In the Beginning
ACP Founded
In 1915, Heinrich Stern, a
German-born American internist, founded the American College of
Physicians. Inspired by the model of England's Royal College of
Physicians, Stern believed that America should have an organization
devoted to promoting the science of medicine through regular
scientific meetings and recognition of prominent internists. The
ACP was governed by a strong Board of Regents, but the Board of
Governors, an advisory group to the Regents, provided local
representation starting in 1921. The early ACP held one large
educational meeting and several smaller regional meetings each year
and published a journal of scientific papers. Both of these
traditions thrived as the years went by and the College grew.
Following
the example of the Royal College of Physicians, the ACP restricted
membership to physicians with excellent clinical or academic
reputations and designated them Fellows and Masters. Gradually, the
ACP expanded its membership categories to include Members and
Associates, and in the 1980s organized its growing membership into
state chapters. Each chapter had a locally elected Governor to
represent the state's members on the Board of Governors. By 1998,
the ACP had over 100,000 members.
ASIM Founded
As early as the 1940s, a few companies located in California began to offer health insurance, mostly for hospital care costs. To ensure that internists were being fairly compensated by these early insurers, the California Society of Internal Medicine was established. By the 1950s, similar societies of internal medicine had cropped up in many states across the country -- the issue of health insurance had gone national. In response, the California Society of Internal Medicine pushed other state societies of internal medicine to organize into one national American Society of Internal Medicine. Since at least 1954, ACP had debated whether to get involved in negotiating with insurance companies for better reimbursement rates for internists. In 1955, the ACP formed a committee to investigate the issue, the Committee on Voluntary Prepaid Insurance. At the ACP Annual Session in April 1957, this committee was disbanded, "since the work they initiated will be carried on by the American Society of Internal Medicine." The ACP decided to dedicate itself exclusively to educational and scientific goals, leaving the ASIM to handle the economic and political concerns of internists.
With ACP's blessing, ASIM came into being in 1956. ASIM kept true to its roots by remaining focused on local compensation issues. As a national organization, it also adeptly represented internists' interests in the national congressional and regulatory arenas. ASIM's dedication to socioeconomic concerns helped internists maintain their specialty status in the eyes of insurers.
ASIM's leadership group at their Second Annual Meeting, 1958.
Many became Presidents. Front row (left to right): Wallace M.
Yater, MACP, member of the Executive Committee, Lewis T. Bullock,
FACP, ASIM's first President 1957-58, Elbert L. Persons, FACP,
President 1958-59. Back row: Frederick Hnat, FACP, Acting Chairman
of the Bylaws Committee, Clyde C. Greene, Jr., FACP, President
1969-70, George K. Wever, FACP, Stewart P. Seigle, FACP, President
1960-61, and Clark C. Goss, Honorary FACP, President
1959-60.
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