Born in 1923, Kathleen Abraham trained at Manchester University Medical School during World War 2 and qualified as a doctor in 1946. After her first house jobs at Manchester, she followed an interest in chest medicine for a few years before returning to general medicine at Beverley Westwood Hospital, East Yorkshire. In 1957, having been appointed to the Overseas Civil Service she sailed for Nigeria and a very different life.
On leaving the overseas service at the end of 1964, she went into community health and her last appointment before her final retirement was that of Senior Clinical Medical Officer in the Community Health Department, Southport.