EFIM General Assembly - Thursday 31 August 2017, Milan

We would like to thank all the members of the EFIM General Assembly who joined us in Milan. This year’s General Assembly was held on 31 August at the spectacular University of Milan, in conjunction with the 16th European Congress of Internal Medicine.
Eighty delegates, Young Internists and Executive Committee members, representing 30 national societies from 27 EFIM member countries participated in the EFIM General Assembly. The EFIM President, Prof. Runolfur Palsson welcomed the participants to Milan and expressed his delight with the number of countries participating in the EFIM meeting and attending the European Congress. Presentation of the current financial affairs accounts followed and the end-of-year accounts were approved. The next item on the agenda was the election of the EFIM Secretary General and Treasurer.
Prof. Xavier Corbella was elected as the new Secretary General and Prof. Valentin Kokorin as Treasurer with a unanimous vote. Next, the EFIM Secretary General, Pedro Conthe handed over the role to the newly elected Secretary General, Xavier Corbella, looking back on the years in the EFIM leadership and acknowledging the efforts and hard work of the Executive Committee members and EFIM Executive Manager to promote and shape the future of the organisation.

EFIM welcomed on board two new member societies of internal medicine, as a full member the Macedonian Association of Internal Medicine, from the FYR, of Macedonia and in the role of associate member the Argentinian Society of Internal Medicine.
The meeting continued with presentation of the strategy for implementation of the European Curriculum of Internal Medicine and the future EBIM activities. Prof. Pier Mannucci, Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal of Internal Medicine, presented the progress of the journal during the past year and informed the members about the increase in the impact factor to 2.96. EJIM now ranks 28th out of the 154 journals in the category Medicine General & Internal.  Dr. John Kellett addressed the audience about the success of the European Journal of Case Reports in Internal Medicine which continues to promote education and the good practice of internal medicine in Europe through the description and discussion of clinical cases. Prof. Nicola Montano presented a progress report from the Choosing Wisely Working Group, informing the members about the project and a systematic review article that will be submitted to a scientific journal. Prof. Luis Campos, the Chair of the Quality of Care and Professional Issues Working Group discussed the mission and objectives of the reformed working group and encouraged more member societies to participate. Progress reports on the upcoming summer and winter schools were presented and the two former winter and summer school directors, Dr. Ieva Ruza and Prof. Nicola Montano, were acknowledged for their outstanding contribution with a small token of appreciation. Prof. Schumm-Draeger introduced the theme of the 2018 European Congress of Internal Medicine in Wiesbaden, asking the delegates to encourage attendance to the congress through their societies. This was followed by a report from the FDIME and the Young Internists. The General Assembly concluded with an announcement of next year's meeting in Wiesbaden at the beginning of September, in conjunction with the European congress, and the EFIM Day that will be held in Brussels on 16 March, 2018.

Finally, the EFIM General Assembly members joined the Opening Ceremony of ECIM 2017 followed by a welcome cocktail at the historic University of Milan.

Presentation from the General Assembly held in Milan are available for a download below.