[1] He graduated from London University (St. Barthlomew's Hospital) in 1936 and studied medicine and obstetrics, as an intern, ending as a ship doctor traveling to the Far East.
[citation needed] Later in 1938, he went to Hartley, Southern Rhodesia (now Chegutu, Zimbabwe), Africa, with his wife, and chiefly engaged in medicine and obstetrics.
He was interested not only in the classification, but also in leprosy reactions, and he finally found the designator of Erythema Nodosum Leprosum, asking any visitors to his hospital.
[5] The general public has many misconceptions about leprosy; health authorities have launched information campaigns stating that the disease is curable and patients on treatment are noninfectious.
"[citation needed] Jopling and Ridley were jointly awarded the Sir Rickard Christophers Medal by the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 1994.