[3] Borthwick's Leiden education and his appointment in 1679 as Chirurgeon Major to the Army in Scotland, both influenced his young apprentice.

Later in that year, they took part in the Siege of Namur under the personal command of King William III of Great Britain.

The following year he was re-elected to these offices, and in addition, was appointed one of the City’s representatives on the Convention of the Royal Burghs of Scotland.

In 1713 the Town Council appointed him surgeon to the poor of the city for an annual salary of '300 merks Scots', a position he held until 1720.

He was present in his official robes as Deacon of Convenery along with other civic dignitaries at the proclamation of George I as King of Great Britain, France and Ireland at the Mercat Cross in Edinburgh on 5 August 1714.

In 1720, he produced "a plan which he had long formed in my own mind, of having the different branches of Physic and Surgery regularly taught at Edinburgh, which was highly approved by them".

[12] His plan was favourably received by the Town Council, the University of Edinburgh the Royal College of Physicians and the Incorporation of Surgeons.

The key to its success was the appointment to the University Chair of Anatomy of John Monro’s son, Alexander, whose education and training had been planned with this specific objective.

The reason for these resignations was because "...the state of their health and business were such that they could not duly attend the said professorships" and they unanimously recommended Alexander Monro to be Professor of Anbatomy to the city and the University.

The role played by powerful patrons such as Archibald Campbell, 1st Earl of Ilay (1682– 1761) and Lord Provost George Drummond (1688–1766) in these events, which remains the subject of controversy, has been explored at length by Emerson.