Rate My Professor David McBride

Professor David McBride is Professor of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine at the University of Otago's Dunedin School of Medicine. His qualifications include PhD, MB BCh BAO, TD, ED, MFOM, FAFOEM, and FFOM (RCPI). A Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Force, he commissioned as a Troop Commander in 1981, commanded the Otago and Southland Regiment, and deployed as a medical officer to East Timor and Afghanistan after arriving in New Zealand in 1995. He serves as Director of the University of Otago's Research Theme: Health of Veterans, Serving Personnel and their Families. Previously a Clinical Lecturer at the University of Birmingham, his career focuses on integrating clinical practice, research, and military medicine.

Professor McBride's academic interests center on occupational epidemiology, military medicine, and the health effects of chemical agents such as dioxins, physical agents including noise and vibration, musculoskeletal disorders, and complex clinical problems. He applies dose-response relationships to identify harmful exposures for prevention. Notable publications include 'Audiometric notch as a sign of noise induced hearing loss' (Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2001), 'Prevalence and impact of musculoskeletal disorders in New Zealand nurses, postal workers and office workers' (Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 2009), 'Evaluating the impact of wind turbine noise on health-related quality of life' (Noise and Health, 2011), 'Physical and psychosocial risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders in New Zealand nurses, postal workers and office workers' (Injury Prevention, 2010), 'Multiple symptom illness in New Zealand contemporary veterans' (New Zealand Medical Journal, 2023), and 'New Zealand military Veterans' perceptions on health and well-being: A qualitative study' (Journal of Military, Veteran & Family Health, 2025). He teaches second- and third-year medical students and occupational medicine to practitioners via case-based learning and delivered his Inaugural Professorial Lecture 'Occupational medicine: How does that work?' in 2023. A member of the Continuing Professional Development Committee of the Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, his contributions advance evidence-based occupational health practices.