PART I

PART I. ROLE OF A.A.H.M. OFFICERS AND COUNCIL IN ANNUAL MEETINGS

A. BYLAW REQUIREMENTS

Certain specifications relating to A.A.H.M. annual meetings are provided in the bylaws of the Association.

Article V, Section I prescribes that an annual meeting of the Association, at which officers and members of the Council shall be elected, shall be held at a time and place designated by the Council.

The A.A.H.M. President is broadly charged with arranging the order of business of the annual meeting.

The Secretary of the Association is required by the bylaws (Article V, Section 2) to mail the notice of the annual meeting, together with nominations and any amendments proposed to the bylaws, to each member entitled to vote not less than thirty nor more than fifty days before the meeting.

The Council is also required by the bylaws (Article IV, Section 5) to hold an annual meeting "not more than one week preceding the annual meeting of the Association, at a time and place designated by the President." For many years, the Council meeting has been held on the evening preceding the opening session of the annual meeting. If business is not completed that evening, arrangements for its completion in the following days are made at that time.

The bylaws (Article X, Section 5) also specify that the President and the Vice-President, in consultation with the Secretary, shall appoint one or more committees to arrange the program and other activities for annual meetings for which the Council has designated a place and year. For many years, these committees have been the Program Committee and the Local Arrangements Committee.

Since 1988, the bylaws (Article X, Section 11) have specified that the President shall annually appoint two Regular Members to a standing Committee on Meetings, consisting of a total of six members. The President and Secretary-Treasurer serve as ex officio members, and the President appoints a chair from among the six Regular Members.

B. THE ROLE OF THE COMMITTEE ON MEETINGS AND COUNCIL

1. Committee on Meetings.

The standing Committee on Meetings was created to "screen and discuss" requests to host future meetings and to review operations and policy matters concerning the meetings, such as site, timing, length, special themes, etc. It emerged from several, short-lived precursors of the 1970s and from the Ad Hoc Committee on Meetings, which was established in 1982 and charged with writing the 1985 edition of these Guidelines. Among its other duties, the standing Committee on Meetings was charged with maintaining and revising these Guidelines. Since 1989, however, in response to an ironic effect of the success and growth of the A.A.H.M., the Committee on Meetings limited its activities to finding sites for future meetings.

As the A.A.H.M. annual meetings became larger and more elaborate, interest in hosting them at first accelerated and then declined. By the mid-1990s, invitations were actively solicited through committee-member contacts with A.A.H.M. members located across the continent in cities that are attractive meeting sites. The Chair of the Committee on Meetings provides information to would-be hosts (including the information in this guide). S/he also acts as a go-between between the President and the Secretary-Treasurer. The committee's work for any given site is complete when the host's written invitation has been accepted in writing by Council.

The 1998-99 Ad Hoc Committee recommends that the Committee on Meetings share the task of reviewing and revising the Guidelines with the Local Arrangements Chair (L.A.C.), the Program Committee Chair (P.C.C.), the Book Exhibit Coordinator (B.E.C.), and the A.A.H.M. Webmaster.

2. Selection of Host Cities

Host cities are selected by the Council, normally three or more years prior to the annual meeting. The Council, at present, relies on the help of the Committee on Meetings and invitations from constituent societies and other local groups in determining annual meeting sites.

Criteria for selection of host cities include the following:

a. Sponsoring Group

optimally, a strong nucleus of dependable A.A.H.M. members;
a responsible, experienced, and well-organized person willing to serve as the L.A.C. Ideally that person is also an A.A.H.M. member and has access to sufficient, suitably qualified administrative, clerical and other support staff to assist him/her;
at least three of the following ready to assume an active role: a medical history or history department, a rare books library, a medical museum, a university, medical school, medical society, local history of medicine society, and hospital, or other comparable bodies.

b. Facilities

Optimally, the site selected should include:

suitable, reasonably priced hotel accommodations;
good transportation, both external and local;
an agreeable educational and cultural ambience:
university, libraries, museums, bookstores;
attractive historical sites, parks and other assets for sightseeing and recreation.

c. Geographic Considerations

The bylaws require that due regard shall be had to representative geographical distribution in the election of members to the Council. In turn, the Council has some responsibility to the membership to consider the geographic distribution of annual meetings. About half the annual meetings in the past twenty years have been held in the Northeastern United States. The Association has met intermittently in other areas of the U.S. and Canada. (For the complete list of previous meeting sites, see the A.A.H.M. membership Directory).

1977 Madison
1978 Kansas City
1979 Pittsburgh
1980 Boston
1981 Toronto
1982 Bethesda
1983 Minneapolis
1984 San Francisco
1985 Durham/ Chapel Hill
1986 Rochester
1987 Philadelphia
1988 New Orleans
1989 Birmingham
1990 Baltimore
1991 Cleveland
1992 Seattle
1993 Louisville
1994 New York
1995 Pittsburgh
1996 Buffalo
1997 Williamsburg
1998 Toronto
1999 New Brunswick, N.J.
2000 Bethesda
2001 Charleston
2002 Kansas City
2003 Boston
2004 Madison
2005 Birmingham

A.A.H.M. Lore

An analysis of the 1983 A.A.H.M. membership of 1181 persons, prepared by Dr. Edward C. Atwater, showed that 68 percent of the membership lived East of the Mississippi River. A total of 38 percent lived along the Boston-Washington corridor. Only 11 percent of the membership was located on the West Coast.

d. Coordination with Other Scholarly Meetings

A tangential consideration which formerly entered into the scheduling of A.A.H.M. annual meetings was the possibility of meeting in conjunction with other scholarly societies of similar or overlapping interests. During the late 1920's and 1930's, the Association's annual meetings were often held in Atlantic City in early May on the day preceding the Association of American Physicians' annual meeting. For more on past meetings, see Genevieve Miller, "The Missing Seal or Highlights of the First Half Century of the American Association for the History of Medicine," Bull. Hist. Med., 50 (1976): 93-121.

For many years, however, A.A.H.M. annual meetings have been held, in late April or early May, without reference to the schedules of other professional organizations.

In 1972, Dr. Donald Bates surveyed the A.A.H.M. membership about scheduling of annual meetings. 93 percent of the respondents were satisfied with the seasonal and geographic pattern of the annual meetings, but 56 percent indicated a desire to meet "sometimes" or "always" with other groups.

In response, in July 1975, for an A.A.H.M. Ad Hoc Committee on Meetings, Dr. Robert P. Hudson queried 32 medical societies, on their interest in holding a joint meeting with the A.A.H.M.. The majority of responses merely acknowledged receipt of the letter and were never heard from again. Only three societies (psychoanalysts, gastroenterologists, and proctologists) expressed genuine interest.

Since then, the Association has grown with consequent expansion and has developed a more multi-disciplinary membership. Some members wished to hold joint meetings with historical societies. The late April to early May timing of A.A.H.M. meetings eliminates full, joint sessions with the American Historical Association and History of Science Society, which do not meet in the spring; however, the timing does not preclude the possibility of the A.A.H.M.'s scheduling special sessions at the other historical meetings.

By 1985, the Ad Hoc Committee on Meetings recommended a new survey on this issue (which seems not to have been done); however, it also advised that the A.A.H.M. annual meeting "be maintained as an entity," scheduled for its own convenience and not "as an appendix to another scholarly society's meeting." It suggested that the option of joint meetings should be kept open when potential host cities meet the other selection criteria and are eager to combine two venues. The 1998 Committee agrees.

Several other societies now choose to hold occasional or regular meetings in conjunction with the A.A.H.M. They include the

Academy of History of Dentistry
AIDS History Group
Alcohol and Temperance History Group
American Association for the History of Nursing
American Institute for the History of Pharmacy
American Osler Society
American Veterinary History Society
Anesthesia History Society
Archivists and Librarians in the History of Health Sciences
Association for the History of Chiropractic
East Asian History of Medicine Society
History of Psychiatry Group
International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology
Medical Museum Association
Medical Philately Division of the American Topical Association
Sigerist Circle
Society for Ancient Medicine

In 1995, at the annual meeting in Pittsburgh, all seventeen of the above-named societies held an associated meeting or session. In 1998, seven societies met in conjunction with the A.A.H.M. in Toronto.

While joint meetings have advantages, the difficulties created by a crowded program at an A.A.H.M. annual meeting are intensified by joint meetings. For example, disappointment resulted in 1997, when the overlapping American Osler Society and A.A.H.M. meetings were located at different poles of the Williamsburg historic site. Members of both societies heard fewer papers than if the two meetings had been held at separate times in separate places.

e. Procedure for Consideration of Annual Meeting Sites

At least three years in advance, a formal letter of invitation should be sent to the President, specifying the year of interest and detailing the advantages to the Association of a meeting in that location at least three years in the future. The letter should include some specification of the facilities available, items of special interest to the Association membership, specific dates, and the name of the individual proposed as LAC. The President, on the advice of members of Council, responds either to acknowledge receipt and explain the approving mechanism, or to request more information. This information is forwarded to the Association's Council for consideration and final decision at the next annual Council meeting.

Since a vote taken in 1985, the meeting schedule was moved from Wednesday to Saturday noon to Thursday evening through Sunday noon, to take advantage of reduced air fares and hotel rates.

C. THE ROLE OF COUNCIL

Council must receive reports and study recommendations made by all committees of the A.A.H.M.. (Optimally, the majority of the reports to be discussed at the Council meeting will have been completed and mailed to Council members well before the meeting.) The Council Meeting is traditionally held before and sometimes also after the reception on the first evening (Thursday) preceding the opening of formal sessions. To accommodate the long agenda, it should start no later than 7:30 P.M. It is the responsibility of the Local Arrangements Committee to reserve a suitable conference room and to arrange for light refreshments. The President schedules the Council Meeting and, with the Secretary-Treasurer, sets the agenda and collects the materials for presentation.

D. THE PRESIDENT'S ROLE

As noted in the bylaws, the President appoints a Program Committee and a Local Arrangements Committee.

In practice, the President names the Chair of the Program Committee (P.C.C.) and the membership of the Program Committee, but s/he appoints only the Chair of the Local Arrangements Committee (L.A.C.). The latter then, in consultation with the President, selects the members of his/her committee. The President must have selected the L.A.C. at least three years in advance of a given meeting. The P.C.C. should be chosen eighteen months prior to the meeting.

The President should maintain close liaison with these two Chairpersons, as well as with the Vice-President and Secretary-Treasurer, throughout the year prior to the meeting, in order to ensure the timely carrying out of necessary preparations. In the past, the task required copying all correspondence in several directions; e-mail has greatly enhanced communication and reduced investments in paper, time, and money.

The President relies heavily upon both the P.C.C. and L.A.C. to take the initiative in planning for the annual meeting. But s/he not infrequently finds it necessary to become personally involved in particular features. In case of doubt or disagreement, the President retains control and makes the final decision over the scheduling and nature of the opening ceremony, the Presidential Address, the Business Meeting, and the Honors and Awards Session. S/he should be consulted by the L.A.C. about plans for the annual banquet (as to format, awards and/or entertainment), or any substitute function.

The President's specific responsibilities before and during the annual meeting are substantial. S/he must

prepare with the Secretary, agendas for the Council and Business Meetings;
officially open the annual meeting;
preside at the Council and Business Meetings;
preside at the Honors and Awards Session (presentation of the Osler, Shryock and Welch medals, often at the banquet);
introduce the Garrison Lecturer;
host a breakfast or reception for new members and guests;
deliver a Presidential Address in the second year of his/her term;
ensure that invited guests of the Association (eg. Award recipients, distinguished lecturers) are welcomed and adequately accommodated;
organize and chair an informal "post-mortem" session, usually at breakfast or lunch on the final day of the meeting for discussing problems and lessons learned, with a view to improving the next annual meeting. Those invited normally include the Vice-President, Secretary-Treasurer, the retiring and incoming L.A.C.'s and P.C.C.'s, and the Chair of the Committee on Meetings.

By tradition, the Local Arrangements Committee provides for a presidential room or suite at the headquarters hotel, which is usually furnished without charge by the hotel as a part of the L.A.C.'s arrangements with the hotel.

E. THE SECRETARY-TREASURER'S ROLE

Each year, the Secretary-Treasurer arranges for the publication of an advance notice of the next annual meeting in the June issue of the A.A.H.M. Newsletter. Usually, it appears with the Call for Papers drafted by the P.C.C..

Subsequently, as required by the bylaws, the Secretary-Treasurer must send to the membership the final notice of the annual meeting, together with the nominations for officers and Council members, and any amendments proposed to the bylaws.

Together with the President, s/he is responsible for preparing agendas for the Council and Business Meetings.

The Secretary-Treasurer is also responsible for

the annual report of the Secretary (at Council and Business meetings);
the financial report of the Treasurer (at Council and Business Meetings);
the minutes of both the Council and Business Meetings;
making an advance of funds to the L.A.C. sufficient to reserve the hotel and to print and mail the program;
paying the Association's bills, including expenses of the P.C.C. and other meeting costs such as printing the program and the expenses of the P.C.C.;
arranging for the production and engraving of medals;
reimbursing expenses of authorized guests or medal winners, etc.;
circulating announcements of prize competitions;
bringing to the annual meeting supplies of the A.A.H.M. brochure, minutes of past meetings, copies of the bylaws and such other official records or materials;
preparing a list of members who have died since the last meeting, for acknowledgment by the President during the general Business Meeting;
finalizing all minutes with the President and Vice-President and arranging for their publication in the Association's official organ;
receiving and distributing final reports from the P.C.C. and L.A.C. to the Officers, members of Council, and Chair of the Committee on Meetings;
receiving sample letters and mailing lists from the P.C.C., L.A.C., and B.E.C.;
providing a copy of these Guidelines to the L.A.C., P.C.C., B.E.C., and new members of Council, as soon as they have been selected or elected.