Governance and Structure
Board of Trustees, Executive Committee (EXCOM)
Internal, External and Annual Meeting Programme Committees…

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
This is the AoP’s governing body as a Charity. It is responsible for the management of the Association’s business in line with its Objects, “the advancement of internal medicine”. Fellows of the Association are eligible for election to the role of Trustee. The Board meets face to face at least twice a year and has the authority to carry out the AoP’s charitable responsibilities. It seeks advice from its Executive Committee (ExCom) and delegates the operational aspects of its affairs to its sub-committees. An AGM is held at the Association annual meeting “APAM”.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (EXCOM)
There is an ExCom that is representative of the Membership and meets throughout the year. It considers and acts on current issues affecting the Association and reports to the Board of Trustees. Fellows and Members (including international, non-clinical, industry and early career members) are eligible for election to the ExCom. Members of ExCom also sit on the Internal, External and Annual Meeting Programme Committees.
Board of Trustees
- Chair: Edwin Chilvers (Imperial)
- President: Sir Munir Pirmohamed – Pharmacology & Therapeutics (Liverpool)
- Past President: Seamas Donnelly – Respiratory (Trinity, Dublin)
- President Elect: Chris Day – Hepatology (Newcastle)
- Honorary Treasurer: Christian Delles – Cardiovascular (Glasgow)
- Honorary Secretary: Julian Knight – Genomics (Oxford)
- NED: Dame Sally Davies (Cambridge)
Barbara Casadei (Oxford)
- Executive Editor QJM: Seamas Donnelly – Respiratory (Trinity Dublin)
Programme Organising Committee 2024 Lead:
Chris Day
External Affairs
Elect Lead: Charlotte Summers
Sara Brown
Seamas Donnelly
Paddy Mark
Rachel Myles
Stuart Rosen
Cheng-Hock Toh
Executive Committee (ExCom)
- President: Sir Munir Pirmohamed (Pharmacology & Therapeutics (Liverpool) ex-officio
- Honorary Treasurer: Christian Delles – Cardiovascular (Glasgow)
- Honorary Secretary: Julian Knight – Genomics (Oxford)
- Quentin Anstee – Hepatology (Newcastle)
- Sara Brown – Dermatology (Edinburgh)
- Ernest Choy – Rheumatology (Cardiff)
- Ailsa Hart – Gastroenterology (London)
- Rose Anne Kenny – Gerontology (Trinity, Dublin)
- Paddy Mark – Nephrology (Glasgow)
- Rachel Myles – Cardiovascular (Glasgow)
- Cheng-Hock Toh – Haematology (Liverpool)
- Stuart Rosen – Cardiology (Imperial, London)
- Charlotte Summers – Intensive Care Medicine (Cambridge)
- Sarah Walmsley – Respiratory (Edinburgh)
ECR Member
Emily Watts – Respiratory (Edinburgh)
CONSTITUTION
RULES OF ASSOCIATION (Revised March 2019)
The business of the Association will be conducted according to the Rules as set out below:
1. | The Association shall be called the Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland. Its objects shall be the advancement of Internal Medicine. |
2. | The meetings of the Association shall be conducted in a manner that promotes friendship amongst Physicians. |
3. | It shall consist of Fellows, Honorary and Overseas Honorary Fellows, Members and Overseas Members. There is no restriction on the number of Members, who shall be Physicians actively engaged in the teaching of medicine or research or related activities. The number of Overseas Members is not restricted. Persons of distinction in medicine, who have contributed to its advancement, are eligible as Honorary Fellows. Overseas Honorary Fellows may not exceed ten in number. All Fellows shall resign at the end of the calendar year in which they retire from the practice of medicine. Such retiring members may be nominated by the Executive Committee for election as Senior Fellows. |
4. | The business of the Association shall be conducted by an Executive Committee that is representative of the Membership, consisting of a President, a President-Elect, a Treasurer, a Secretary and twelve Members. All these officers shall be elected at an Annual General Meeting. |
5. | The President and President-Elect shall be elected annually, and shall be ex officio members of the Committee. The Treasurer, Secretary and the twelve Members shall hold office for three years. Four shall retire annually, and shall not be eligible for re-election until after the lapse of three years. Should other vacancies occur on the Committee, Members shall be elected at the next General Meeting to complete the term of office of the retiring Members. No candidate may be proposed for election to these offices unless his name, duly proposed and seconded, has been sent to the Secretary, at least three weeks before the Annual Meeting. |
6. | Each division of the Kingdom shall be adequately represented on the Committee. |
7. | No more than four of the twelve Members of Committee shall be resident in any one town. |
8. | The Treasurer shall receive subscriptions, pay all bills, and present the accounts yearly to the Executive Committee and to the General Meeting. |
9 | The Secretary shall summon all Meetings, and shall keep brief Minutes of what passes. He/she shall send, not less than one week before the General Meeting, to each Member of the Association a list of candidates for the various offices, and agenda papers as may be requisite. |
10. | The Executive Committee shall be responsible for the arrangements of the General Meeting, and for all other business of the Association, and shall meet at such times as may be convenient. Five shall form a quorum. Part of its duties is to consider carefully the names of all candidates proposed for election to the Fellowship of the Association, and to nominate to the general body of Fellows for election such candidates as it may consider desirable. |
11 | The Secretary shall be responsible for the local arrangements needed for the ensuing General Meeting. |
12 | A General Meeting shall be held once a year, the actual date to be decided by the Executive Committee in consultation with the local Committee. |
13. | The General Meetings shall be held in University towns, and in towns which are the seat of recognised Medical Schools representing six regions of the UK and Ireland: West/North West, East/North East, South West and Wales, South/South East, Scotland and Ireland. |
14. | General Meetings shall be held for the purpose of: (1) The election of Officers and Members of the Executive Committee. (2) The election of New Members. (3) The presentation of Accounts. (4) The election of the next place of meeting.(5) Revision of governance and statutes of the Association (6) Scientific business. |
15. | New Members shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting following written application. Any Member of the Association may, by letter to the Secretary, not less than ten weeks before the General Meeting, be nominated as a Fellow, proposed and seconded by two existing Fellows, and shall at the same time send a list of the published writings and achievements of such candidate in the form of a curriculum vitae. The Secretary shall submit the proposal to the Executive Committee, who shall after careful review by ballot decide upon the nomination of the candidate to be a Fellow. The list of candidates so nominated shall be sent by the Secretary not less than one week before the General Meeting to each Fellow of the Association. Election of the new Fellows will take place at the General Meeting. The list of candidates proposed for election of the Executive Committee shall be similarly circulated and elected at the General Meeting. |
16. | Scientific communications shall be spoken, not read. No such communication shall last longer than 15 minutes except by the leave of the Meeting. Members shall be at liberty to publish their communication when and where they please. |
17. | A summary of the proceedings of the meetings shall be published in The Quarterly Journal of Medicine. |
18. | Non-members (and non-Fellows) may attend the General Meeting on payment of the appropriate fee and at the discretion of the Executive Committee. |
19. | The annual subscription will be paid by the Members and Fellows and entitle them to a reduced fee for the General Meeting and other benefits. Senior members will be exempt from the annual subscription. All Members will receive the Quarterly Journal of Medicine free of charge. The subscription may be carried at the discretion of the Officers subject to the approval of the Annual General meeting. Subscriptions shall be payable to the Treasurer on Election and on the First of January in each succeeding year. A Member/Fellow who is 3 months in arrears shall be warned by the Treasurer. A Member who is more than twelve months in arrears and has been duly notified thereof shall, unless immediate payment be made, cease, ipso facto, to be a Member of the Association. |
20 | Notice of any proposal to amend or alter the existing rules, or to pass new rules, must be sent to the Secretary not later than one month before the next ensuing General Meeting, and must appear on the agenda of the said meeting in the form of a motion. |