Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia 20–25 March 2010

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP), the Internal Medicine Society of Australia and New Zealand (IMSANZ), and the International Society of Internal Medicine (ISIM) were very pleased to host the World Congress of Internal Medicine 2010 in Melbourne, Australia. The congress took place at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, which offered all facilities to run a congress of this impressive size. The Congress was held in conjunction with the annual RACP Physicians Week.

The 30^th WCIM was an outstanding event! Professor Napier Thomson, Chair of the WCIM-2010 Organising Committee, and his numerous collaborators within the organisation committee prepared a meeting covering all aspects of Internal Medicine. The congress was attended by over 2500 participants from all over the world. The high quality of the program was very much appreciated.

The Congress was a highlight to anyone who has an interest in the broad field of General Internal Medicine and in specialised Internal Medicine. The theme was «World Medicine for the Next Decade: 2010–2020». The congress reflected excellence in Australasian Medicine and Medical Science. In addition, the Congress impressively showed the diversity of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, its Divisions, Faculties and Chapters.

The participants took the opportunity to network with their national and international colleagues. The program offered a superb opportunity for physicians and medical specialists to attend expert updates on specialty areas outside their own specialty.

Fortunately, many participants had some days left to incorporate a pre- or post-conference tour of Australia and New Zealand.

The Congress program featured keynote plenary sessions, specialty updates, College orations and lectures, fees papers and award sessions, and workshops across the following themes running throughout the Congress:

• Science, Research and Innovation

• Policy, People and Politics

• Clinical Medicine

• Young People and Health

• Medical Education

• Health Care Technology

 

The World Congress of Internal Medicine is always a very special event, a «coming together» of physicians from all over the world. It is also a milestone in regard to Internal Medicine, or in other words…, «Internal Medicine goes global». The World Congress of Internal Medicine is the ideal place for exchanging knowledge in Internal Medicine, and to discuss different health care systems.

 

In the name of the International Society of Internal Medicine I would like to thank the Organizing Committee again for the hard work!

Hans P. Kohler, MD, FACP
Secretary General,
International Society of Internal Medicine

SOCIETE INTERNATIONALE DE MEDECINE INTERNE
INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF INTERNAL MEDICINE
INTERNATIONALE GESELLSCHAFT FÜR INNERE MEDIZIN

Report
Report on the Meeting of the General Assembly of ISIM held on March 24, 2010, at 12.15 p.m. at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Meeting Room 207, Melbourne, Australia.

President: Dr. Napier Thomson, Australia Present: Argentina: Dr. R. Bado, Australia: Dr. N. Thomson, Dr. G. Metz, Dr. L. Bolitho, Dr. A. MacDonald Chile: Dr. F. Munoz, Dr. G. Acuna Japan: Dr. Y. Ikeda Indonesia: Dr. S. Nasution, Dr. C Nasution, Dr. A. Sudoyo, Dr. C. Soejono, Dr. W. Hambali, Dr. H. Shatri Korea: Dr. J. Kim, Dr. Myoung-Don Oh, Dr. In Sung Song, Dr. Moon-Kyn Lee Mexico: Dr. M. Herrera, Dr. R. Gomez Mendoza, Dr. M. Calderon, Dr. M. Best Netherlands: Dr. H. van Hulsteijn,

Poland: Dr. E. Kucharz, Dr. A. Kotulska Russian Federation: Dr. A. Spassky, Dr. S Yakuskin, Dr. A. Arutyunov Singapore: Dr. Kok Seng Wong South Africa: G. Schreiber on behalf of Dr. Kok Switzerland: Dr. R. Streuli, Mr. H. Pluess, Dr. H.P Kohler Taiwan: Dr. Pei-Ming Yang, Dr. Yung-Tung Wu Ukraine: Dr. V. Netiazhenko United Kingdom: Dr. I. Gilmore USA: Dr. W. Hall

At this meeting the following items were approved:

• The Report of the President

• The Financial Report of the Treasurer

• The Report of the Secretary General

• The General Assembly decided on the next ISIM Congress as follows:
– 33^rd International Congress of Internal Medicine 2016: Bali, Indonesia

• The following officers of ISIM were approved: Dr. William Hall, President; Dr. Napier Thomson, Past President; Dr. Rodolfo Bado, President Elect.

• As new member-at-large was approved: Dr. Adri Kok, South Africa.

• The General Assembly was then informed that Dr. Rolf Streuli has been elected as «Honorary President for Life». Dr. Rolf Streuli was the President of ISIM from 2006 to 2008, Past-President from 2008 to 2010 and Secretary General for more than 20 years.
The achievements of Dr. Streuli are outstanding. He formed and developed ISIM over all those years. The EC is deeply grateful for his hard work on behalf of ISIM.

April, 2010

Hans P. Kohler, MD, FACP
Secretary General ISIM