Victoria Medical Society

Description

The Victoria MedicoChirurgical Society was founded in 1895 laying the ground work for what is now known as the Victoria Medical Society On December 6th 1899 Dr J D Helmcken was elected the first President of the VMS In 1917 the VMS became incorporated under the Benevolent Societies Act

In 1911 the VMS grappled with the idea of starting a library They appointed a committee and in 1922 a library was established In 1932 the library moved to St Josephs Hospital The library grew to the point where the Society had to hire a librarian to take care of the incoming circulations In 1979 the VMS donated the library to the Royal Jubilee Hospital where it continues to operate today

Currently the VMS office is run by one employee however all decisions are reached by an elected committee of 5 6 members This committee meets monthly The office is supported solely through membership dues

The Chain of Office pictured to the left was first worn in 1983 by our then outgoing president Dr Mike McNeelyThe concept of creating a Chain of Office was first conceived by Dr Pierre dEstrubeacute He contacted the noted BC artist Mr Tony Hunt who created the piece

The chain was photographed by Rob Destrubeacute and the framed photograph now hangs in the VMS office Its value is estimated at more than 5000 When transported it is stored in a velvet bag Care must be taken when wearing it as the argillite is soft and marks easily

The chain is worn by the president at all ceremonial occasions such as the annual Osler Oration held in Vancouver each March and at other times as stipulated by the president