Presidential message

Dear FIMM delegates and members,

It is an honor to be elected as President of the International Federation of Musculoskeletal Medicine for the period of 2018-2022.

Both the members of the Executive Board and also the delegates of the participating nations I have to thank for laying their trust in my hands for the coming 4 years.

The coming years will be used to bring FIMM to a next level, where we will implement the steps we defined in our strategic document as a result from 2015 Frankfurt Conference. This must lead to the goal as stated: 

It is our dot on the horizon. Before arriving at our horizon, and hopefully even beyond, we have to overcome different threats and weaknesses and take advantage of our strength and opportunity’s. 

Despite FIMM is a Federation and therefore every member will stay autonomous, we will need to look further than national or societies interests. We also have to look further than schools, goeroes and ego’s.

We have to look for what is binding us, what is our common interest and hold on to that.

In Frankfurt 2015 the joint Executive and Health Policy Board set a Long Term Goal i.e. our dot on the horizon. That implicates that we have to work on the main topics: education, quality, communication, certification system and last but not least finances.

Also in Frankfurt each one of us was asked which dream he or she has on FIMM’s future.

I remember that I wished a vivid, dynamic worldwide active FIMM with at least a thousand participants visiting our conferences year in and year out.

My personal goal is to make this dream come true. Without dreams mankind would still live in the stone age!

Some information on my personal and professional life:

I am 57 years old. Living on the countryside near Eindhoven, Holland. My wife and I have 4 children who are grown up now and left the “safe-house”.

My hobbyies are cycling, race as well as mountain bike, gardening and driving my motorcycle (when time).  In wintertime I love skiing.

I used to be a general practitioner but stopped  after 16 years in 2008 and started to work full-time in the field of Manual Medicine.

Soon after that I got involved in our Dutch Society, entered the Board, and became the current President of the NVAMG.

We are trying to get recognized as a specialty for Musculoskeletal Medicine because in Holland we do not know additional competences or sub-specialties. It is a hard job to do, but I have faith we will succeed.

I am a hard and persistent worker and will be committed for the full 100% and hope to make my period as a President as successful and satisfying as possible.  

Henk Bultman, MD

President of FIMM