Dr. Bridger Awarded AM in King’s Birthday Honours List

    By
    Jacky Barker
    -

    Every year, just before the King’s Birthday Honours are publicly announced, the media are sent an embargoed list of all the recipients with their suburb and postcode.

    This embargoed list enables the media to contact local recipients and interview them for a story to be published on Monday, the King’s Birthday holiday.

    This year, Longueville local Dr George Patrick Bridger was omitted from our list of local recipients as the Governor General’s office did not include his postcode and suburb in the information provided.

    When we published our list of local King’s Birthday Recipients, several locals immediately contacted us and said that Dr Bridger was also honoured in the 2024 King’s Birthday Honours.

    We are pleased to advise that Longueville local Dr Bridger was awarded an AM for significant service to medicine through otolaryngology head and neck surgery.

    Dr Bridger told ITC:

    “It is gratifying at my age to feel my work is still valuable and that the research and new methods I developed with the help of wonderful colleagues are saving lives worldwide.

    I was fortunate to settle in Lane Cove in 1971, where the convivial village assisted my wife, Joan, and me in raising four delightful children. Two of them, Andrew Bridger and Heather Breeze, are still local citizens, and we are blessed with numerous exciting grandchildren.

    I hope my award inspires them all to use their talents and work hard to improve the lot of all”.

    In 2010, the prestigious Surgical News featured an article on Dr Bridger’s achievements, which you can read here.

    Extract from Surgical News Jan/Feb 2010

    Dr Bridger’s achievements include

    Clinical

    • Visiting Otolaryngologist, Head and Neck Oncology Unit, Prince of Wales Hospital, 1970-2006.
    • Visiting Otolaryngologist, Head and Neck Oncology Unit, Bankstown Hospital, 1970-2006.

    Academic

    • Conjoint Associate Professor, University of New South Wales, 2002-2007.
    • Examiner, University of Kebangsaan Malaysia, 2001.
    • Visiting Professor (RACS), Malaysian College of Surgeons meeting in Kuala Lumpur, 1992.
    • Visiting Professor, Memorial Hospital New York, 1977.

    Australian Society Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery

    • President, 1997.
    • Past Chairman, New South Wales Section.

    Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

    • Fellow / Senior Examiner, Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, since 1965.
    • Former Member, Surgical Oncology Committee.
    • Fellow, since 1995.

    Professional Affiliations

    • Former Inaugural President of Australia and New Zealand Head and Neck Cancer Society.
    • Faculty Member, Vanderbilt University Head and Neck Meeting, Colorado, 17 years.
    • Editorial Board Member, Current Opinion in Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery Journal.
    • Co-Organiser, 2nd World Congress on Laryngeal Cancer, Sydney, 1994.
    • Guest Speaker, New Zealand Otolaryngological Society, Fiji, 1986.
    • Panel Member on Laryngeal Cancer, International Federation of Otolaryngological Societies, Buenos Aires, 1978.
    • Fellow, Royal College of Surgeons of England, since 1966.
    • Developed operations for septal perforations and hereditary nasal telangiectasia.
    • Contributed to over 70 scientific papers.

    Awards and Recognition include:

    • George Syme Medal, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.
    • ESR Hughes Award, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, 2008.
    • Doctor of Medical Science (Honoris Causa), University of New South Wales, 1995.
    • The Garnet Halloran Award, 1974(for research in Head and Neck Cancer).
    • Bertha Sudholtz Award, University of Adelaide, 1971

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