New AMA Roll of Fellows members

AMA President, Dr Michael Gannon, announced the additions at the AMA National Conference 2017 in Melbourne.

Dr Gannon said that both of the new Fellows were distinguished representatives of the profession, and inspiring leaders who had fought hard for public health issues throughout their careers.

“Both Adjunct Professor Greenaway and Professor Owler have excelled in their medical careers, and in their roles as advocates for the profession,” Dr Gannon said.

“Each has contributed at the State and Federal level to improving working conditions for doctors, and making the Australian health system work more effectively for patients and communities.”

Each new AMA Fellow carries an impressive record of achievement, as excerpts from their citations show:

Adjunct Professor Tim Greenaway

One of Australia’s leading endocrinologists, Adjunct Professor Tim Greenaway has been actively involved in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education for more than 30 years.

After completing his undergraduate medical studies at the University of Sydney, he trained in Endocrinology at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and was awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council Postgraduate Medical Scholarship to undertake doctoral studies into hepatic insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes.

Adjunct Professor Greenaway has held senior positions at the University of Tasmania and Royal Hobart Hospital, and has served on a number of Ministerial Advisory Committees.

An AMA member since 1994, he served as AMA Tasmania Vice President for two years before becoming President in 2014. During his Presidency, AMA Tasmania became debt-free and increased its membership.

He presided over AMA Tasmania during the development of the statewide Tasmanian Health Service, worked closely with the Tasmanian Government through the Healthy Tasmania Committee to develop a raft of initiatives outlined in the Healthy Tasmania Five Year Strategic Plan, and implemented a new award for medical professionals.

Adjunct Professor Greenaway left Tasmania for Canberra in 2016 to take up the role of Chief Medical Adviser with the Health Products Regulation Group in the Commonwealth Department of Health, but remains an Adjunct Professor in the University of Tasmania’s School of Medicine.

Professor Brian Owler

Throughout his career, neurosurgeon Professor Brian Owler has combined clinical excellence with passionate advocacy for the welfare of his patients, colleagues, and the wider community.

Professor Owler has a PhD from the University of Sydney and spent 18 months performing research at the University of Cambridge’s Academic Neurosurgery Unit. He is a Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Sydney, and a consultant neurosurgeon at Westmead Children’s Hospital, Westmead Private Hospital, and Sydney Adventist and Norwest Private Hospital.

He first became actively involved with the AMA as a medical student, becoming a Councillor, Student and Doctors in Training representative, and a member of the Residents’ and Students’ Committee. During this time, Professor Owler led AMA NSW’s campaign on the provider number dispute.

Professor Owler was appointed to the AMA Federal Council in 2010, and was elected AMA NSW President in 2012, and Federal AMA President in 2014.

Throughout his Presidencies and other leadership roles at the AMA, he has worked tirelessly for the benefit of doctors and patients, and made public health advocacy a priority.

He has led hard-hitting and effective campaigns on road safety, preventable deaths and injuries in children, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, fair health treatment for asylum seekers, climate change, and vaccination.

Professor Owler’s tenure as Federal AMA President coincided with one of the most turbulent periods in health policy Australia has seen, beginning with the 2014 Budget and the co-payment proposal. Professor Owler fought publicly on behalf of the profession and patients against the co-payment, the Medicare rebate freeze, and inadequate public hospital funding.

As head of the AMA, Professor Owler also campaigned for the Government to increase its efforts to fight the Ebola outbreak in Africa, not only because controlling the outbreak at its source was the best approach, but because it was the right thing to do.

                            Maria Hawthorne                02 6270 5478 / 0427 209 753