President
Dr Ronald Tompkins, M.D.
Massachusetts General Hospital, GRB1302
55 Fruit Street
Boston, MA 02114-2696, USA
Email: rtompkins@partners.org
The ISBI was founded in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland in 1965. Its first Secretary, General Mr. A. B. Wallace, said in 1965, "The delegates of the Edinburgh Congress aim to set up a permanent organization in the hope of reducing the incidence of this major scourge, as well as improving patient care, especially in developing countries."
Since the Society was founded, the total medical care of burn patients has improved considerably. This is not only because medical science has improved but also because there is also a better understanding of the need for a team of professionals of different specialties such as surgeons, anesthetists, bacteriologists, critical care physicians, nurses, dietitians, physiotherapists, etc. Each and every one of these specialists plays a very important role.
Our society acknowledges the importance of all of these specialists in burn care and has intelligently admitted those professionals as members since its foundation. We must mention there are very few, in fact almost no other medical societies like ours which bring together such a number of different specialists, including nurses. One of the main purposes and aims of our society is to disseminate knowledge and to stimulate prevention in the field of burns.
