The annual meeting is the principal activity of the Association, highlighting its purposes and goals. It brings together the various members, including historians, librarians, museum curators, nurses, physicians, teachers, independent scholars, and individuals from other disciplines.

Preeminently a scholarly occasion, the meeting provides members with numerous opportunities

• to present papers dealing with their own new findings in the history of medicine and its various specialties
• to meet with and hear the findings of professional and amateur historians;
• to identify and examine new publications -- texts, specialty monographs, journals, and works of general interest;
• to discuss new methods of teaching and research;
• to learn about current problems and trends in medical history, libraries, archives, funding agencies, and bibliographical control;
• to exchange information about sources of financial support and job openings for teachers and graduate students in academia and elsewhere;
• to meet rare book dealers and inspect or purchase copies of the classics or rare items.

At another level, the annual meeting provides members with the opportunity to become acquainted with facilities in the host city, including its libraries, museums, teaching programs (together with collateral facilities in education, science, and culture) and local sites of interest. Conversely, the meeting allows local medical historians to feature their institutions and resources through special exhibits, tours, open-houses, demonstrations, etc.

Finally, the annual meeting is an occasion for a variety of social activities, ranging from dinners and receptions to concerts, dramatic presentations and trips. Not only pleasurable, these activities have aided materially in building cohesiveness among the members of the medical history community.