Douglas James Guthrie FRSE FRCS FRCP FRCSEd FRCPE (8 September 1885 – 8 June 1975) was a Scottish medical doctor, otolaryngologist and historian of medicine.

After graduating in Medicine from Edinburgh University, he pursued postgraduate studies into diseases of ear, nose and throat at leading European clinics.

He served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the First World War and had a particular interest in disorders of speech in children, ultimately establishing specialised clinics.

He won the McCosh Graduate's and Medical Bursaries which he used to pursue postgraduate study into diseases of ear, nose and throat at leading European clinics.

[11] So in 1936, with no definitive teaching Hospital appointment, he began to research and write what would prove to be his magnum opus A History of Medicine.

[12] When he finally retired from clinical work in 1945, he was appointed as a lecturer in the History of Medicine at Edinburgh University, a post that had been previously held by his friend John Comrie.

[13] Shaw's review was syndicated in America boosting international sales and making Guthrie's name well known in the world of medical history.

[14] At a time when history of medicine was the almost exclusive preserve of medical doctors, Guthrie promoted to them the techniques of the profession historian.

[15] He advocated that history of medicine should also be taught by historians in Arts faculties, a policy which began to be introduced in the UK about ten years later.

The two honours which he declared that he most valued were the Doctorate of Letters from the University of Edinburgh and the honorary Fellowship of the Royal Society of Medicine, both awarded in 1967.