Passionate about palliative care
Devoted doctor dedicated to education and advocacy
AMA (WA) Honorary Life Member Dr Douglas Bridge passed away on 15 December 2024 at SJOG Hospice, at the end of a 17-year journey with Parkinson’s Disease.
Dr Bridge was an internationally acclaimed Professor of Palliative Care, but more importantly a respected mentor and trusted colleague for many in WA. His legacy is one of compassion, dedication, and an unwavering commitment to improving the care of patients that continues to influence and inspire future generations of doctors.
His career was marked by a profound dedication to education and advocacy.
Dr Bridge lectured at WA medical schools and delivered sessions at international conferences in Bangladesh, Taiwan, China and New Zealand, sharing his vision for quality palliative care on a global stage.
He operated in positions of clinical leadership in palliative care departments across WA. In recognition of his contributions, he was awarded the Australian Medical Association (WA)’s Hippocrates Award in 2018 and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians’ College Medal in 2020.
Dr Bridge’s early experiences providing medical care in remote areas of Bangladesh and Nepal heavily influenced his approach to medicine. He remarked to colleagues on the parallels he saw between serving the desperately underserved villagers in Bangladesh and his calling to embrace palliative care; both patients he saw as those most desperately in need. He was a devout Christian – living out his faith both in his practice and his day-to-day life. Dr Bridge was an outspoken advocate for the medical profession’s use of quality palliative care as a first line for suffering at the end of life – teaching that death is a profound spiritual experience rather than a medical event.
Beyond his professional achievements, Dr Bridge was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and brother. He found solace and joy in tending his timber plantation in Bridgetown, enjoying quiet walks with his wife, and cherished time with friends and family.
At the very end of his life, he affirmed his teachings on the priorities of the dying man – “Love, meaning, forgiveness, transcendence. These needs will not be satisfied by money, fame or power.” He died peacefully surrounded by loved ones, with a minimum of suffering and with an enduring dignity befitting a man who helped so many others navigate the experience of dying.