ISIM 1948 - 2007

The International Society of Internal Medicine (ISIM) was founded in 1948 in Basle, Switzerland. Its purpose is to promote scientific knowledge and unity in Internal Medicine, to further the education of young internists and to encourage friendship between physicians in all countries.

Membership to ISIM is of three types: Society Membership, Individual Membership, and Honorary Membership. Today, ISIM comprises the national societies of Internal Medicine of 60 different countries throughout the whole world as Society Members. The largest Society Members are the American College of Physicians, the Royal College of Physicians, the Japanese Society of Internal Medicine and the Russian Society of Internal Medicine. Recently, ISIM was successful in recruiting a new Society Member: The Singapore College of Physicians was admitted as a Society Member on September 8, 2006, in Krakow.

The main activity of ISIM is the organization of the biannual International Congress of Internal Medicine. The last few congresses took place in Manila 1996, Lima 1998, Cancun 2000, Kyoto 2002, Granada 2004, and Taipei 2006. The future congresses will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina (2008), Melbourne, Australia (2010), and Santiago, Chile (2012).

The International Congresses of Internal Medicine always were outstanding events with a large attendance from the whole world. Especially when located in countries not privileged with easy international scientific exchange the congresses give a very welcome opportunity to see and hear leading experts from all countries of the world.

In addition to the biannual international congresses, ISIM is also involved in the organization of Postgraduate Meetings in Internal Medicine since more than ten years. These courses were always very successful and were attended by mostly young physicians. The echo to these courses was always very enthusiastic. As an example, from May 19 to 21 2005, ISIM organized a Postgraduate Course in Internal Medicine in Kiev, Ukraina. The course took place in the Auditorium of the Ukrainian Academy of Science and was organized by Prof. Vasyl Z. Netiazhenko, the President of the Ukrainian Society of Internal Medicine. ISIM contributed eight lectures. The course was attended by about 500 Ukrainian physicians and was a great success.

In a time when International Medicine is threatened by the defection of its subspecialities, ISIM tries to strengthen its position as an eminent integrating part of the global health sciences.

The activities of ISIM are managed by an Executive Committee, which consists of eleven members representing nine countries. ISIM, as a member of the Council of the International Organization of Medical Societies actively co-operates with the World Health Organization.

If you have any questions about ISIM do not hesitate to contact the Secretary General:

Prof. Hans P. Kohler, MD Secretary General of ISIM Department of Internal Medicine, RSZ-Bern Hospitals, Zieglerspital Morillonstrasse 75-91 3001 Bern, Switzerland e-mail: hanspeter.kohler@ spitalnetzbern.ch Tel.: +41 31 970 71 79 Fax: +41 31 970 77 63