James trained at Glasgow Royal infirmary and qualified as a physiotherapist in 1980.

His first post was as a rotational physiotherapist in NHS Lanarkshire in one of their major Acute sites.                                                                        He then then specialised as an In-patient physiotherapist covering respiratory, stroke and rheumatology. It was at that point that he trained as a Bobath physiotherapist and developed the stroke services at Gartnavel Hospital, Glasgow.

The medical unit also contained a rheumatology unit and he realised that his interest was moving from stroke rehab to MSK. To enhance his MSK skills he completed Cyriax and acupuncture training and started to work through the McKenzie modules. At this point he moved to Hairmyres hospital in Lanarkshire as the physiotherapy manager where he further developed his MSK skills by completing the MACP course.

Outside of the NHS he has had his own private practice as well as working as a part-time physiotherapist in senior football clubs and films in Scotland.

After leaving the NHS in 2016 he decided to move to a new specialty within MSK and started work as an Occupational health physiotherapist in a shipyard in Glasgow. As well as treating MSK issues the post involved ergonomic assessment of office staff and staff working on the construction of warships. It brought new experiences and challenges both mentally and physically with the assessment of physical tasks in enclosed spaces proving particularly difficult.

He moved to HCA in June 2022 working in their Glasgow city centre office.