The name of the organisation shall be Diversity in Medicine and Health (DIMAH).
1. Terms of reference
The remit of DIMAH is to lead and support the development and implementation of high quality diversity curricula and resources to support healthcare students develop their professionalism and clinical method and thus to deliver high quality individualised patient-centred care
DIMAH will do this by:
- Clearly defining and redefining diversity in the context of healthcare and what constitutes education in diversity
- Identifying aims and learning outcomes for diversity education
- Developing resources to support students and teachers to attain the stated aims and learning outcomes
- Using the expertise of members to work with regulatory and supervisory bodies to support the development of national guidance and standards for the inclusion of diversity education in healthcare curricula
2. Organisational Structure
2.1 Management Committee
The Officers of the club shall form the management committee of DIMAH and consist of: Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Liaison Officer, Communications Officer and Student Officer.
The function of the committee is to work collaboratively with the membership to support the delivery of the organisation’s terms of reference. Officers should prioritise attendance at DIMAH meetings and a quorum of 4 officers is required at every meeting.
2.2 Officers
Officers will be elected by the membership and will take post for 3 years unless:
- They give 3 months notice they wish to leave their post
- They reach the end of their term and wish to continue in the role and no other member puts themselves forward for election (in which case their tenure will continue for another 1 year)
- They bring the organisation into disrepute, as determined by majority vote of the whole management committee
Officer posts will be open to all members as they come up on a rolling basis according to the schedule below (accepting an Officers resignation or removal before term, which will trigger an early election for the remainder of their term):
- 2019 – Treasurer, Student Officer, Liaison Officer
- 2020 – Secretary, Communications Officer
- 2021 – Chair, Vice Chair
2.3 Election Process
A call for nominations will be issued by the Secretary following the last DIMAH meeting of the preceding year, with any prospective candidate needing a proposer from the membership to stand. Nominations will close at the January meeting.
Elections will be supervised by the Secretary and Treasurer and held as a secret ballot of all members via the DIMAH website. Elections will commence 2 weeks following the Annual General Meeting which will be held in January.
The matters around the processes of the election (such as issuing statements, on-line forums, debates) will be determined by the management committee at the January Annual General Meeting
3 Roles of Management Committee
3.1 Role of Chair
To set, in consultation with the Management Committee and membership, the annual priorities and goals for the group, both generally and specifically.
To plan and Chair meetings in an orderly fashion, being sure all agenda items are covered, decisions are made when required and action points are clearly allocated to members with appropriate deadlines.
To ensure all members are engaged and able to express their views and to manage differences of opinion and conflicts in a supportive and inclusive way.
To act as a spokesperson for the group
To ensure the Management Committee and the organisation as a whole follow the Terms of Reference
To liaise with the Management Committee to support them in carrying out their roles and responsibilities
3.2 Role of Vice Chair
To support the Chair in carrying out their duties and to undertake their responsibilities when the Chair is unavailable.
3.3 Role of Secretary
To keep and maintain list of e-mail correspondence addresses for all members
To organise dates and locations for 4 meetings each year, including the Annual General Meeting in January, and to receive and record apologies from members
To circulate by e-mail and add to the DIMAH website the agenda and all relevant papers for meetings at least 1 week beforehand
To ensure that accurate minutes of meetings are taken, approved by the Management Committee and circulated to group members and posted on the DIMAH website within 2 weeks of each meeting
To send out correspondence as requested by the Chair and to bring any correspondence to the attention of the Chair
To circulate relevant information to the Management Committee and/or membership as appropriate
To act as a first point of contact for the membership on matters relating to the organisation
3.4 Role of Treasurer
To maintain accurate and up to date financial records and to present the accounts and financial statements to the Management Committee at the Annual General Meeting and subsequently as required
To manage the DIMAH bank account and all ingoing/outgoing monies
To monitor the financial position of the organisation to ensure that all expenses can be covered and to bring any anticipated concerns to the Management Committee immediately
To be responsible for ensuring that effective financial systems and procedures have been established and are being consistently followed in line with best practice and legal requirements
To receive payments from new/renewing members and ensure that the Secretary and DIMAH website manager are informed of any changes to the membership
To maintain a list of paid members of the organisation and to contact said members within the month prior to their membership expiring to invite renewal and to follow up those who have not renewed to request payment and ultimately terminate their membership not less than 1 month after the expiry of their paid membership period
3.5 Role of Liason Officer
To make and maintain links with other organisations with an overlapping remit to DIMAH and to encourage and facilitate collaboration with those groups
To inform relevant professional bodies of the work of DIMAH and encourage their engagement with both the organisation and the diversity agenda in general
To encourage individuals and organisations to join DIMAH and collaborate in the organisation’s work
To co-ordinate the Management Committee in preparing for and delivering a 2 yearly DIMAH conference
3.6 Role of Communications Officer
To maintain and update dimah.co.uk in conjunction with the website manager, including adding relevant and appropriate research articles and resources on a regular basis
To increase the profile of DIMAH using various media
To work with the Management Committee to publicise events held by and supported by DIMAH, such as the 2 yearly conference
3.7 Role of the Student Officer
To attend DIMAH meetings to contribute to the development of the organisation (wherever possible the organisation will financially support the Student Officer’s attendance at the meetings)
To advise on how DIMAH can collect and collate views of students within UK Medical and Health Education on Diversity issues
To support the Secretary and Communications Officer to disseminate information about DIMAH to the student community
To act as a point of contact for students within Medical and Health Education on issues relevant to DIMAH
4 Meetings
4.1 Management Committee
It is expected that members of the Management Committee will attend an average of 3 out of 4 DIMAH meetings each year and any absences should be co-ordinated to ensure there is always a quorum of 4 members at every meeting
4.2 Standing Items
Every DIMAH meeting will contain on the agenda the following items for discussion
- Report from the Chair
- Follow up of actions from the previous meeting
- Treasurers report on membership and finance
- Liaison Officer’s report
- Communication Officer’s report
- CPD – 1-2 hours delivered by any member of DIMAH as organised in advance by the Secretary in liaison with the Chair
5 Changes to Constitution
Any proposed change to the constitution must be
- Discussed as an agenda item at a DIMAH meeting
- Subsequently opened to the membership for views for a 4 week period
- Finalised and then approved by the Management Committee by majority vote of all in-post members