MacGillivray worked in a surgical post in Falkirk, then served on as a naval surgeon for two years in the Far East.[4][3] In 1948, the University of Glasgow awarded him a research scholarship.[3] He became a Member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in 1949, with his fellowship awarded in 1959.[3] In 1960 he gave the Blair Bell Memorial Lecture at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.[5] He gained an MD with commendation from the University of Glasgow in 1953.[3]
In June 1955 he was appointed Lecturer in Midwifery at University of Aberdeen.[3] He was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine 1976-1979.[1] In November 1960, MacGillivray was appointed to a newly created Chair of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at St Mary's Hospital Medical School.[3] He took up the Regius Chair of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Aberdeen in 1965, succeeding Dugald Baird and held this until 1 October 1984.[6][7][8] In 1976, he was appointed as president of the International Society for the Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy.[1] He was president of the International Society for Twin Studies from 1980 to 1983.[7]
Later life
MacGillivray died on 18 June 2021 at the age of 100.[1][9]