabilitation Medicine.
Our family finally settled in Reading, in a home filled with joy. Peter loved gardening, cooking, barbecues, sharing recipes, the Beatles and painting watercolours of pagodas and scenes from Burma.
A devout Buddhist who enjoyed meditation, he had practised intensive Vipassana meditation under the Venerable Ashin Janakabhivamsa when he was a second-year medical student in Burma. He recalled those moments of spiritual practice as one of the most precious times of his life.
He is survived by Daw Win Mar and his children.
