DGIM exceeds the 30,000 member mark – a strong voice for internal medicine

30.10.2023 14:05

The German Society for Internal Medicine (DGIM) exceeded the 30,000 member mark at the end of September. With the addition of Dr. med. Sebastian Pointner from Kiel, the specialist society reached this milestone. The doctor in further training particularly appreciates the extensive eLearning offerings at the DGIM to prepare for the specialist examination. As Europe's largest medical-scientific specialist society, the DGIM continues to record strong growth. What's particularly pleasing from the DGIM's perspective is that many of the new members are under 40, and the majority are female.

After his license to practice medicine, Dr. med. Sebastian Pointner actually wanted to become a heart surgeon and had already started further training at a university hospital. “After a while, however, I realized that I wanted to have more time in direct contact with patients and that I found diagnostic work exciting,” explains Pointner. The switch to internal medicine was then easy for him. “It was exactly the right decision, as my boss, Professor Dr. med. Jörg Strotmann found an excellent mentor and also really appreciated the collegial atmosphere in the company,” says Pointner, who now works in the cardiology clinic at the Kiel Municipal Hospital.

His colleagues advised the aspiring internist to join the DGIM. The Kiel resident is currently preparing for his specialist examination. “My colleagues are already DGIM members and have raved to me about the extensive eLearning offering. “That ultimately made the difference,” says the 42-year-old, enthusiastic about the variety of content on offer. He is also pleased to now be part of a strong community that represents the interests of internal medicine. “I’m looking forward to getting to know the DGIM,” says Pointner.

Many new members are young, on the way to becoming a specialist and female

Of the more than 1,600 doctors who joined the DGIM in 2023 alone, three quarters are under 40 years old, the same number are still without specialist certification and more than 900 are female. “Promoting young internists is a particular concern of ours as a professional society, which we pursue with numerous scholarships, funding programs and course offerings for aspiring internists,” explains DGIM managing director Maximilian Broglie. The strong participation of the AG Junge DGIM, which represents the interests of young internists within the specialist society and is involved in numerous committees and decision-making processes of the specialist society, is also an expression of the promotion of young talent.

Maintain the unity of internal medicine

It is important to the DGIM, as a specialist society, to represent all doctors working in internal medicine and their focus and to offer a platform for exchange across specialist boundaries. “Since its founding in 1882, the goal of the DGIM has been to maintain the unity of internal medicine and promote its priorities,” says DGIM General Secretary Professor Dr. med. Georg Ertl, internist and cardiologist from Würzburg. This leitmotif is also reflected in the diverse offerings - from the internal medicine congress to online formats such as the eAkademie and the DGIMTalk to numerous benefits from cooperation partners, such as a free subscription to the monthly specialist magazine 'Die Internal Medicine'.

“The central element of all our efforts is to promote scientific science in medicine and thus improve care and research in the interests of patients,” explains Professor Dr. med. Andreas Neubauer, Chairman of the DGIM and Director of the Clinic for Hematology, Oncology and Immunology at Marburg University Hospital. In addition to the youth activities, this goal was also served by the commitment of numerous members in the specialist society's commissions and working groups. “The hospital reform, the digitalization of the healthcare system or the reform of medical studies and the licensing regulations: the DGIM brings its strong voice into all of these health policy issues,” says DGIM General Secretary Ertl. With more than 30,000 members, the DGIM consolidates its position as an actor whose voice in health policy cannot be ignored.