Iona Heath worked as an inner city general practitioner at the Caversham Group Practice in Kentish Town in London from 1975 until 2010. She was a nationally elected member of the Council of the Royal College of General Practitioners 1989 to 2009 and chaired the College’s Committee on Medical Ethics from 1998 to 2004 and the International Committee from 2006 to 2009. She has been a member of the Wonca World Executive since 1997. In November 2009, she was elected as President of the Royal College of General Practitioners for a three year term. She has written regularly for the British Medical Journal in her personal capacity. Her book ‘Matters of Life and Death’ was published in 2007.