1. Present a strong front, and gain recognition for the skilled work which is carried out by AEIMS members.
    
2. Continue to encourage the establishment of training and recruitment of trainees.
    
3. Promote the profession where possible through exhibition and publicity.
    
4. Attract sponsorship for assistance of students of the profession.
    
5. Bring together, at least once a year, the medical and scientific artists of Europe for the purposes of education, social contact, sharing work experience, and to contribute to innovation within the profession.

AEIMS History

In 1986 The Association Européenne des Illustrateurs Médicaux et Scientifiques (AEIMS) was founded in Strasbourg. It's aims were to bring together artists, illustrators and sculptors working in medical education and the life sciences.

AEIMS meets somewhere in Europe each year, usually linking the conference with one of the European training institutes. The meeting is always great fun and increasingly worthwhile as the years pass.

How did this come about?
Momentum started in the early eighties within l’Ecole des Arts Decoratifs de Strasbourg, France under the leadership of Pierre Kuentz. Quite quickly others became involved, Giliola Gamberini, and her school in Bologna, Patrick McDonnel who is Canadian but was working in Paris at the time, Doig Simmonds and Jenny Halstead from the U.K.

The first two meetings took place in Strasbourg in 1986 and 1987. Bologna hosted the gathering in 1988 in June! It was hot but wonderful. The three days were crammed with sensational events, Giliola and her team had not only organized an action packed programme but it coincided with the 600th anniversary of the medical school. We had entry to historic sites and collections that are normally restricted to the select few.

AEIMS came to London in April 1989 to join with the Medical Artist's Association of Great Britain for its 40th Anniversary Conference. In 1990 we all met in Paris at Ecole Estienne, and the following year in Zurich. Taormino in Sicily hosted the 1992 meeting; the next year we missed getting together. In 1994 we met in Strasburg, 1995 Cambridge in the U.K. and 1996 École Estienne. In 1997 Bologna again and we linked up with some of the members of the American Association of Medical Illustrators who were on a tour of Italy. We met in Lausanne in 1998, and were reunited in Oxford in 1999 to help the Medical Artists Association of Great Britain celebrate its 50th anniversary. We went to Maastricht Academy of Visual Arts in 2000 for a fascinating meeting and 2001 back to Paris again. 2002 was in the refurbished city of Manchester, UK. 'In 2003 the Association met in the magical city of Leiden, Netherlands, where we were treated to a rich feast of art and history'. Each year the reunion becomes stronger; rather like the travelers returning!

What is happening now?
In 2000 AEIMS ran a competition for the European student members to submit a proposal to redesign our website. In the course of 2001 the successful student carried out the work with evaluation of the result at the Manchester meeting. In 2003, AEIMS structured an arrangement with Indexed Visuals, Inc. to provide a custom dynamic portfolio system to it's members.  The present site incorporates AEIMS' new dynamic searchable portfolio feature. 

AEIMS subscribers are now entitled to have their details and examples of their work displayed in the new AEIMS searchable directory.   The site also carries details on AEIMS, the membership, how to join, the different schools of medical and scientific illustration in Europe, and more.

AEIMS is supported by a President who is elected every three years and a Bureau consisting of eight officers. The current President and Council Members are listed further below.

Within most countries is a Vice President who co-ordinates the members of that particular country. There is one Council Meeting each year which often takes place just prior to the Annual General Meeting and Conference.

With remote communication, faxes and e-mail it is much easier to co-ordinate between the different countries without having to meet in person. We are very aware that everyone is busy with work, and all the time which is given to support the Association is found at the expense of other activities.

The Annual Conference
The conference in an opportunity for members and visitors to learn about a new country and a new place; though not always, it often affords a visit to a school which may be hosting the meeting. Often an interesting academic program with notable speakers either from within the Association or from medical, scientific or associated disciplines is in place. The meeting provides a forum for discussion of issues which are important to scientific artists. Issues such as such as copyright, contract, relevant level of fees etc. are a constant point of discussion. We are very proud of our student members, thus a session is always devoted to short presentations by different members of AEIMS and students, illustrating the work that they are doing. This is often the highlight of the conference! We have an exhibition of members’ work, displaying a wide range of styles and subjects.

Future Objectives
AEIMS would like to be able to endorse the diploma of different training programs for medical and scientific illustration which have been set up in Europe, such as the course at Ecole Estiene in Paris, or the MPhil in Manchester.

How to Become an AEIMS Member

To apply for membership please send: Your CV with educational experience and work experience, six examples of recent artwork, together with a declaration that the work is done by you.

The work should be sent by e-mail to pascale@artem-medicalis.com in one of the following forms:

JPEG or TIFF format, 72 DPI max 600 PPI square
PDF files are also accepted

Subscription Prices

If you prefer to send this information by CD-rom or other means please send to:

Pascale Pollier-Green
Tenbossestraat 82
9660 Brakel, BELGIUM
Tel: 0032 (0)55 42 66 83
URL: http://www.artem-medicalis.com
Email: pascale@artem-medicalis.com