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Internal Medicine Society of Australia and New Zealand

What is IMSANZ and who do we represent?

IMSANZ is the professional specialist society that supports and advances the practice of general internal medicine (GIM) along with practice in the areas of acute medicine and chronic disease management. IMSANZ currently represents over 530 physicians and trainees practising GIM, including general physicians with a subspecialty interest as well as subspecialists who practice GIM. It looks forward to representing all other health care professionals in these areas of specialist practice. The mission statement of the Society is to promote the co-ordinated, compassionate and cost-effective delivery of comprehensive, evidence-based, specialist care in GIM to populations in need.

What are the roles and functions of IMSANZ?

Since its inception in 1992, IMSANZ has expended considerable effort in defining and publicising the role and attributes of the general physician, and acting as advocate for specialist practitioners of GIM within both government and college circles. The role of the general physician and of GIM in medical specialist care in Australasia is currently undergoing a renaissance as state and federal governments seek out consultant physicians with broad skills who can provide specialist care in collaboration with multidisciplinary teams to populations with complex, chronic, multi-organ system problems.

Events continue to reflect the need for the specialist workforce to maintain adequate numbers of physicians who practice GIM as well as satisfactory levels of competency in GIM skills for all physicians regardless of specialty and particularly to encourage dual training for physicians in general and acute medicine along with another specialty. The drivers for this return to generalism are outlined in the “Restoring the Balance” document available on the website or through the secretariat. In addition to this move towards generalism the last few years has seen a resurgence of interest in the interface between emergency and internal medicine with the development of acute medicine as an area of interest in practice for general physicians and with this the development of acute medicine units. These units encourage a multidisciplinary approach to patient management with this and the role of general physicians in the team care of chronic disease, it has been determined by the membership of the Internal Medicine Society of Australia and New Zealand to open up its membership to all healthcare professions working in these specialist areas.

The Society has been very active in recent years on several other fronts including:

• rural physician workforce and training issues;
• health policy making with respect to GIM and Acute Medicine;
• RACP Clinical Support Systems Program and Better Practice Initiative;
• participation in the expanded specialist training program;
• continuing medical education by way of organising international, national and state/regional scientific  meetings and reviewing draft national clinical guidelines produced by specialty societies or foundations;
• health service research and clinical epidemiology, with publications in international and national peer-reviewed journals;
• opinion work on the role of hospitalists and hospitalism;
• collaboration between GIM and geriatric medicine in providing optimal elderly care;
• representation of GIM on the editorial board of the college journal;
• participation in the development of the college myCPD program;
• participation in the college Educational Strategy Taskforce review of the current training program;
• active involvement in the basic training curriculum;
• development of the advanced training curriculum in general and acute medicine;
• establishment of links with regional medical societies including work in Fiji; maintenance of international links such as those with the           Society of Acute Medicine in the UK;
• health consultancies to health ministries of Laos and Nauru.

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians is a diverse and energetic organisation responsible for training, educating and representing over 9,000 medical specialists in Australia and New Zealand. It’s divisions, faculties and chapters cover physicians, and paediatricians, as well as specialists in public health, rehabilitation, occupational, sexual and addiction medicine.

The RACP is responsible for the training and assessment of doctors who have completed their medical degree and an internship at a hospital, and wish to practise as medical specialists by undergoing further training through the RACP in order to specialise in a certain area of medicine. The RACP oversees their training, including positions in hospitals, and written and clinical examinations as well as providing a program of continuing professional development for Fellows of the RACP. The RACP is responsible for training those who wish to become Specialists. It is also responsible for providing a program of continuing professional development for Fellows of the College and its Faculties and Chapters.

The RACP represents medical specialists by advocating on their behalf of medical specialists to governments, health organisations, medical colleges, consumer groups and to the general public. The RACP believes it has a duty to better the health of all Australians and New Zealanders through development of health and social policy and advocating for its implementation.