Dr Amanda McBride first met Dr Bruce Shepherd on a dark and stormy Sunday night when he was summoned to Mona Vale Hospital to treat the victim of a road traffic accident (namely, Amanda herself). Dr Shepherd said he knew Amanda was special when she became the only patient who has ever apologised to him for getting him out in the night for emergency medical care.
Dr McBride went on to establish a successful General Practice which also included looking after Bruce’s wife, Annette, in the latter stages of Annette’s life. As such she was a great personal support to the Shepherd family at a difficult time, which coincided with the 1984 Doctors’ Dispute.
Later, Amanda stepped forward to be part of Dr Shepherd’s reform group that took over the NSW AMA Branch Council in 1987, and went on to become a Federal Councillor of the AMA and radio broadcaster on Sydney radio 2GB, where she answered numerous calls on complex health issues, phoned in by listeners, with professional grace and expertise.
In her latter years, Amanda became an academic at the newly formed University of Notre Dame Medical School in Sydney, and continued to support the Australian Doctors’ Federation, injecting a cheerful disposition that inspired her colleagues in their ongoing determination to maintain an independent medical profession. We thank you Amanda by awarding you the Bruce Shepherd Medal for outstanding service to independent medicine.