Brian Patrick Danvers Colquhoun was born in Yangon, Myanmar [Rangoon, Burma], on 27 February 1941. His post-secondary education included four years at the University of Rangoon, before he transferred to the University of Sheffield, where he completed his MD in 1964. He held various positions in hospitals in England and Wales before entering the resident program in the Department of Surgery at the [Royal] University Hospital in 1968. In 1973, following two years as a research fellow at the Montreal General Hospital Medical Research Unit, Colquhoun joined the faculty of the College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, as assistant professor of surgery. He was reappointed clinical assistant professor of surgery in 1975.