The IBMS monthly statement - November
It was great to see our member-elected Council come together and discuss the current and future strategy of the IBMS last month. Ours is a truly democratic professional body – run by the membership, for the membership. It was agreed that we have made great strides with the terms “support, progress, promote” at the core of all our actions and that we must take these mission words forward – but with the new and emerging professional landscape in mind.
We all agreed that the IBMS needs to be more responsive and agile when it comes to our members’ education needs. We must support more access to HCPC registration through better uptake of our entry routes and allow our HCPC-registered members to pick and choose the breadth of their specialist portfolios on a modular basis.
We also need to support our members by further increasing the wider public’s understanding of the benefits that the profession and biomedical science deliver to society.
We want more of our members to progress, through better and more relevant training and qualifications, while allowing a more agile and inclusive approach. The IBMS supports greater diversity and intends to champion our members’ values, such as sustainability and high professional standards.
The IBMS itself also needs to progress, by opening its doors to the full range of the biomedical science profession within the UK and globally. Our members in healthcare and academia will be strengthened with a deeper membership base in industry, research and diagnostics – so our voice can be louder and more representative of the profession at large.
Alongside better support and progress, the IBMS must also continue to promote the importance of our profession and build upon our profile post-pandemic, to develop a policy and engagement capability at a government level.
We also need to promote our highest qualifications, widen the disciplines that these are available in and increase the potential numbers of our members who can access them.
Through high-quality input and reflection, the discussion came to form an ambitious strategy from an equally ambitious Council. Looking around the table, it was clear that our professional body was in very capable hands. I have no doubt that the IBMS will be going from strength to strength in the coming years – delivering valuable services to our members and the profession at large