 During the World War I, he volunteered for and served in the Indian army medical service.In 1916, he returned to Edinburgh for medical studies, and graduated in 1919 with a MB ChB in medicine from the University of Edinburgh, where he subsequently earned a PhD in 1921, and a DSc in 1923.Aged 26, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, proposers were Sir Edward Albert Sharpey-Schafer, William White Taylor, Arthur Robertson Cushny, and George Barger.