ISMS Constitution

Illinois State Medical Society Constitution

Adopted, 1903
As Amended, 2005

Article I. Name

The name and title of this organization shall be the Illinois State Medical Society.

Article II. Purposes of the Society

The Illinois State Medical Society is a professional organization that represents and unifies its physician members as they practice the science and art of medicine. The Society represents the interests of member physicians, advocates for patients and promotes the doctor/patient relationship, the ethical practice of medicine, and the betterment of the public health.

Article III. Component Societies

Component societies shall consist of those county medical societies which hold charters from this Society.

Article IV. Composition of the Society

The Society shall consist of active members and such other members as the Bylaws may provide.

Article V. House of Delegates

Section 1. The House of Delegates shall be the legislative body of the Illinois State Medical Society, and unless otherwise herein provided, its deliberations shall be binding upon the officers, including the Board of Trustees. The House of Delegates shall set the basic policy and philosophy of the Society.

Section 2. The House of Delegates shall elect the general officers, except as otherwise provided in the Bylaws.

Section 3. The House of Delegates shall elect members to serve on the Judicial Panel. The Judicial Panel shall perform all judicial functions on behalf of the Illinois State Medical Society, shall review all questions of ethics and shall interpret all rules and regulations of the Society. Further, it shall conduct all hearings on appeals taken from decisions of component medical societies, arising out of disciplinary actions against physicians.

Article VI. Officers

The officers of this Society shall be a president, a president elect, a vice-president, a secretary treasurer, a speaker and vice-speaker of the House of Delegates, and such trustees and other officers as the Bylaws may provide.

Article VII. Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees, whose duties are executive, shall have charge of all property and all financial affairs of the Society, and shall perform such other duties as are prescribed by law governing the directors of corporations, or as may be prescribed in the Bylaws.

Article VIII. Conventions and Meetings

The Society shall hold an annual convention during which there shall be a business meeting of the House of Delegates which shall be open to all registered members.

Article IX. The Seal

This Society shall have a common seal with power to break, change or renew the same when necessary.

Article X. Amendments

The House of Delegates may amend this Constitution at any annual or interim business meeting of the House of Delegates provided that the amendment shall have been proposed at a preceding annual or interim business meeting, and that two thirds of the members of the House of Delegates seated concur in the amendment.