MB ChB Glasgow 1962, MD 1971; FRCS Edin 1966; FRCS Eng 1966.
Elder held various positions in Glasgow, including senior registrar at the Western Infirmary, before moving to Manchester where he was appointed consultant surgeon and reader in surgery at the University of Manchester and MRI. Elder was a member of the British Society of Gastroenterology and the Surgical Research Society. Elder later became a professor and consultant at Staffordshire.