Five receive AMA Queensland honour awards

AMA Roll of Fellows

Professor Christopher (Chris) Francis Leo Perry OAM RFD MBBS DTM&H FRACS

For outstanding service to and leadership of AMA Queensland, for contribution to the federal AMA as a federal Councillor, and for distinguished service to medicine, particularly Indigenous health and ENT research.

Professor Chris Perry OAM is a distinguished consultant surgeon in adult and paediatric otolaryngology head and neck surgery in Brisbane, a professor at the University of Queensland, a philanthropist, and a Lieutenant Colonel in the Australian Army Reserve.

He is the immediate Past President of AMA Queensland and a past AMA Councillor, a co-founder of the Deadly Ears program to tackle the scourge of untreated middle ear infections in Aboriginal Australians, and has more than 50 papers, eight book chapters and 1,600 citations to his name.

He continues to divide his time between his private ENT practice and two public hospitals – the Princess Alexandra Hospital and the Queensland Children’s Hospital.

His two-year term as AMA Queensland President was dominated by COVID-19, and Prof Perry was a loud and vocal advocate for all doctors and for public health throughout the pandemic. He used his voice to speak for all healthcare workers and vulnerable communities about the need for vaccinations, for mask wearing, for lockdowns and other public health measures, no matter how unpopular those measures were with sections of the community. He also advocated for sense and compassion in how border closures and hotel quarantine were implemented, no matter how unpopular that made him with state authorities.

Prof Perry graduated from The University of Queensland Medical School in 1976 and first joined the AMA in 1977.

Fuelled by his twin desires to travel and to practise medicine in developing countries, he moved to the UK to study for the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H). In 1980, he and his young family moved to the town of Nkawkaw, Ghana. He worked in a two-doctor rural hospital serviced a population of 100,000 people, with about 3,500 births a year and 5,000 to 7,000 more in surrounding villages. He then trained for four years in otolaryngology in Australia, with further training at the Royal Marsden (National Cancer) Hospital in London and at the University of Virginia, USA.

In 1982, he began attending remote and rural Aboriginal communities in Cape York and saw how middle ear disease, and its secondary deafness and education outcomes, was maintaining the poverty cycle for First Nations Australians.

In 1988, the Australian ENT Society recruited him to establish a national training scheme in Papua New Guinea, due to his tropical medicine training and experience in Africa. He went on to supervise ENT training in PNG for 18 years, and was also a Visiting Professor and Examiner in surgical specialty examinations in the US, Malaysia and PNG. He treated soldiers at Brisbane’s Yeronga Military Hospital and, as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve, did two tours in Bougainville, PNG, in a peace monitoring group.

With his commitment to Indigenous ear health, he secured $1.6 million in federal funding to set up a program that engaged 20 ENT surgeons to travel to remote communities for three years. In 2008, that program turned into Deadly Ears, which now leads Queensland Health’s response to reducing the rates and impact of middle ear disease and hearing loss for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children across Queensland. Prof Perry was one of three founders of the program, and he continues to volunteer his time and expertise in the Aboriginal community of Cherbourg every year.

In 2009, he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for services to medicine as an ENT specialist, and to Indigenous health.

While COVID-19 dominated his AMA Queensland Presidency, Prof Perry was also instrumental in AMA Queensland’s Ramping Roundtable, which brought together a range of medical specialists to deliver a workable Action Plan to the Queensland Government to tackle the ambulance ramping and hospital bed block crisis. This resulted in the Queensland Government adopting many of the recommendations and committing to 2,500 new hospital beds in the 2022 state budget.

Prof Perry joined the AMA 45 years ago, and has been a member for 36 continuous years since his return to Australia. He is an earnest and passionate advocate for doctors, for patients, and for the most vulnerable Australians. He cares as much for his patients in prison as he cares for those in private practice. He is widely admired and liked by his colleagues, patients and staff.

He is a most worthy admission to the AMA Roll of Fellows.

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Distinguished Supporter Member

Dr Peter Isdale AM PhD Hon DSc FQA MAICD

Skills Based Appointed Director, AMA Queensland Board 2017-2023

Chair, AMA Queensland Governance Committee 2018-2023

A Distinguished Supporter Member is an individual appointed by the Board who is not a medical practitioner yet has given honourable and substantial service to the medical profession in Queensland.

Distinguished Supporter Members have the right to receive notices to attend and speak at general meetings of AMA Queensland but may not vote; may be appointed as a Skills Based Director of the Company under rule 13.7 of the Constitution; and are not required to pay a membership fee to the Company.

Dr Peter Isdale AM has been appointed as the 2024 AMA Queensland Distinguished Supporter Member.

Dr Isdale is a long-term supporter of AMA Queensland who has contributed greatly over the past six years as Board Director and Chair of the Governance Committee.

He was a permanent fixture of the Board from 2017 until 2023 and would probably still be there were it not for the statutory six-year term limit.

He continues to generously mentor AMA Queensland members, particularly in the areas of leadership and governance, where his experience and knowledge are second to none. AMA Queensland’s governance and organisation is stronger because of his insightful and considered contributions.

Dr Isdale is a champion for the profession, supporting many doctors in their leadership journey. He is generous with his time and his knowledge. He supports many AMA Queensland events, including the 2023 Senior Doctors Conference where he shared his insights on serving on boards with delegates.

Before joining the AMA Queensland Board, he was a Director of the Emergency Medicine Foundation Board.

It must be noted that Dr Isdale is not a medical professional. In his words, the only registration he holds is an old Subaru.

He is a marine scientist who traded his wetsuit for a business suit in 2005 to help bring science discoveries into platforms for others on which to build. He now works with organisations to solve strategic and organisational dilemmas.

Dr Isdale has authored or co-authored more than 50 papers in the literature of marine science. He has also been involved in the genesis, governance and management of a dozen companies, large and small, successful and vanished, served as Chair or non-executive Director on more than 40 boards since 1987, and reached senior executive level in an ASX150 corporation.

He is coming to the end of a nine-year term on the board of Suncare Community Services Limited, one of the largest community-governed  aged care and disability organisations in the state.

He is Chairman of the Wetlands and Grasslands Foundation in Australia and holds adjunct professorships at University of the Sunshine Coast and, until recently, QUT.

Dr Isdale was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) nearly 20 years ago and received an Honorary Doctor of Science from his alma mater James Cook University in 2023.

By his own admission, Dr Isdale will not be in the sprints at the 2032 Olympics but he loves pottering in his workshop restoring things, and describes himself as a very happy husband, father and grandfather.

We thank him for his service to AMA Queensland.

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AMA Queensland Doctor-in-Training Medal

Dr Nikhil Dwivedi BA (Hons – Law) BCommerce BMedSt MD MA MMed

The Doctor in Training Medal is awarded to an AMA Queensland Doctor in Training member who has made an outstanding contribution to leadership and advocacy during their time as a Doctor in Training.

Dr Nikhil Dwivedi has been awarded the inaugural AMA Queensland Doctor-in-Training Medal for his outstanding contribution to leadership and advocacy in medical research, teaching and education, doctors’ wellbeing, community service and humanitarian issues.

Dr Dwivedi is a lawyer, a scholar and an aspiring dermatologist who has studied at Cambridge, Curtin, Sydney and Bond universities, volunteers his time at a monthly dermatology clinic at the Inala Indigenous Health Service, and helps out at his local Hindu temple every Sunday.

Currently a junior doctor at the Princess Alexandra (PA) Hospital in Brisbane, Dr Dwivedi first studied law at Cambridge before turning his attention to medicine, graduating from Bond University in 2022 and attaining a Master of Medicine from the University of Sydney in 2023.

His impressive list of educational achievements outside medicine includes a Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Arts from Cambridge and a Bachelor of Commerce from Curtin University.

As a student, he received the Vascular Foundation’s Professor Philip Walker Medical Student Scholarship and the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Student Scholarship, and both the Vice Chancellor’s and the Executive Dean Awards for Academic Excellence at Bond University in August 2020.

He has been published in reputable journals such as the Australasian Journal of Dermatology and presented at international conferences and meetings, and is currently studying for his Advanced Certificates in Dermatology and Skin Cancer at the Australasian College of Dermatology.

He leads multiple research projects and actively supervises medical students to encourage and support his juniors to have opportunities in this sphere.

He volunteers as an Associate Editor for the Australian Medical Students Journal, where he reviews work submitted by medical students.

He does bedside teaching for medical students and volunteers as a tutor for medical student society revision nights and workshops. He was a founding member of the Queensland Dermatology Journal Club for junior doctors, to help foster a collaborative space for junior clinicians interested in dermatology. He was recently appointed as a Sessional Teaching Fellow with Bond University’s Faculty of Health Science and Medicine where he lectures in medical law and ethics.

Dr Dwivedi has always been an advocate for doctor’s wellbeing and is the PA Representative for AMA Queensland’s Committee of Doctors-in-Training, as well as advocating for junior doctors on PA’s Prevocational Medical Education Committee.

He served two terms as the Chair of the Queensland Medical Students’ Council and advocated for medical student and junior doctor wellbeing on multiple Queensland Health working groups and committees. In this role, he established the Queensland Medical Students’ Council Annual Charity Ball and raised funds for charities aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable in our community.

Dr Dwivedi continues to be actively engaged in community service and humanitarian issues. In his spare time, he volunteers for the St John’s Ambulance and his local temple, and at the monthly dermatology clinic at the Inala Indigenous Health Service.

Dr Dwivedi’s outstanding contributions and dedication to these domains collectively makes him a highly deserving candidate for the AMA Queensland Doctor-in-Training Medal.

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Excellence in Health Care Medal

Mrs Sabine Orda

Paediatric nurse; Diabetes educator; Principal Medical Education Officer, Mt Isa Hospital

The Excellence in Health Care Medal is awarded to an individual who has made a significant contribution to improving health or health care in Australia. The person may be involved in health awareness, health policy, or health delivery.

The AMA Queensland Excellence in Health Care Medal has been awarded to Mrs Sabine Orda, a medical educator with a passion for rural medicine.

Mrs Orda and her husband Ulrich emigrated to Australia from Germany 25 years ago. She was a trained nurse, practice manager and diabetes educator; he was a GP with advanced training in diabetes treatment and emergency medicine.

The pair met at medical school at the Heinrich Heine University in Dusseldorf. Financially, it became difficult for her to continue her medical studies and support her junior doctor husband while also raising their young family.

She made the difficult decision to not continue her medical studies, but instead look after her son and to work part-time in nursing to supplement the family income. She did her clinical work as a nurse in paediatrics, general medicine, surgery and  cadiac surgery until her husband started a private practice as a GP and opened a diabetes specialist centre in Germany, where she became the practice manager. It was soon evident the clinic would benefit from having a qualified diabetic educator, so she went to university and achieved the qualification of Post Graduate Diploma Diabetic Educator.

When she emigrated to Australia after her husband had secured a medical position at Mount Isa Hospital, she was told that all her studies would not be recognised, and that she would be required to undertake further nursing training.

Instead, she worked at McDonalds in order to get an Australian referee report, and then was successful in obtaining employment with James Cook University and the Mount Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health as a medical education officer, where she developed her passion for rural education and training of doctors.

Mrs Orda has been the Principal Medical Education Officer at Mount Isa Base Hospital since 2010, and is a Surveyor for Prevocational Medical Accreditation in Queensland Health. She plays an active role in making the hospital a leading rural facility in training and education of medical students, interns, prevocational doctors and rural generalist registrars. She is very much cognisant of the fact that understanding Registrar training is a core component of sustainable staffing in remote areas.

She has been a pillar of support for her husband in what he has achieved as a doctor in Mount Isa; but her personal achievements and dedication to healthcare and training should not go unnoticed.

Her achievements have been exemplary, including the successful application and management of accreditation for intern training at Mount Isa Hospital, being instrumental in the development of it as a training site for rural generalism and advanced skills training posts, and ensuring that the hospital maintains all requirements to be an accredited training site.

She is actively involved in the rostering of doctors at the hospital, as well as continuously supporting recruitment.  She has been recognised for her research activities with a number of publications to her name as co-author and has made presentations at several rural medical conferences.

The Ordas suffered a family tragedy in 2020 when their son Lukas, a veterinary surgeon, was lost at sea in a live export ship capsize off the coast of Japan. Mrs Orda held the family together, including looking after their six-month-old grandson, and continued to manage the Medical Education Unit at Mount Isa Base Hospital.

In 2022, she was awarded the prestigious David Horn Memorial Medal and Honorary Associate membership for outstanding service and achievements by the Rural Doctors Association of Queensland (RDAQ).

Her tireless efforts in North-West Queensland make her a most worthy recipient of the Excellence in Health Care Medal.

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AMA Queensland Rural Health Medal

Adjunct Associate Professor Ulrich Orda MD PhD FACEM FACRRM

The Rural Health Medal is awarded to an AMA Queensland member who has distinguished themselves by rendering outstanding health and advocacy services to rural communities.

The AMA Queensland Rural Health Medal has been awarded to Dr Ulrich Orda, a rural generalist with advanced skills in emergency medicine and anaesthetics.

Dr Orda, his wife Sabine and family emigrated to Mount Isa in North-West Queensland from Germany more than 25 years ago. It was a huge cultural shift moving to an outback Queensland community of just 35,000 population, having lived in a city of 15 million people.

Like most emigrants, while they found the local community very welcoming, the Ordas experienced many challenges, especially bureaucratic ones, when they first arrived. Dr Orda was told that his application for provisional registration as a doctor needed to be reviewed by the Medical Board due to a technicality in the application process he had already completed.

In 2009, the community of Karumba experienced severe flooding and isolation for several months had an urgent need for medical services. Following representation to the then Health Minister, Dr Orda’s registration technicalities were addressed and he found himself on a charter helicopter to serve the isolated community during this disaster.

Despite being recognised as a specialist in Germany, Dr Orda had to complete the Fellowship of ACRRM with advanced skills in emergency medicine and anaesthetics to be recognised as a rural generalist in Queensland. In addition, Dr Orda went on to meet the Australian College for Emergency Medicine assessment and training requirements to achieve Fellowship of that College (FACEM).

In his early days in Queensland, Dr Orda worked as a Senior Medical Officer serving the communities of Doomagee, Normanton, Mornington Island and Mt Isa, until he was appointed Director of Emergency and Director of Clinical Teaching at Mount Isa Base Hospital, a position he still holds today. He is passionate about training the future rural doctors of the Gulf, being passionately involved in internship training, rural generalist training and ACEM training pathways.

Dr Orda has presented at numerous conferences and is the co-author of many publications; including being a peer reviewer and contributor to many medical publications.

In June 2021, Uli, as he is better known, received the Legend of the Bush award from his colleagues at the annual Rural Doctors Association of Queensland, acknowledging his significant service to the North-West Queensland health district, and where he was described ‘as a tireless campaigner for better working conditions for rural doctors’.

After overcoming the initial barriers of being an International Medical Graduate, Dr Orda’s continued passion for the communities of North-West Queensland, his long service history at Mount Isa Hospital, medical leadership, supervision and training of many budding rural doctors over two and a half decades, makes him a worthy candidate for the AMA Queensland Rural Health Medal.