James qualified from the School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin. After being a member of the lost tribe of SHOs he found his calling during a six month post in the Casualty at Sligo General Hospital. Discovering that there was no training in the Specialty in Ireland he took his newly acquired wife off to Manchester, where he completed a year in anaesthetics before recommencing training in Accident & Emergency Medicine (the name had changed in the year). After obtaining the Fellowship in Accident & Emergency Medicine from the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh he completed his higher specialist training in Leeds.

He was appointed as a Consultant in Emergency Medicine to Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, UK in 1996 (the name had changed again). While there he was appointed as a Clinical Tutor, Emergency Care Lead and was Training Programme Director for Emergency Medicine in the South West Region.

In 2004 he returned to Ireland to take up a post as Consultant in Emergency Medicine at University Hospital Galway (no name change this time). He served as Honourary Secretary of the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine from 2005 to 2010. He is currently Vice Dean for Core Specialty Training in Emergency Medicine at the RCSI. He regularly teaches on ATLS, APLS and RCSI training days.

Outside work James likes to sail around Galway Bay (would go further afield but for work) and row on the Corrib. He is also a keen cook and likes to sample beer. He has only been to Bruce Springsteen once!