Seven new additions to AMA roll of fellows

26 May 2019

 

The AMA has inducted seven new members into the AMA Roll of Fellows, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to both the medical profession and the AMA.

The new inductees are:

• immunologist and past AMA NSW President, Professor Brad Frankum OAM;
• distinguished neuroradiologist and past Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) President, Professor Mark Khangure AM;
• orthopaedic surgeon and AMA WA President, Dr Omar Khorshid;
• anaesthetist and past AMA SA President, Dr Andrew Lavender;
• past AMA ACT President and dermatologist, Associate Professor Andrew Miller AM;
• consultant surgeon and ex-Army officer, Associate Professor Susan Neuhaus; and
• dermatologist and past AMA NSW President, Clinical Associate Professor Dr Saxon Smith.

AMA President, Dr Tony Bartone, announced their addition to the Roll at the AMA National Conference in Brisbane today.

“These seven outstanding doctors have excelled not just in their medical specialties, but in their roles as advocates for the profession,” Dr Bartone said.

“They have made real contributions at the State and Federal level to improve working conditions for doctors, to improve safety for patients, to train the next generations of medical practitioners, and to make the Australian health system work more effectively for patients and communities.

“I commend them for their service.”

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

 

Professor Brad Frankum OAM

Professor Brad Frankum is a prominent consultant physician specialising in immunology and allergy, who divides his time between Campbelltown and Camden Hospitals and his private specialist practice, and an immunology and allergy clinic at the Tharawal Aboriginal Medical Service in Campbelltown.

Prof Frankum has extensive experience in the university, public hospital, and Medical College sectors. He has held academic posts with the Universities of Sydney and Western Sydney, and has been involved in the teaching and training of thousands of medical students and young doctors.

He served as President of AMA(NSW) from 2016 to 2018, and Vice President for two years previous to that. In addition, he served on the AMA Federal Council for two years.

Prof Frankum was a central figure during the Campbelltown and Camden Hospitals crisis. When the hospital was accused of poor standards of care and a litany of other failings in the early 2000s, the State Government and the media at the time were only too keen to scapegoat the clinicians in order to deflect from the chronic neglect the whole of the south west of Sydney had suffered from successive governments and the bureaucracy. People’s careers were in tatters, and doctors demanding due and fair process were subject to serious intimidation. With the support of the AMA, Prof Frankum was able to lead the clinicians to stand up to what amounted to the tyranny of the government at the time.

Out of the mess, and against the odds, south-west Sydney now has the biggest hospital in NSW at Liverpool, a $632 million upgrade occurring at Campbelltown to grow to a 900-bed facility over the next 10 years. Campbelltown/Camden is now the second busiest Emergency Department in NSW, and a very successful medical school in its 12th year, producing very fine medical graduates.

Prof Frankum has dedicated much time and effort to raising the profile of the AMA, and has had a profound influence on Campbelltown and Camden hospitals, and medical teaching over several decades. His contributions to the profession, and to the welfare of his patients and colleagues, are exemplary.

 

Professor Mark Khangure AM

Professor Mark Khangure has served the AMA, medicine, and public health for more than four decades in a range of leadership positions.

He has done this while making significant contributions to medical education, government policy, and other professional bodies and developing an international reputation as a neuroradiologist.

Prof Khangure graduated from the Newcastle Upon Tyne University Medical School in the UK in 1971 and undertook training as a junior doctor at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, the teaching hospital of Newcastle University.

Prof Khangure joined the British Medical Association in 1970 and, after moving to Western Australia in 1976, continued his membership as a member of the AMA WA.

For more than 40 years, he has been an active and valued member who has contributed to medicine, public health, research, and the AMA in a wide range of roles.

In 2017, Prof Khangure was recognised with an Order of Australia (AM) for his contribution to Medicine in the field of Neuroradiology, to education and to the Medical Associations.

Prof Khangure's leadership was best demonstrated in 2006 when he demonstrated his willingness to make a stand and resigned as Head of Royal Perth Hospital’s Radiology Department over poor clinical leadership.

AMA WA is both proud and privileged to have Prof Khangure as a long-standing member, who has made an exceptional contribution to medicine and the AMA, both in WA and on the Federal stage.

 

Dr Omar Khorshid

Dr Omar Khorshid is the current President of AMA WA, and is one of the youngest Presidents in the Association’s history.

For almost two decades, Dr Khorshid has been a prominent AMA voice, both within Western Australia and nationally.

As State President, Dr Khorshid has focussed strongly on advocacy for better clinician engagement in public hospitals. He has also forcefully advocated on a range of key public health issues, including obesity, vaccination, and alcohol and drug abuse.

In particular, Dr Khorshid has played a major role in driving the public debate over end-of-life care and proposed legislation relating to euthanasia and palliative care, determined to ensure the AMA had its view strongly known.

Demonstrating tireless energy, Dr Khorshid advocated and drove the AMA WA Symposium on End-of-Life-Care, one of the most successful and pivotal events held by AMA WA in recent years and has made appearing before Parliamentary Committees and Inquiries a key part of the AMA’s contribution to public debate.

On a national basis, Dr Khorshid has had impacts in areas such as medical training, corporate governance, constitutional change and specialist representation.

He has consistently taken a robust stand on behalf of the medical profession and public health as a whole. He has strongly argued that health in Australia is something worth paying for, to reflect our standing as a first-world economy and a caring community.

The AMA is privileged to have Dr Omar Khorshid as a long-standing member, who has made an exceptional contribution to medicine both in WA and on the national stage.

 

Dr Andrew Lavender

Dr Andrew Lavender has given outstanding service to the AMA over many years, as the AMA SA Council salaried medical officers representative, as Treasurer, Vice President, and then President in 2009 and 2010, and as a Federal Councillor.

With a particular interest in the role of public hospitals and primary care, he is a strong advocate for public sector doctors and the patients they care for.

Dr Lavender was AMA SA President at a particularly challenging time, which included debate over the establishment of the Royal Adelaide Hospital, at a time when the views of the profession, community and political arena were divided.

Dr Lavender has made an extraordinary commitment of time, energy, and attention to many and significant issues for the AMA and its members, in addition to his busy clinical life and responsibilities as a public hospital anaesthetist.

Dr Lavender’s advocacy work on behalf of the profession included undertaking significant media engagements during which he advanced AMA State and Federal advocacy and policies.

He has given many hours of his time, as well as his energy, insight, and capacity to break down problems into workable solutions. He has done so with humour, modesty, perception, and goodwill – he has been a great colleague, and the AMA and the profession have a lot to thank him for.

 

Associate Professor Andrew Miller AM

Associate Professor Andrew Miller has served his colleagues through his leadership and involvement with the AMA, AMA ACT, and the Australasian College of Dermatologists (ACD). A/Prof Miller first joined the AMA as an intern in 1981 and has served, and continues to serve, in a variety of elected positions and voluntary roles, diligently and selflessly undertaking work on behalf of AMA members. 

Born in Sydney, A/Prof Miller completed his undergraduate medical studies at the University of New South Wales and then, after having undertaken a stint in general practice, trained in Dermatology. At various stages of his training, A/Prof Miller had practised in Canberra and surrounding regions, and commenced specialist practice in Canberra in 1993.

A/Prof Miller undertakes private practice in Canberra with outreach clinics in Young and Moruya. In addition, he has visiting medical officer appointments to both the Canberra Hospital and Calvary Public Hospital.

A/Prof Miller is currently ACD President, and was elected President of AMA ACT in 2012 for a two-year term.  During his term, he was appointed to the AMA Federal Council and continues to serve on Federal Council.  A/Prof Miller has also served on the Health Financing and Economics Committee, and the Audit and Risk Committee.

A/Prof Miller currently chairs the AMA Medical Practice Committee and has, over an extended period, been involved in a range of matters on behalf of AMA members, including in relation to the review of Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) item numbers and compliance issues. A/Prof Miller’s contributions to the work of the AMA have been thoughtful and consistent; he has willingly contributed his time, experience and expertise and, being based in Canberra, has often been called upon to assist in person with the work of the AMA. 

At all times, A/Prof Miller has provided outstanding leadership for AMA ACT, whether as a public advocate, office bearer or committee member. His tireless, thoughtful, and selfless contributions to the work of the AMA and AMA ACT are greatly admired.

 

Associate Professor Susan Neuhaus

Associate Professor Susan Neuhaus is a long-standing member of the AMA, a highly respected senior surgeon, distinguished ex-Army officer, and an experienced Board Director and Chair.

She is a Consultant Surgeon in private surgical practice, holds a Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS), and academic positions with the Department of Surgery and Faculty of Medicine, University of Adelaide.  She is appointed to the RACS Court of Examiners. A/Prof Neuhaus contributes to the highest levels of her profession as a clinician, academic and researcher with sub-specialty expertise in management of melanoma and sarcoma.

A/Prof Neuhaus has also completed an Army career spanning more than 20 years, in both the Regular Army and Army Reserve. She is a graduate of Australian Command and Staff College (Res). She has served in Cambodia, Bougainville, and Afghanistan, and held unit command of the 3rd Health Support Battalion from 2007-2009; one of three deployable military hospitals to support the Army’s Land Forces. Her military service was recognised with the award of the Conspicuous Service Cross in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2009.

She is a longstanding AMA member and was awarded the Australian Medical Association Award (SA) for Service to Medicine in 2011.  In 2014, she was elected to the AMA Federal Council as the specialty representative for Surgeons and served in this role until 2018. During that time, she contributed her expertise as a member of the Defence Health Working Group, and was a member and then Chair of the Health Financing and Economics Committee (2016-2018). She was an active contributor to discussions and policy development at AMA Federal Council and AMA National Conference. At National Conference in 2017, excerpts of a play Hallowed Ground: Women Doctors at War, by The Shift Theatre, adapted from her book Not for Glory: a century of service by medical women to the Australian Army and its Allies were performed to acclaim.

Since leaving the army, A/Prof Neuhaus has retained a strong commitment to the Defence and Veteran sector. She is Co-Patron of the RSL Virtual War Memorial and was appointed to the Council of the Australian War Memorial in 2018.

A/Prof Neuhaus has provided exemplary and faithful service to the AMA and has brought credit to the Association through her strong leadership in the practice of medicine.  She is a role model for Australia’s doctors and most deserving of the award of Fellow, Australian Medical Association (FAMA).

 

Clinical Associate Professor Saxon Smith

Associate Professor Saxon Smith is an Australian-trained dermatologist who has worked in various clinical roles in public and private hospitals across NSW, with the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, and as a clinical researcher. In addition to running his clinical practice, A/Prof Smith is a staff specialist dermatologist at Royal North Shore Hospital and a clinical associate professor at the University of Sydney.

A/Prof Smith served as AMA NSW President from 2014 to 2016, during which time he worked tirelessly to represent doctors and patients. A/Prof Smith’s presidency coincided with the Federal Government’s disastrous 2014 Health Budget, which included the ill-fated proposed co-payment. Coupled with the co-payment policy disaster was the Federal Government’s decision to radically change the structure of health funding beyond 2017. A/Prof Smith was a key spokesman for the profession, chairing a successful GP Forum in NSW to fight the proposed changes.

A/Prof Smith was also a prominent spokesperson for AMA NSW’s sun protection public health campaign. His ground-breaking research on sunscreen was pivotal in educating consumers about proper sunscreen usage. Despite widespread sun smart campaigns, Australia, along with New Zealand, has the highest incidence rate of melanoma.

A/Prof Smith’s research looked at how Australians were using sunscreen and found many people were not aware that sunscreen has an expiry date; that it deteriorates when stored above 25 degrees Celsius; that it needs to be reapplied after two hours; and that you need two tablespoons to cover the whole body.

A/Prof Smith has had a profound influence on dermatology over a decade. His contributions to the profession, the welfare of his patients and colleagues are exemplary. A/Prof Smith would be an extremely worthy addition to the AMA Roll of Fellows.