The Wisconsin Medical Society is an individual membership
organization formed to represent and unify Wisconsin physicians to advance the
practice of medicine, improve the health of the public and support the
enactment and enforcement of appropriate public policy. Volunteer physician
leaders guide the organization through its policy-making processes,
advance the Society’s mission and foster the principles of good governance.
Proposed Changes
The
Society’s Board of Directors introduced a potential amendment to the Society’s Constitution to change
the one-time-per-year policy process to a year-round endeavor. The proposed
change would empower the Board with approval responsibilities and will engage
more members in the policymaking process. Please share your thoughts of how to
best tap into your expertise via this form.
Society
staff are setting up the second round of meetings around the state where the
proposed Constitutional Amendment can be discussed. Those meetings can also
focus on finding ways to foster widespread policy development from more
physicians more often than one time per year. Contact Jessica
Bourin-Schreiter if you’d like to know about meetings in your area, or
click here.
House of Delegates
The House of Delegates (HOD) is currently the Society’s
policy-making body. It has authority to set policy, establish dues, adopt
bylaws and elect officers. The HOD also is responsible for deliberating issues
presented in the form of resolutions and, where appropriate,
establishing organizational policy.
The HOD is composed of representatives from county medical
societies, specialty sections, the young physician section, residents, students
and others working together to improve the practice of medicine in Wisconsin.
Click to learn more about the Wisconsin Medical Society Annual Meeting or Policy Compendium.
Board of Directors
The Society’s Board of Directors is comprised of Society
officers (president, president-elect, immediate past president, speaker, vice
speaker); 31 district directors; directors from each of the following sections:
Medical Schools Section, Young Physician Section, Resident Physician Section
and Medical students Section (2); and the Society chief executive officer.
District directors are elected from each of eight districts.
The Board meets four times each year to implement policy
approved by the House of Delegates, act on policy resolutions when the HOD is
not in session, approve the Society budget and to shape and advance Society
initiatives and its strategic plan.
AMA Delegation
The Wisconsin Medical Society is represented at the national
level by an active delegation to the American Medical Association House of Delegates.
Wisconsin’s delegates participate in the national policy-making process at AMA
House of Delegates meetings and keep their colleagues informed about
developments at the national level of organized medicine. The Society also has
delegates in the AMA Young Physicians’ Section and the AMA Medical Student
Section, which meet in conjunction with the AMA House of Delegates.
Constitution and Bylaws
The Wisconsin Medical Society’s Constitution and Bylaws provide
the guiding principles for governance of the Society and its relationship with
county medical societies. The documents provide the statement of purpose, the
process for elections and representation as well as the process for the
development of guiding policy for the organization and its members.