ACP Internal Medicine Interest Group Resource Guide (IMIG)
Starting an IMIG at Your School
What Is It?
Why Should We Have One?
How Do We Do It?
Additional Tips for Success
Sample Bylaws
Sample Constitution
Meeting Ideas
Group Activity Ideas
What Is It?
An internal medicine interest group (IMIG) is a group of medical students who meet regularly to learn about internal medicine and to establish communication with faculty and other students who share similar interests. Most internal medicine interest groups have a faculty advisor who provides guidance, assists with the program, and lends continuity to the group.
Why Should We Have One?
The group can serve as a mechanism to accomplish the following three goals:
-
provide students with information about internal medicine as a medical specialty and as a possible career;
-
expose students to people in the field of internal medicine with interesting and successful careers who can provide students with a sense of what it is like to be an internal medicine specialist or subspecialist; and
-
provide an opportunity for students to learn, network, and relax together. The focus of the group is often on first- and second-year students. Students in their first two years of medical school will be interested in finding out about various careers in medicine. Meeting practicing internists can help students gain a better understanding of internal medicine.
While the focus of the group may be on the first- and second-year students who are still exploring their career options, there are also opportunities for third- and fourth-year medical students to participate. Third- and fourth-year students can provide leadership for the group and, having recently been new medical students themselves, have insight into what first- and second-year students will be most interested in. Third- and fourth-year students can also benefit by developing their leadership skills, establishing relationships with practicing internists, and networking with their peers.
How Do We Do It?
You should involve as many people and resources as possible during the planning stages. You will need help with choosing meeting activities, inviting speakers and discussion group participants, scheduling the meetings, inviting students to and informing them about the meetings, locating funding sources, and handling many other details. Following is a list of key people and departments you may want to contact to help you get started. Depending on the organization of your school, some of these suggested contacts may be unnecessary and others may have been left out. The key is to get as much help as you can.
-
Associate Dean or Dean of Academic Affairs – set up a meeting to discuss the following points: How does one go about starting a new organization at the medical school? Who might be an enthusiastic and supportive faculty or administration advisor for the club? The advisor could be an internist who has the time, energy, and interest in helping with the group or a faculty member in the Department of Medicine with those same qualities.
-
Student Affairs Office – ask how to most effectively schedule meetings, reserve space, and distribute announcements at your school. Inquire about the possibility of sending mass e-mails or placing flyers in students' mailboxes. Other suggestions for publicizing upcoming meetings include posting announcements throughout the school or obtaining a dedicated club bulletin board in the hallway of the medical school.
You may want to ask the Student Affairs Office staff how other student groups go about obtaining funding for group activities and how to set up a bank account for the group. Possible sources for funding include your school (through the Dean's office, Student Government, Student Affairs, Student Activities, or the School Alumni fund), the Department of Medicine, your American College of Physicians (ACP) local chapter, or the ACP national office.
-
Faculty – find a supportive faculty member who is willing to advise the group. Set up a meeting with that individual to seek advice and discuss possible meeting ideas and events for the upcoming year.
-
Class Presidents and Other Students write an e-mail to the class presidents and ask them to mention upcoming interest group topics, dates, and times at class meetings. Talk to the student body to finalize meeting times that would be most convenient and topics that would be most interesting. Keep in mind scheduling of exams and other important student events. Also make sure that the meeting location is convenient for students (i.e., a student lounge or activity center, a nearby home of a faculty advisor, a convenient restaurant, a classroom or lecture hall, or a department or hospital meeting room).
-
ACP Council of Student Members (CSM) contact your regional representative for additional suggestions or resources. The student representative for your region will then contact the ACP Governor in your state and put the two of you in communication with one another. This link will allow you to find out if your local ACP chapter has medical student activities planned in your area in which your group can participate. In addition, the CSM representative will contact ACP Headquarters Staff (Patty Moore at pmoore@acponline.org ) to ensure your group will be able to receive ACP publications and lapel pins to aid with recruiting efforts. If for some reason you are unable to contact the student member in your region, please contact Patty Moore directly.
-
Chair of Medicine – lastly, contact the Chair of Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine to inform him of the new student organization and offer the Chair an invitation to come speak to the group.
Additional Tips for Success
-
Develop a constitution and/or set of bylaws (governing rules) for your internal medicine interest group. The constitution and/or bylaws will benefit the group by promoting fair group proceedings, ensuring that all essential functions are assigned to group members and that no one has too much responsibility, and providing a framework for the group to follow in subsequent years. An established constitution or set of bylaws are also frequently necessary in order for a club to obtain funding from the university or medical school. Examples of a constitution and a set of bylaws are included in this resource guide that you may wish to use as a starting point for developing your own.
-
Designate a few students from each class who will serve as representatives for their classes. These students can provide a liaison between classes, announce meetings, and carry suggestions for meeting topics back to the interest group.
-
Consider adding a Student Advocacy Leader position to your IMIG. The Student Advocacy Leader can help the group understand political issues affecting medical students and physicians and help students register as ACP Key Contacts so they can advocate for positive changes in medicine. For more information, visit http://www.acponline.org/advocacy/key_contacts/.
-
Decide among yourselves how many meetings your group wants to hold in order to successfully meet its goals. Some internal medicine interest groups only meet twice a year, while others meet every month.
-
Limit meetings to 90 minutes or less whenever possible. Medical students, concerned about time away from their study schedules, will respond best to short and directed meetings.
-
Serve refreshments as an incentive to attend. If the meeting is held in the early evening, the refreshments should be substantial enough to be considered dinner. Everything from coffee and dessert to beer and pizza has been suggested.
-
Post an advance sign-up sheet for the group's activities. This will help you anticipate how many people will attend each meeting. This way, you can be sure to have enough materials and food on hand and avoid overcrowded meetings.
-
Ask interest group participants to sign in at each club meeting and include their e-mail addresses. This list will provide a count of how many people attend each meeting, who is coming to the meetings, and a list of students to e-mail regarding upcoming club events.
-
End each meeting with a commitment for the next meeting, or set up a planning meeting to develop a program of future events. Group members can be given the opportunity to suggest topics of interest for future discussion or presentation.
-
Follow up each meeting with thank you notes to speakers and discussion panel participants. They may be willing to participate again or help the group in some other way.
-
Develop a binder for the interest group. The binder should include information such as organizational meeting minutes, records of events (including costs, sources of funding, number of people who attended meetings, helpful hints), governing documents, and key contact information. The binder will be helpful in providing continuity for next year's officers, because they won't have to start over again each school year.
Sample Bylaws
Organization bylaws for (name of internal medicine interest group)
I. The purposes of the organization shall be to:
promote communication among members and faculty.
obtain information about careers in internal medicine.
promote the profession of internal medicine.
serve the medical school and campus public.
II. Membership shall be open to any medical student.
III. The executive power of the organization shall be vested in the President. The Executive Board shall consist of President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer.
IV. A faculty member shall be selected by majority vote of the members to serve as Faculty Advisor to the organization.
V. The organization shall not discriminate on the basis of religion, race, age, sex, national origin, military status, or sexual orientation.
VI. Amendments to these bylaws shall be presented at any business meeting by any member and shall be passed, after second reading, by a majority vote.
VII. Officers and advisors shall be elected each year, and shall be elected by majority vote of the members.
The President shall preside at all meetings and serve the needs of the organization as executive officer.
The Vice President shall perform the President's duties in his or her absence.
The Secretary shall record accurate minutes, notify members of meetings, and submit a list of officers to the Student Affairs office.
The Treasurer shall keep a complete record of expenses, authorize expenditures, plan the yearly budget, provide financial reports, and provide a copy of financial records to the school accounting office.
The Faculty Advisor shall provide advice and assistance to the internal medicine interest group officers and organization members.
______________________________ |
________________________ |
______________________________ |
________________________ |
Sample Constitution
CONSTITUTION
Article I – Name
The name of this organization shall be the_______________________.
Article II – Purpose
The purpose of our organization shall be to foster professional growth and career development of members of the _______________________ School of Medicine who are interested in the field of internal medicine.
Article III – Compliance Clause
We agree to abide all regulations, all University policies, in addition to all federal, state, and local laws.
Article IV – Non-Discrimination
This organization shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.
Article V – Membership
Membership shall be open to any currently enrolled student in the _______________________ School of Medicine.
Article VI – Election of Officers
A. The following officers shall be elected on a yearly basis –_____________________________________.
B. An election shall be scheduled in __(month)___ of each year to elect new officers by majority vote. Incumbent officers shall have the option to run for re-election.
C. Officers must be in good academic standing _______________________
D. Two-thirds of the active members must be present at the time of voting.
E. Newly elected officers should assume office immediately following the meeting in which they are elected.
Article VII – Executive Board
A. All elected officers shall serve on the Executive Board.
B. The duties of each officer shall be:
President- To preside over meetings and to serve as the official liaison between the Department of Internal Medicine and the students. In addition, the president will plan meetings that focus on direct interaction with faculty, fellows, residents, etc. from Internal Medicine and its various subspecialties.
Secretary – To keep meeting minutes and post meeting minutes.
Treasurer- To keep track of all financial transactions and attend relevant training sessions/meetings.
Article VIII – Removal of Officers
A. Any member may make a motion for the removal of any officer providing that evidence is presented to support the removal. Grounds for removal include the inadequate fulfillment of duties or the violation of regulations described in University policies, or any federal, state, or local laws.
B. A two-thirds vote by the membership is needed to remove an officer. Two-thirds of the active members must be present at the time of voting.
C. An election for a new officer should be conducted at the next scheduled business meeting.
Article IX – Advisor
A. The Executive Board shall nominate one faculty or staff member (at least 75% full-time equivalent) to serve as advisor.
B. The active membership shall vote on accepting the advisor with a simple majority needed for acceptance.
C. Two-thirds of the active members must be present at the time of voting.
Article X – Amendments to the Constitution
A. Any member of the organization may present amendments to the Constitution at any regularly scheduled business meeting. After reading the current Constitution along with the proposed change, the change will be voted on. A four-fifths majority is necessary to pass the amendment. Two-thirds of the active membership must be present at the time of voting.
B. Amendments to the Constitution must be submitted to and approved by the Coordinator for Student Organizations before they become effective.
Meeting Ideas
-
Hold a meeting planning session after soliciting meeting topics from group members. Ask the members what they want to learn about internal medicine and plan presentations accordingly. Try to find out members’ specific interests when they sign up or have them fill out a written survey. Some interest groups assign a different group member, usually an officer, to plan each meeting to add variety to the meeting planning and to spread out the work a little more evenly.
Invite practicing internists or residents to speak to the students about their experiences in internal medicine. Ideas for presentations include:
- Interesting case study presentations.
- Explain differences in practice settings (public vs. private, rural vs. urban).
- Describe the practice of general internal medicine or one of its subspecialties, such as cardiology, endocrinology, infectious diseases, or rheumatology. Invite experts in the subspecialty to talk about their field, and also to offer advice about specific aspects of the history and physical exam related to their field.
- Present hands-on workshops, such as starting an IV or ACLS overview.
- Invite a physician to speak about bedside manner and to give advice on relating to patients or how to ease the burden of breaking bad news.
- Talk about how to communicate with patients from different cultures or in difficult situations.
- Discuss socioeconomic issues that affect patients and the physicians who treat them.
- You may want to have either one distinguished speaker at the meeting or a panel of speakers to present various viewpoints on the same subject.
-
Plan a series of brown bag lunch seminars to be held once a month. Group members can meet in advance and organize a program in which a faculty member or practicing internist presents information during the lunch hour. Since students, faculty, and clinicians are busy, but still need to eat lunch, this could be a good meeting time for your group.
-
Set up a first- and second-year student version of morning report, led by a fourth-year, resident, and/or attending. Present interesting cases related to the physiology, biochemistry, anatomy, or pathology courses the students are taking. This would be a fun way to review course material, put it in context, and prepare for Boards. A meeting like this could be held before classes with breakfast provided or during lunch.
-
Develop a panel discussion on applying for internal medicine residencies. Ask first-year residents who have matched into various internal medicine residency programs in your area to sit on the panel and answer students' questions about the programs and the application process. Ask a residency program director to facilitate the discussion.
-
Ask your ACP Governor or a faculty member at your school to present the ACP’s perspective on internal medicine to medical students. This is a good way to address an initial gathering of students interested in joining an internal medicine interest group.
Group Activity Ideas
-
Start an internal medicine journal club. Ask a faculty member to review how to critically evaluate medical and scientific literature.
-
Look into the possibility of students volunteering at a local clinic, or work with faculty at your school to set up a free clinic for hospital employees, such as blood pressure screening.
-
Hold skills workshops for different areas in internal medicine (such as cardiac auscultation, administration of immunizations, diabetic screening, paracentesis, thoracentesis, the use of Site-Rite®, EKG reading, X-Ray or CT interpretation, basic ventilator support, central lines, or joint aspiration) and try to correlate the theme of the workshop with what is currently being taught in first and second year.
-
Organize a networking reception, inviting students, faculty, residents, and community physicians to attend. This is a good way to get everyone introduced to each other and to get faculty and physicians more involved with the students.
-
Hold a reception for fourth-year medical students before the application and interview process begins and invite the Chair of Medicine and other faculty from the Department of Medicine. This will give the students an opportunity to interact with the faculty members before asking them to write letters of recommendation for the application process.
-
Hold an internal medicine career day by asking a representative from each subspecialty of internal medicine to set up a booth to discuss their field with students.
-
Hold a workshop where patients with abnormal physical findings can volunteer to be examined by students. Students can be given a chance to figure out the abnormality the patient has, and a physician can be available to discuss the finding with the students.
-
Set up a mentorship program where first- and second-year students can be paired with a resident. It can be as flexible or as structured as you like and gives a chance for eager students to work with residents interested in teaching.
-
Hold a workshop on how to develop abstracts to be submitted to ACP Medical Student Abstract Competitions. Invite faculty and other medical students to critique the abstracts in order to fine-tune the presentations before submitting to the competitions.
-
Visit a specialized community practice, such as a cardiology practice, in order to get a first-hand look at what a day in the life of these physicians is like.
-
Start a study group for students. Ask a faculty member to serve as advisor for the group.
-
Ask clinical faculty to invite students on grand rounds with the residents.
-
Write a monthly newsletter to communicate with interest group members about upcoming events, opportunities, and membership in the ACP.
-
Develop an internal medicine interest group Web site. Ask the Department of Medicine if your group can have space on their Web site, or you may be able to get space on your ACP chapter's Web site.
Page updated: 03-28-08
Students: Join ACP for Free
Benefits of Membership for Students: ACP's free Medical Student Membership includes benefits designed especially to meet students' needs.
Join Now: Sign-up today and begin enjoying the benefits of ACP Medical Student Membership.
Free Clinical Resources for Your PDA
ACP members can download a variety of clinical resources to use with their PDA including a collection of Recommendation Summaries for all current ACP Clinical Guidelines.
