 The third BMA committee on general practice was set up in 1961 under Gillie and was charged with guiding the general practice in Great Britain.Gillie was the eldest among four children of Dr. Robert Calder Gillie, a minister in the Presbyterian Church of England, and Emily (née Japp) Gillie.She studied at Wycombe Abbey School, University College London and University College Hospital, graduating in 1925.