A Bit About Us
The Ulster Medical Society has been around since 1862 although our predecessors, the Belfast Medical Society, the Belfast Clinical and Pathological Society, and the Ulster Medical Protective Association first appeared in 1806, 1853, and 1859 respectively. The Belfast Medical Society seems primarily to have been a medical lending library, the Belfast Clinical and Pathological Society began with a strong emphasis on the application of science to medical practice and the education of medical practitioners, and the Ulster Medical Protective Association was concerned with guarding the interests of the profession. These three societies amalgamated to form the Ulster Medical Society, and we continue to thrive more than one hundred and fifty years later. Our current objects are “to improve the care of the sick and to promote and advance health and medical science by widening, improving and developing the education and knowledge of all concerned in the pursuit of medical matters.” We are recognised as a charity by the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland.
We endeavour to fulfil these objects by arranging a series of lectures from October to March/April and by publishing the Ulster Medical Journal three times a year. The Journal is an international general medical journal with contributions from all medical and surgical specialties relevant to a general medical readership. It retains a focus on material relevant to the health of the Northern Ireland population. Fellows, Members and Associates are entitled to receive the Journal free of charge and Students receive an online copy.
A Bit About You and Us
No matter how junior or how senior anyone is, the process of lifelong professional learning is the same process once faced by those in the Belfast Medical Society and the Belfast Clinical and Pathological Society. Our predecessors were as clever, educated, energetic and resourceful as ourselves but they were constrained by their environment just as we are by ours. What we can do is to share with our colleagues in the past and in the future the same desire for excellence in the art of medicine and the same desire to seek the truth — quaerere verum.
The sources of information have undoubtedly changed with time (no internet in the 1860s!) but our desire for knowledge and advancement is the same. The Ulster Medical Society cannot supply all the information that is needed to keep a practitioner informed but our lectures are nearly always of value and of interest. The subjects are often outside those met with in day-to-day practice but are dealt with at a level that the day-to-day practitioner can understand. One meeting a year is given over to presentations by junior doctors of papers and posters. There is always a chance to meet colleagues over a cup of tea after the meetings. The subscription rates are not exorbitant and working medical members may claim the amount as a professional expense against income tax. Retired members may claim Gift Aid which can benefit the Society and themselves. So why should you join the Society? Well, we hope that you would benefit from the lectures and the Journal and would enjoy supporting your own local medical society. You would certainly extend the influence of the Society still further.
We will add your name to the membership database once we receive completed forms. If you are uncertain about joining, why not come along to some of the meetings? They are open to all registered medical practitioners, medical students and healthcare professionals.