By Laws

ARTICLE 1: TITLE

This Association shall be known as the ASSOCIATION OF IRANIAN PHYSICISTS IN MEDICINE henceforward referred to as the AIPM. The AIPM is an association for the Iranians who are professionally engaged in the application of physics in medicine and biology, throughout the world. Other Iranian scientists and professionals who are interested in the goals and objectives of the AIPM, as set in Article 4, and who meet the membership requirements, as specified in Article 5, can join this association.

ARTICLE 2: STATUS

The Association is an independent, non-political, non-governmental body. It is strictly a non-profit organization, its resources being exclusively used to foster and promote the objective given in Article 4, with the ultimate goal of furthering knowledge and understanding in its fields of interest and thus contributing to the enhancement of health care delivery.

ARTICLE 3: LOCATION AND LANGUAGE

The AIPM's headquarters shall be where the president of the association resides. Persian and English language will be used according to the need.

ARTICLE 4: OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the AIPM are as follows:

  • To promote communications between members of the organization, other medical physicists and allied health professionals.
  • To establish collaboration with other National and International organizations, societies and agencies.
  • To reflect and promote the interests of its members, affiliate groups of professionals and seek participation in relevant Committees, forums or meetings which may be set-up concerning their fields of interest, with the aim of presenting the Association's views.
  • To act as a forum for promoting conferences, publication of articles, training courses, meetings and seminars.
  • To publish a newsletter called "Medical Physics News" to inform its Members and interested parties of developments in its fields or interests.
  • To encourage educational programs, which develop scientific and technical expertise in Medical Physics, Radiation Protection, Biomedical Engineering and other related fields.

ARTICLE 5: MEMBERSHIP

The AIPM has four classes of Membership known collectively as corporate Members:

  1. Full Members shall be persons elected as such who: -Have a university diploma or equivalent professional qualification and are involved in the fields of medical physics, medicine, radiation protection, biomedical engineering or other associated professions acceptable to the council.
  2. Associated Members shall be persons elected as such who: -Have associate degree and are involved in the fields of Medical Physics, Medicine, Radiation Protection, Biomedical Engineering or other associated professions acceptable to the Council.
  3. Student Members shall be persons elected who are following courses in disciplines associated with medicine, engineering or sciences acceptable to the Council.
  4. Honorary Members shall be persons selected by Council who have, in the opinion of the Council, attained distinction and/or offered exceptional services to Medicine or Medical Physics or Biomedical Engineering or to the Association and approved at the Annual General meeting.

ARTICLE 6: MEMBERS RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS

Every Member has the following rights and obligations:

  1. To be elected or elect others for the various offices of the Association.
  2. To participate with voting rights at the Regular or Extra-ordinary General Meetings.
  3. To submit items for discussion by Council or General Assemblies according to the relevant rules.
  4. To benefit from any rights emanating from the Constitution.
  5. To abide by the articles of the Association.
  6. To settle subscriptions and other commitments to the Association in the time limits set by the various Articles or by Council.
  7. To foster the objectives of the Association.

ARTICLE 7: TERMINATION OF MEMBERSHIP

  1. Upon written notice by the corporate Member to the Secretary-general.
  2. Upon the death of a Member.
  3. When the Annual General Meeting (AGM) has approved a Council recommendation that a corporate Member has behaved in a manner, which has brought disrepute to his profession and the Association. Any corporate Member whose Membership is terminated loses all benefits, rights and obligations arising from the articles of the Association.

ARTICLE 8: CONDITIONS OF ADMISSION

  1. No person shall be elected to Membership unless the Council has approved the candidate in accordance with the relevant articles concerning Membership.
  2. Every candidate for election shall complete the required application form which is approved by the Council, having supporting signature from one Member in good standing and who have known the candidate professionally for at least one years.
  3. Every proposal for election or transfer to another class of Membership must be sent in writing to the Secretary-general. The Council shall determine the class of Membership to which the candidate may be elected.
  4. Any request for re-admission to any class of Member-ship shall be dealt with in the same manner as an original request for Membership.
  5. When a candidate has been elected by Council, the Secretary-general will notify the Member accordingly and Membership shall become effective after the subscription.

ARTICLE 9: FEES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

  1. Registration fees, annual subscriptions and any other fees shall be decided by the General Assembly.
  2. Candidates not elected will have their entrance fee returned.
  3. Any corporate Member who satisfies Council that he has retires from remunerative employment may, at the discretion of the Council, pay half the annual subscription fees.

ARTICLE 10: GOVERNING BODY

The Governing Body of the Association is an elected council named
The executive Board” and members of this council are the executive board members.

ARTICLE 11: THE EXECUTIVE BOARD COUNCIL (EBC)

  1. The Council is the governing body of the Association. It exe-cutes policy and manages the affairs of the Association.
  2. Council is convened regularly at least once a year and extraordinary at the discretion of the President or half plus one of its Members.
  3. The Council composed of six members elected at the GAM by secret ballot, consist of following members:
    - President
    - Immediate Past President
    - President Elect
    - Secretary-general
    - Treasurer
    - One member
  4. The term of office for any Member of the council is three years. All Members are eligible for re-election.
  5. The term of office for president only shall not be more than two terms.
  6. For each office, a Council Member will need to be nominated and seconded by another member.
  7. If a Council Member resigns during his term of office, the Council appoints his replacement to the Council from the first runner-up in his discipline, who will serve the remainder of his term. If no runner-up exists, the Council appoints a corporate Member to fill the post.
  8. If four Members of the Council resign within any period of six months, then elections for a new Council will have to be held. The new Council will serve the remainder of the term of the previous Council. In this case, the Secretary-general remains in an acting capacity with the only charge of preparing for new elections and convening the relevant GAM.
  9. The Council is considered to be in quorum when any 3 Members are present. If a Member of Council is unjustifiably absent from two consecutive meetings, he losses his post and is replaced by the first runner-up in his discipline. If no runner- up exists, then the Council appoints one of the corporate Members to fill the post.
  10. Council will nominate Members to represent the Association in any Government or other Professional Committees.
  11. The Secretary-general keeps regular minutes of the meetings of the Council.
  12. Each Member of the Council has one vote. In the case of equality in votes, the Applicant has the casting vote.
  13. Any discipline covered by this Association may form professional or scientific groups affiliated to international organizations, following Council authorization, as well as their own societies.
  14. The Council may set-up standing Committees composed of Members to facilitate any of the Association specialized work.
  15. The Council represents the Association in its dealings with other bodies.
  16. In April of the election year, the Secretary–general will have to initiate the process of nominating new members for the Council for the next term by soliciting nominations for all 5 positions.
  17. The nominees for each post are approved by the council and then presented to the voting members as a candidate.
  18. Result of the election is announced during the annual I-AAPM meeting.

ARTICLE 12: GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING (GAM)

  1. The Association shall hold a Regular Annual General Meeting (AGM), once a year at a date to be decided by Council.
  2. All other General Meetings shall be considered as Extra-ordinary General Meetings (EGMs) and shall be convened at the discretion of Council or following a written signed request giving the reasons for the meeting by 1/3 of the corporate Members in good standing.
  3. All EGMs shall be convened at a date set by Council. EGMs called by Members and shall be convened not later than 15 days from any written request satisfying 11.2 above.
  4. The Secretary-general shall circulate to all members the agenda and any background documents for all meetings.
  5. All corporate Members, in good standing, have the right to vote in any of the meetings.
  6. Any corporate Member who wishes to have an item discussed during the AGM should submit this in writing, together with a brief background. Note to the Secretary-general 15 days before the date set for the AGM.
  7. At the AGM, the President presents the yearly report of the Association, the proposed Budget, activities and policy for the forth-coming year. The treasurer presents the accounts and financial standing of the Association. The Secretary- general records the minutes.
  8. The AGM or EGM set the general guidelines and policy, which the Council should follow.
  9. Any meeting will have a quorum if half plus one of the Members in good standing are present. In the case where a quorum is not secured then the meeting will be considered as having secured its quorum by any number present after 30 minutes from the original starting time set.
  10. All decisions at meetings are carried by a simple majority vote of the Members present.
  11. The President chairs all meetings. In the absence of the President, the President- elect takes the chair. In the case that the President-elect is unavailable, the secretary-general shall chair the meeting.
  12. In the case of voting for new Council Members, a Ballot Commit-tee of three persons, who are not candidates, constituted as Chairman, Secretary, and Member, are appointed by the meeting to carry out the elections, by a secret ballot.
  13. Ballot papers, approved by Council, are prepared by the Secretary-general and made available to the Ballot Committee.

ARTICLE 13: THE PRESIDENT

  1. Chairs the AGM's Council and Executive Board Meetings.
  2. Co-signs with the Secretary-general all correspondence concerning the convening of meetings.
  3. Co-signs with the Secretary-general the minutes of Council and Meetings.
  4. Co-signs with the treasurer bank withdrawals and authorizations for payments.
  5. Signs any routine correspondence related to Association business, represents the Association in all legal and non-legal matters.

ARTICLE 14: THE PRESIDENT ELECT

  1. Stands-in for the President in all duties when the President is unavailable.
  2. Arranges the upcoming meeting by reserving room and facility and preparing the meeting’s agenda.

ARTICLE 15: THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

  1. The Secretary-general keeps a book of Minutes and a Register of Members.
  2. Carries out all correspondence of the Association.
  3. Prepares Ballot papers and all related correspondence.
  4. Announces the election time and receives nominations.
  5. Keeps a record of applications for Membership and submits them to Council.

ARTICLE 16: THE TREASURER

  1. Keeps the accounts of the Association and prepares its budget following the directives of Council and the President.
  2. Collects all fees and dues owed to the Association, issues receipts and makes relevant bank deposits.
  3. Keeps in his charge a petty cash account to the amount approved by Council.
  4. Keeps a Register of Members subscription and other fees.
  5. Presents accounts for audit to any auditors that Council may decide to appoint.

ARTICLE 17: THE EDITOR

The Editor Chairs the Editorial Board and is responsible for preparation and publication of the newsletter called Medical Physics News, which contains educational/technical reports in addition to reports from officers. The publication expenses of this bulletin may be compensated by funds generated through advertising.

ARTICLE 18: FUNDS

The Association will have funds available from the following sources:

  1. Annual subscriptions from Members, as determined by AGM.
  2. Income from any property owned by the Association.
  3. Special activities, such as seminars, training courses, conferences, etc.
  4. Any subscriptions and donations from other sources.

ARTICLE 19: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

  1. This statutes or Articles thereof may be amended by a majority of the corporate Membership at a specially convened EGM.
  2. Council may also submit proposed amendments in writing to the above EGM.
  3. Members wishing to have amendments considered by the above EGM must submit these to Council in writing together with signatures of 1/3 of the Membership.
  4. Any Articles of the Association may be changed only by a specially convened EGM following a majority vote of Members present. The proposed constitutional changes should be circulated to all Members 15 days prior to EGM. Changes in the Constitution shall be notified to the AAPM.

ARTICLE 20: DISSOLUTION

The Association will be considered as dissolved if this is decided by a secret ballot of 2/3 majority by a specially convened EGM or if its Members are reduced to less than 10. The association’s property will be given to charitable organizations.