Dr Borland qualified MB, ChB at Glasgow University in 1909. After various hospital posts he went to Chicago to study under Dr Kent, going as an open-minded sceptic and returning as an astonished and convinced homoeopath. He then took an appointment at the London Homoeopathic Hospital, followed by active service during World War I with the Royal Army Medical Corps. After the war he established a consultant practice in London and returned to the staff of the London Homoeopathic Hospital, where he subsequently became senior consultant physician and chairman of the staff.
