Jump to content

News

Archives

« Archives index
« Latest News & Updates index

Looking Towards the Future - a New Vision and a New Structure for IMSANZ Council

At a teleconference on 14 August 2003, IMSANZ Council ratified a 5-year strategic plan for the Society, which included a far-reaching restructuring of Council operations and functions in the form of a new committee structure. This aims to make Council policy-making more inclusive and participatory, and to share the increasing workload of the Council more evenly among its members, in a way that aligns individual councillors with areas of work best suited to their interests and skills. This allows Council to be even more productive and responsive in meeting the challenges facing our discipline.

Each committee will address specific issues and aim to achieve several objectives outlined in the strategic plan using various strategies. At regular teleconferences and at the AGM, the chair of each committee will be asked to provide a progress report to Council on the activities undertaken by that committee. The new structure is described below.

Council Executive

Ccomprises the President, Ian Scott; Vice-president Australia, Di Howard; Vice-president New Zealand, Phillippa Poole; past President, Les Bolitho; Treasurer, Mary-Anne Ryall; and Secretary, Simon Dimmitt.

The Executive will be responsible for providing executive leadership, governance and policy-making on behalf of Council, and for facilitating enactment of the recommendations agreed to by Council.

Membership Committee:

Simon Dimmitt (Chair), Wilton Braund, Kenneth Ng, Mary-Ann Ryall, David Russell, Les Bolitho, Ian Scott, and Briar Peat.

This committee will address issues relating to membership and recruitment.

Objective: To increase IMSANZ membership by 25% within 12 months, 50% within 2 years, and 75% within 4 year.

Strategies: Comprehensive membership campaign at national, state and local levels using an advertising campaign, an invitation to all new advanced trainees to join, and a request to existing members to assist in recruitment.

Development of a package of membership services for members, which includes:

  • a directory of vacancies for general physicians throughout Australia and New Zealand;
  • a directory of training positions for advanced trainees in general medicine, with focus on regional appointments with exposure to subspecialty rotations;
  • a directory of advanced trainees or fellows who are willing to provide locum services to regional centres;
  • a directory of education and skill development resources of special interest to general physicians (clinical practice guidelines, CME courses, upskilling workshops, scientific meetings, etc).

Professional Development and Research Committee:

Phillippa Poole (Chair), Ian Scott, Bruce King, Aiden Foy, Les Bolitho, David Hamill, and Briar Peat.

This committee will focus on education and research issues, MOPS affairs, and organisation of scientific meetings and other professional development activities.

Professional Development
  1. Objective 1: To maintain and further strengthen the profile and influence of IMSANZ in organising the RACP annual scientific meeting.
  2. Objective 2: To lobby for, and assist in the establishment of, tertiary hospital based upskilling courses for regional general physicians.  
  3. Objective 3: To develop an annual calendar of IMSANZ scientific meetings, comprising three major events: the RACP ASM; the New Zealand college ASM; and a regional IMSANZ meeting in both Australia and New Zealand (and which might include an off-shore Asia-Pacific destination).  
  4. Objective 4: To establish an Education Account within IMSANZ for the purposes of raising funds with which to support IMSANZ-sponsored educational and professional development activities, including activities undertaken in partnership with other societies, government departments, non-government organisations, universities, or NHMRC.  
  5. Objective 5: To implement a structure of regionally based educational meetings and forums for local groups or networks of fellows and advanced trainees in general medicine.  
  6. Objective 6: To establish an annual Travelling Scholarship to the value of $5,000 for advanced trainees or fellows of less than 5 years in general medicine to attend international meetings relevant to general internal medicine.  
  7. Objective 7: To continue to actively support the RACP in procuring the ICIM meeting in 2010 and to assist in the organisation of the scientific program.  
  8. Objective 8: To assist members in undertaking MOPS activities e.g. providing audit tools or other aids for practice evaluation, which are of relevance to physicians practising general medicine.
Research
  1. Objective 1: To establish the IMSANZ Research Fellowship worth $10,000, to be awarded to an advanced trainee or fellow (of less than 5 years duration) in general medicine who wishes to pursue research qualifications (at Masters or PhD level) in clinical epidemiology, health services research, quality improvement or a related field.
  2. Objective 2: To establish an IMSANZ Award for Best Scientific Publication in Internal Medicine, to be awarded to any IMSANZ member who publishes a key article relevant to internal medicine in a high-profile peer-reviewed clinical journal.  
  3. Objective 3: To develop a directory of involvement of IMSANZ members in health services research and clinical trials.

Training Committee:

Leonie Callaway (Chair), Phillippa Poole, Graeme Dickson, Simon Dimmitt, Aiden Foy, David Russell, Thein Htut, Kenneth Ng, Mark Morton, and Ian Scott.

This committee deals with issues of basic and advanced training, mentorship, and assessment.

  1. Objective 1: To ensure provision of an appropriate and accredited training program that meets the needs of trainees wishing to practice as general physicians in regional areas.
  2. Objective 2: To strengthen professional development and mentoring processes for advanced trainees in general medicine.
  3. Objective 3: To introduce state or regional systems for general medicine trainee appointments in hospitals, that entail career paths over 2-3 years and which provide exposure of trainees to rural/regional general medicine and subspecialty medicine.

Finance Committee:

Mary-Ann Ryall (Chair), Phillippa Poole, Ian Scott, Wilton Braund, Les Bolitho, David Hamill, Rob Nightingale, and Justin La Brooy.

  • Objective 1: To increase income flow into IMSANZ accounts to ensure adequate cash reserves in the event of extraordinary one-off outlays, and the granting of awards and scholarships.
  • Objective 2: To seek sponsorship from external sources (government, pharmaceutical companies, non-pharmaceutical medicine-related companies) for education and research related activities undertaken by IMSANZ Council and members. 

Health Policy Committee:

Aiden Foy (Chair), Diane Howard, Bruce King, Simon Dimmitt, Justin La Brooy, and Ian Scott.

This committee looks at health policy and public health issues, input into RACP social and public health policies, and external relations of IMSANZ with other official bodies.

  1. Objective 1: To develop a number of key health care and public health policies and statements that confer a public and medicopolitical voice to issues of direct concern to general internal medicine.  
  2. Objective 2: To raise the profile of IMSANZ as the representative body for GIM, which specialist societies and healthcare organisations should consult in seeking endorsement of guidelines, service frameworks, policy statements and other public documents that are relevant to the practice of general physicians.  
  3. Objective 3: To engage the RACP and its agencies (eg Health Policy Unit) in contributing to, and supporting, an agenda for reform in meeting the needs of GIM in Australasia.  
  4. Objective 4: To build alliances with other colleges and societies and to engage the AMA in mounting initiatives that address the need for more general physicians, especially in rural and remote areas of Australia and New Zealand.

Communications Committee:

David Russell (Chair), Bruce King, Kenneth Ng, Aiden Foy, and Ian Scott (Tom Thompson, Michele Levinson – ex officio members).

  1. Objective 1: To strengthen the IMSANZ newsletter as the chief organ of news and communication for IMSANZ members by increasing the frequency of publication to 3 times a year, as from the July 2003 issue, with the aim of increasing to 4 times a year, if feasible.  
  2. Objective 2: To revamp the IMSANZ website, increase its content, and improve its appeal and interest to potential users.  
  3. Objective 3: To engage IMSANZ members to submit articles outlining their perspective on issues of relevance to GIM to both the IMSANZ newsletter and RACP News. 
  4. Objective 4: To review methods for enhancing electronic messaging to IMSANZ members.

IMSANZ Council
14/8/03

TOP^