Dr. O’Connor received his medical training at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland from 1972 to 1978 (MB, BCh, BAO).  He first came to Canada for a Rotating Internship at the Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1978.  He completed a Residency in Anatomic Pathology at the University of Western Ontario (1979-1980), a Residency in Combined Anatomic Pathology and General Pathology at Dalhousie University (1980-1983), and was a Fellow in Anatomic Pathology at the University of Manitoba (1983-1984).

Dr. O’Connor received FRCPC in Anatomic Pathology in 1984.  He began his career in Vancouver in 1999 when he assumed the positions of Consultant Pathologist at the B.C. Cancer Agency and Consultant Pathologist, Lung, Pleura and Mediastinum, at the Canadian Reference Centre for Cancer.  He continues to hold both positions.  He was appointed to the rank of Clinical Associate Professor in  the UBC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in 1999 and promoted to the rank of Clinical Professor in 2003.