Tribute to Dr Amjad Hamid
A rural traveling scholarship is offered every year in honour of Dr Amjad Hamid, a member of CSANZ who was killed in the Christchurch mosque shootings on 15 March 2019.
Dr Amjad Hamid had close ties to the Christchurch Heart Institute (UOC) and Cardiology (CDHB). He undertook a PhD under the supervision of Prof Mark Richards and he worked part time in CHI on clinical research protocols until a year before his death. For the CDHB, Amjad ran the atrial fibrillation cardioversion service, worked in the heart failure outpatient outreach service, and filled a role as physician at Ashburton Hospital. In the last year of his life he worked at Hawera for periods while remaining based in Christchurch with his family.
Amjad and his wife Hanan migrated from Palestine in 1996 looking for a safer, better life in New Zealand. Their two sons were born here. Prof Richards said of him: “Although accolades are glibly trotted out in tragedies, in this case it is absolutely true to say Amjad was a kind-hearted man devoid of malice.”