(Revised – November 2017)

 

1. Name:

A body to be known as the “MEDITERRANEAN FORUM OFPHYSICAL AND REHABILITATION MEDICINE” is hereby established and is hereinafterreferred to as the Forum.

 

2.  Mission and Goals:

1.       To be the scientific Mediterranean body forphysicians working in 3 Continents, Europe, Asia and Africa, around or withclose vicinity with the Mediterranean Sea, in the fields of Physical andRehabilitation Medicine.

2.       To facilitate Mediterranean exchangeregarding different aspects of Rehabilitation research, multicenter trials,national and Mediterranean projects, meetings and congresses.

3.       Toorganise a biennial Mediterranean congress of PRM in one of the countrieshaving active members of the Forum.

4.       To influence national governments, in closeco-operation with the national society of P&RM, to support initiatives andco-operation in the field of teaching development of services and research inPRM. Also, to provide information to national governments about the contentsand evidence based efficacy of PRM.

 

3. Membership:

       The Forum will consist of Active & Emeritusmembers:

1. Active Members: Open to all qualified physicians specialised in PRM and to physicians being at the final stage of their PRM training, who are working in any Mediterranean country or a country with close vicinity with Mediterranean Sea, irrespective of race, religion or community. Those who wish to become active members of the “Forum” should apply to the Secretary or any Board member. The Board of the Forum considers the application and decides accordingly by majority vote for the approval. Active members are eligible to participate to the General Assemblies, have the right to participate to all the discussions of a General Assembly and raise any issue that they wish, to be candidates for representatives of their countries and to vote for the election of their country representative to the Council. 
2. Emeritus Members: Granted by the General Assembly upon recommendation of the Board to any person who has been a member of the Forum for at least 10 years, has retired from full tie professional activity and accepts to be so designed. Emeritus members are entitled to attend all meetings and other activities of the Forum but cannot vote or hold office.
3. Corresponding Members: PMR specialists that do work in the countries that do not fit the description of an active member.  They are entitled to attend all meetings and other activities of the Forum but cannot vote or hold office.

 

 

4. General Assemblies and Council members:

a.    An OrdinaryGeneral Assembly shall be held during the Mediterranean Congress. All theactive members are invited to participate in the Congress and in the Assemblyat a specific place and time. After fifteen minutes elapsed from the time ofinvitation the present members are considered to be in quorum.

   Active members coming from the same country,during a General Assembly, choose their own representative. This representativewill have the right to vote for his country and be a nominee for any positionof the Board. The representatives of the countries, who are present to theGeneral Assembly, form the “COUNCIL”and besides other issues, they vote for the place and time of the Congress thatwill be organised after four years, and for the elections of the Boardmembers. 

b.     AnOrdinary General Assembly decides upon any problem of the Forum and holds theright of any change of the Statute of the Forum except the dissolution anddistribution of its funds, which needsan Extraordinary General Assembly as provided below. Any change of the Statutecan be effective if they vote in favour the two thirds of the countries-representatives(The Council) present in an Ordinary General Assembly.

c.       Before the end of the General Assembly thenew President and the other members of the Board are elected and appointed.

Dissolution of the Forum can be effected by an Extraordinary General Assembly,which is hold up for this purpose. All the active members must have invitationfor the Extraordinary General Assembly together with explanation for thereasons of the dissolution. A decision for dissolution of the Forum iseffective if they vote in favour the three-quarters of the presentcountries-representatives (The Council) who are coming at least from threedifferent countries. In case of dissolution of the Forum the property of theForum will be by donation given to an Institution of Rehabilitation of disabledpersons in any Mediterranean country, with the decision of the ExtraordinaryGeneral Assembly.

 

5. Election of Officers and Board:

a. The Board shall consist of seven electedactive members: The President, the Vice-President, the Secretary, theTreasurer, and three members of the Board. Also, the Board may have honorarymembers (not more than the half number of the elected members each time), whoare nominated by the General Assembly to serve the Board till they will retirefrom full tie professional activity. Then they are eligible for Emeritusmembership. Such members can be individuals who have contributed a lot to thecreation and further development of the Mediterranean Society.  

b. The term of the Board is for two years,unless the next Congress will be postponed and consequently the GeneralAssembly will be postponed too. In such case the term of the Board is enlargedtill the next General Assembly. Its members are elected directly by thecountries-representatives (The Council) during the General Assembly by secretballot, except the organizer of the next Mediterranean Congress.

c. The President’s election is doneseparately from the other members of the Board; at least three members of theCouncil can propose a candidate for the Presidency.  President becomes the nominee who receivesthe most votes of the Council. Vice-President is automatically appointed theOrganizer of the next Mediterranean Congress, unless he/she has already becomepresident. In this case Vice-President becomes the nominee who received themost votes during the elections for the Board members. The Council members voteat least three candidates for the Board. The posts of Secretary, Treasurer andmembers of the Council are given to the rest five winners-nominees by decisionof the Board during the first meeting, soon after the General Assembly.

d. From 2008 onwards, the “two years” termsof the President can be continuously up to two.

 

6. Board:           

The works ofthe Forum shall be conducted by the Board, which shall arrange the program ofeach meeting.

The Board meetsat least once a year. The Meeting is in quorum if the President and threeelected members of the Board are present. Decisions are made with simplemajority vote but in the case of a draw the President’s vote shall be thewinning one.

1.      Discussions and decisions of the Board canbe succeeded, by using e-mail and fax communication between the Board -members. 

The Minutes areconfirmed during the immediately next meeting of the Board and are signed bythe President and Secretary.

2.      The “accounts-report” of the Forum shall besubmitted by the Board at each General Assembly.

3.      The subscription shall be fixed by theBoard and shall become payable on the first day of January. The Board reservesthe right to consider the equivalent to resignation or not, the failure ofpaying the subscription by a member due for four years.

4.      The Presidentshall:

a.       Presideover the Meetings of the Board and General Assembly of the Forum.

b.       Summon, through the Secretary, for GeneralAssemblies and meetings of the Board.

c.       Signtogether with the Secretary any documents for the Forum.

d.       Sign together with the Treasurer any chequesfor any sum exceeding the amount approved by the General Assembly.

e.       Representthe Forum, alone or together with other members of the Board.

f.        Holdthe official stamp of the Forum.

5.      The Vice-Presidentshall replace the President.

6.      The Secretaryshall:

a.       Summon,with the advice of the President, for General Assemblies and meetings of theBoard.

b.       Prepare the Minutes of the GeneralAssemblies and the meetings of the Board.

c.       Keep aprotocol and a record of all the incoming and outgoing documents of the Forum.

d.       Keep a general list of the members of theforum.

e.       Conductthe correspondence.

f.        Sign,together with the President, all documents of the Forum.

g.       Give a report at the General Assembly.

h.       Hold a copy of the official stamp of theForum.

7.      The Treasurershall keep the accounts, collect subscriptions, sign together with thePresident any bank orders of the Forum in excess of the amount approved by theGeneral Assembly and be responsible for the expenditure of the Forum.

 

7.  Seal of the Forum and official Anthem:

The common seal of the Forum shall be oval one andbear the map of the Mediterranean Sea in the centre and shall have around itthe registered name of the Forum and the year of the 1stMediterranean Congress – 1996. It shall be in the custody of the President andit shall be affixed in every document of the Forum. Also the Forum has anofficial Anthem, which will be heart during the opening and closing ceremoniesof the Mediterranean Congresses.

 

8.  Mediterranean Congress:

1.      A congress adopted by the Forum will beheld every two years.

2.      Applications to host the congress may bemade by active members of the Forum, which have the written support of theirnational scientific society of PRM, whether or not sponsored by a nationalsociety. In the application must be clearly defined that the applicants acceptthe details written in this article (8) of the Statute. A closing date forapplications will normally be a month before the Ordinary General Assembly fouryears prior to the Congress date. The Ordinary General Assembly, which coincideswith the Mediterranean congresses, will decide on the successful applicantafter the presentations of all applicants. The applications from members ofcountries not having yet organized a Mediterranean Congress are preferred.  Any member of a country can apply but nocountry can organize two consecutive Congresses. The applicant in charge is appointed as theVice-President of the Forum for the period commencing two years before theCongress for which is the Organiser.

3.      A national organising committee will beresponsible for all aspects of the scientific and social programs. A scientificcommittee will be appointed by the national organising committee, which will beresponsible for the scientific merit and content of the congress sessions. TheBoard of the Forum must have a meeting in the host country about one yearbefore the Congress, to ensure the relevance and quality of scientificcontributions and to discuss any problem of the next congress and of the Forum.Also, another meeting of the Board will take place during the Congress andprior the General Assembly. The expenses of these two meetings of the Board,including travelling and hotel expenses for the seven elected and honorarymembers of the Board will be considered as expenses of the Congress and coveredby the Congress budget as contribution to the Forum for its function. The sevenelected members of the Board and the honorary members are invited to theCongress as speakers to give lectures in several fields of PRM.

4.      In the event of unsatisfactory performanceor wrongful activity by a member or members of the organising committee, theBoard will, at any time, have the right to withdraw the authority of theorganising committee to host the congress.

5.      The official languages of the congressshall be at least English and the national language of the country, which willhost the Congress.

6.      In every Mediterranean PRM Congress anaward is given to the best oral presentation of young PRM doctor, under thetitle “Haim Ring Mediterranean PRM Award”. The Congress Scientific committeewill act as a jury for this award.

7.      The Congress Organizer provides a grant ofone thousand euro (€1000.-) for the function of the MFPRM website covering thecost of two subsequent years. The grant contribution is paid upon a relevantinvoice, during the Congress and just after the presentation of the websitefunction to the General Assembly of the Society. The grant contribution willstart from the Congress, which will be selected following this amendment, whichis the 2017 congress.

8.      The Congress Organizer provides a grant offour thousand euro (€4000.-) for the works of the Euro-Mediterranean PRM SchoolHaim Ring, covering a part of the School expenses for the free of charge hostedtrainees from the several Mediterranean countries. The grant contribution ispaid to the School representative, during the Congress and just after thepresentation of the School activities to the General Assembly of the Society,upon an official receipt from the School. The grant contribution will startfrom the Congress, which will be selected following this amendment, which isthe 2017 congress.

 

8. Committee of Students/Residents of theMediterranean Forum of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine

1.      The main aim of thisCommittee is to promote and enhance the scientific and social interaction amongthe PRM Residents of the MFPRM. This Committee will work in close collaborationand owing loyalty to the Board and the General Assembly of the MFPRM.

2.      This committee is composed ofone member from each MFPRM country designated for a 2 years term, starting oneach congress.

3.      The members of this Committeeare PRM residents or first year to fifth PRM specialists.

4.      The committee will meetformally at each MFPMR congress.

5.      The members must bedesignated before the congress, via e-mail to the MFPRM President and GeneralSecretary, by each of the National Societies.

6.      The committee’s members mustvote the names for a main coordinator and two secretaries.

6.1.   This Committee must beapproved by the general assembly.

6.2.   Provisional: for the firstmandate (2012/2013), the names will be confirmed by the MFPRM Board from themembers designated by all the National societies.

pproval and consent from the MFPRM Board.

7.      The committee should beresponsible for maintaining a facebook page to bring together all PRM residentsfrom the Mediterranean basin, mainly, to share relevant information for allMFPRM residents.

8.      The committee will beresponsible for proposing a scientific journey/session of special interest toresidents the day before the beginning/at the MFPRM Congress.

8.1.   This Journey/session shallhave a scientific program approved by the MFPRM Board and the Local Organizer.

 

MEDITERRANEAN FORUM OF PHYSICAL & REHABILITATION MEDICINE

STATUTE (Revised in Sorrento General Assembly, 24.10.2012)

1. Name:

A body to be known as the “MEDITERRANEAN FORUM OF PHYSICAL AND REHABILITATION MEDICINE” is hereby established and is hereinafter referred to as the Forum.

2. Mission and Goals:

1. To be the scientific Mediterranean body for physicians working in 3 Continents, Europe, Asia and Africa, around or with close vicinity with the Mediterranean Sea, in the fields of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine.
2. To facilitate Mediterranean exchange regarding different aspects of Rehabilitation research, multicenter trials, national and Mediterranean projects, meetings and congresses.
3.   To organise a biennial Mediterranean congress of PRM in one of the countries having active members of the Forum.
4. To influence national governments, in close co-operation with the national society of P&RM, to support initiatives and co-operation in the field of teaching development of services and research in PRM. Also, to provide information to national governments about the contents and evidence based efficacy of PRM.

3. Membership:

The Forum will consist of Active & Emeritus members:

1. Active members: Open to all qualified physicians specialised in PRM and to physicians being at the final stage of their PRM training, who are working in any Mediterranean country or a country with close vicinity with Mediterranean Sea, irrespective of race, religion or community. Those who wish to become active members of the “Forum” should apply to the Secretary or any Board member. The Board of the Forum considers the application and decides accordingly by majority vote for the approval. Active members are eligible to participate to the General Assemblies, have the right to participate to all the discussions of a General Assembly and raise any issue that they wish, to be candidates for representatives of their countries and to vote for the election of their country representative to the Council. 
2. Emeritus Members: Granted by the General Assembly upon recommendation of the Board to any person who has been a member of the Forum for at least 10 years, has retired from full tie professional activity and accepts to be so designed. Emeritus members are entitled to attend all meetings and other activities of the Forum but cannot vote or hold office.

4. General Assemblies and Council members:

1.   An Ordinary General Assembly shall be held during the Mediterranean Congress. All the active members are invited to participate in the Congress and in the Assembly at a specific place and time. After fifteen minutes elapsed from the time of invitation the present members are considered to be in quorum.
   
   Active members coming from the same country, during a General Assembly, choose their own representative. This representative will have the right to vote for his country and be a nominee for any position of the Board. The representatives of the countries, who are present to the General Assembly, form the “COUNCIL” and besides other issues, they vote for the place and time of the Congress that will be organised after four years, and for the elections of the Board members.
2. An Ordinary General Assembly decides upon any problem of the Forum and holds the right of any change of the Statute of the Forum except the dissolution and distribution of its funds, which needs an Extraordinary General Assembly as provided below. Any change of the Statute can be effective if they vote in favour the two thirds of the countries-representatives (The Council) present in an Ordinary General Assembly.
3. Before the end of the General Assembly the new President and the other members of the Board are elected and appointed.
   
   Dissolution of the Forum can be effected by an Extraordinary General Assembly, which is hold up for this purpose. All the active members must have invitation for the Extraordinary General Assembly together with explanation for the reasons of the dissolution. A decision for dissolution of the Forum is effective if they vote in favour the three-quarters of the present countries-representatives (The Council) who are coming at least from three different countries. In case of dissolution of the Forum the property of the Forum will be by donation given to an Institution of Rehabilitation of disabled persons in any Mediterranean country, with the decision of the Extraordinary General Assembly.

5. Election of Officers and Board:

1. The Board shall consist of seven elected active members: The President, the Vice-President, the Secretary, the Treasurer, and three members of the Board. Also, the Board may have honorary members (not more than the half number of the elected members each time), who are nominated by the General Assembly to serve the Board till they will retire from full tie professional activity. Then they are eligible for Emeritus membership. Such members can be individuals who have contributed a lot to the creation and further development of the Mediterranean Society.
2. The term of the Board is for two years, unless the next Congress will be postponed and consequently the General Assembly will be postponed too. In such case the term of the Board is enlarged till the next General Assembly. Its members are elected directly by the countries-representatives (The Council) during the General Assembly by secret ballot, except the organizer of the next Mediterranean Congress.
3. The President’s election is done separately from the other members of the Board; at least three members of the Council can propose a candidate for the Presidency.  President becomes the nominee who receives the most votes of the Council. Vice-President is automatically appointed the Organizer of the next Mediterranean Congress, unless he/she has already become president. In this case Vice-President becomes the nominee who received the most votes during the elections for the Board members. The Council members vote at least three candidates for the Board. The posts of Secretary, Treasurer and members of the Council are given to the rest five winners-nominees by decision of the Board during the first meeting, soon after the General Assembly.
4. From 2008 onwards, the “two years” terms of the President can be continuously up to two.

6. Board:

The works of the Forum shall be conducted by the Board, which shall arrange the program of each meeting.
The Board meets at least once a year. The Meeting is in quorum if the President and three elected members of the Board are present. Decisions are made with simple majority vote but in the case of a draw the President’s vote shall be the winning one.

1. Discussions and decisions of the Board can be succeeded, by using e-mail and fax communication between the Board - members.
   
   The Minutes are confirmed during the immediately next meeting of the Board and are signed by the President and Secretary.
2. The “accounts-report” of the Forum shall be submitted by the Board at each General Assembly.
3. The subscription shall be fixed by the Board and shall become payable on the first day of January. The Board reserves the right to consider the equivalent to resignation or not, the failure of paying the subscription by a member due for four years.
4. The President shall:
5. Preside over the Meetings of the Board and General Assembly of the Forum.
6. Summon, through the Secretary, for General Assemblies and meetings of the Board.
7. Sign together with the Secretary any documents for the Forum.
8. Sign together with the Treasurer any cheques for any sum exceeding the amount approved by the General Assembly.
9. Represent the Forum, alone or together with other members of the Board.
10. Hold the official stamp of the Forum.
11. The Vice-President shall replace the President.
12. The Secretary shall:
13. Summon, with the advice of the President, for General Assemblies and meetings of the Board.
14. Prepare the Minutes of the General Assemblies and the meetings of the Board.
15. Keep a protocol and a record of all the incoming and outgoing documents of the Forum.
16. Keep a general list of the members of the forum.