His early years were spent in South Uist where he acquired a love of nature and fly-fishing in particular.

With the latter he travelled to Ann Arbor, Michigan to work with the leading electrocardiologist Frank N. Wilson.

He then spent time in Vienna working with Karl Wenckebach, where his fluent German proved invaluable.

In 1931 the University of Edinburgh awarded Hill the Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize for his essay, “Certain operative procedures on the neck considered from a cardiological standpoint”.

Despite this he returned to academia in 1950, accepting the position as Professor of Medicine at the University of St Andrews (based in Dundee), replacing Professor Adam Patrick, and later the University of Dundee following that institutions split from St Andrews in 1967.

His proposers were David Murray Lyon, Douglas Guthrie, William Frederick Harvey and Sir Ernest Wedderburn.