Iain Drummond Gordon was born in Glasgow as an only child. After graduating from Hutcheson's Grammar School, he went on to study medicine at Glasgow University, graduating in 1968. In his first year of medicine, he met Geraldine Carey, an art student, and they married at the Glasgow School of Art; their partnership lasted 56 years. As a junior house officer at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, he developed an interest in cardiology. As a registrar to Hugh Conway at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, he found his calling as a diagnostician. In 1972 he moved to Stranraer as a general practitioner. In this rural community, he provided comprehensive cradle-to-grave care, including emergency and palliative care, obstetrics, acute medical and surgical care, and, until 1986, anesthetic services. The community benefited from his diagnostic skills and desire to continually improve.