Bylaws of Society of Family Medicine Academy
The Name and Headquarters of the Society
Article 1
The Name of the Society: Society of Family Medicine Academy
The Address of Headquarters of the Society: Dokuz Eylül University, Shool of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, İnciraltı, 35340, İzmir, Turkey
The society can open branches in and out of Turkey.
The Society’s Continuous Working Subjects and Types and Field of Activity
Article 2 – The society was established in order to facilitate and improve academic family medicine practice, as well as supporting individuals and organizations who work towards this goal.
The Society’s continuous Working Subjects and Types
1- Making research in order to amplify and improve its’ activities,
2- Organizing educational workshops, courses, seminars, conferences and panels,
3- Acquiring all kind of information, documentation and publications in the field of family medicine in order to improve and generalize the subject, establishing documentation center, publishing newspapers, magazines, books and publishing working and informative documents and distributing these to its’ members,
4- Establishing a healthy working environment, acquiring all kind of necessary technical equipment and stationery to achieve its’ goals,
5- Carrying out promotional campaigns and collecting donations locally and internationally in order to support its’ activities,
6- Establishing and managing commercial and industrial companies or organizations in order to obtain funding to achieve its’ goals,
7- Establishing and maintaining social facilities for the use of its’ members to socialize,
8- Organizing various social events such as (but not limited to) dinner evets, concerts, balls, theatre activities, exhibitions, sporting activities, travel and other entertainment activities or helping its’ members to benefit from such organizations,
9- Buying, renting, selling or claiming rights to any type of necessary real estate for its’ activities,
10- Establishing a foundation, federation or joining a federation or establishing facilities which a society is entitled to establish in order to achieve its’ goals,
11- Participating in international activities, becoming a member of international associations or establishments and carrying out joint projects with such organizations,
12- Accepting and giving donations from and to associations with the similar goals, labor unions, specialty associations,
13- Running joint projects with related public institutions and establishments in the same field if deemed necessary to achieve its’ goals,
14- Establishing charity chests for its’ members immediate needs for food, clothing and similar primary needs,
15- Establishing branches and representation offices wherever deemed necessary,
16- Establishing or joining platforms with other societies or foundations, unions or other non-governmental organizations within the purview of its’ goals and interests.
The Society’s Field of Activity
The society is active in the fields of science, culture and social activities.
Becoming a Member
Article 3 – Anyone or any establishment who carry the provisions the legislation states and are interested in academic family medicine field and accepts the aim and principles of the society can become a member. Any non-Turkish citizens who wish to become a member should have a resident permit in the Republic of Turkey. Such conditions are not mandatory for honorary membership.
In order to apply for membership, a person or establishment should apply to the board of directors in writing along with written endorsement from two active members. For such endorsements, the person or establishment should be involved in education or research activities in the field of academic family medicine. The board of directors are entitled to decide the acceptance or denial of the applications within 30 days of application and present their answers in writing to the applicant. Accepted applicants are inserted in the society book of members.
The actual members of the society are; the founders of the society as well as applicants who are accepted to be member by the board of directors.
Individuals or establishments who contribute to the society financially or morally can be accepted as honorary members by the board of directors.
Once the society has three branches, the member registrations are transferred to the branches and new membership applications should be made to the branches directly. The board of directors of the branches are entitled to accept or reject new membership applications and the Headquarters of the Society is informed in 30 days about the new memberships in writing.
Cancelling a Membership
Article 4 – All members have the right to cancel their membership in case it is made in written form. As soon as the board of directors acknowledge receipt of such cancellation requests, the cancellation is deemed accepted and finalized. Cancelling a membership does not resolve the member from paying their previous membership fees.
Expulsion of a Membership
Article 5 – The conditions which merit an expulsion from membership:
1- Acting against the bylaws of the society,
2- Avoiding active duties repeatedly,
3- Not paying the membership fee within six months after written warnings,
4- Not complying with the decisions taken by the bodies of the society,
5- Losing the conditions to be a member.
A member can be expelled from membership by the board of directors if one or more of the conditions above are detected.
Members who cancel their membership or expelled from membership are deleted from the society books and cannot claim to any right on the assets of the society.
Society Organization
Article 6 – The organization of the society is as below;
1- General Assembly,
2- Board of Directors,
3- Supervisory Board.
The Establishment of the General Assembly, Gathering Time, Call for Gathering and Type of Meeting
Article 7 – The General Assembly is the supreme decision body of the society is gathered by the members of the society, or in the condition that the society has three branches the natural delegates of such branches as well as the elected electoral delegates.
General Assembly;
1- Gathers ordinarily in the time frames stated in the bylaws,
2- Gathers in 30 days after decided by the board of directors or upon written request of one fifth of the total number of society members.
Ordinary General Assembly is assembled every 2 years in the month of October by the place and exact time decided by the board of directors.
General Assembly is assembled by the call of board of directors.
If the board of directors fail to make the call for the general assembly in time, within the application of a single member, a justice of the peace will charge 3 ordinary members to call for the general assembly.
General Assembly by Call (1)
Board of directors rehash the list of members who are entitled to attend the GA. All entitled members are invited to the GA at least 15 days before the appointed GA date via e-mail, post, newspaper ad. and similar channels in writing. In this call, members are informed about the next appointed GA time and place in case the necessary majority is not assembled in the first GA. Second GA cannot be appointed at least 7 days after or not later than 60 days of the first GA.
If the first GA is held back because of another reason that the majority is not met; the announcement message for the second GA should include the reason of the change. In this case the second GA should be convened in the following 6 months. Members are called for assembly for the second GA as indicated in the first article of Call for General Assemble.
GA cannot be held back more than once.
General Assembly by Meeting (2)
GA can be assembled with the simple majority of the entitled members or with two thirds majority if a change in the bylaws or annulment of the society. In case the majority is not met in the first meeting, it is not required for the second meeting to have the participation of the majority of the members. However, the number of members to attend this meeting cannot be less than the double of the sum of the board of directors and advisory board. The list of entitled members should be readily at hand at this meeting. The members should present valid identification (issued by the related government) and these IDs should be checked by a committee to be assigned by the board of directors. Members can only enter the meeting area after putting their signatures next to their names in the “entitled member list”.
If simple majority is met, this information is added to the minutes of the meeting and the meeting is officially opened by the president of the board of directors or another person the president assigns. In case simple majority is not met, the board of directors prepares an official report stating so.
After the opening of the meeting, a president and enough number of vice presidents and a reporter is assigned to direct the meeting. These group of people are called the meeting council.
In case an election is in order, all candidates should present valid identification to the meeting council and put their signatures next to their own names in the prepared list of candidates.
The management and security of the meeting is in the responsibility of the president of the meeting council.
In the GA, only articles in the minutes of the meeting are discussed. In case one tenth of the number of members present in the GA can ask for additional articles to be discussed in the meeting, if they present it in writing. In such case, these additional articled have to be discussed in the GA.
Each member has one vote in the GA. The member can use his/her vote himself/herself or assign a proxy to cast his/her vote. In case the assigned proxy (who also has to be a member) did not attend the GA, a proxy’s proxy cannot cast the vote of the actual member. Honorary members have the right to attend the GA but cannot vote. In case there is a corporate member to attend the GA, the president of the board of that corporation or another proxy they officially assign can vote.
All discussed subjects and taken decisions are stated in the minutes of the meeting and this document is signed by the president of the meeting council, as well as assigned clerks. At the end of the meeting, all such documents are presented to the president of the board of directors. The president of the board of directors is responsible for the security of these documents and presents them to the new elected board of directors within 7 days.
The Voting and Decision Taking Process in the GA
Article 8 – In the GA, if a decision was not taken otherwise, the election of the board of directors and supervisory board is done via secret ballots, and all other decision voting is done via open voting.
Secret ballot voting is done via ballots sealed by the president of the meeting council. These ballots should be filled by voting members according to regulations, closed and cast in a closed ballot box. After the voting process is finished, these ballots are opened and counted and reported openly.
In the open voting, president of the GA is entitled to declare method.
Decisions taken in the GA are decided by simple majority of the number of attendees to the GA. In the case a change in the bylaws of annulment of the society, a two thirds of the number of attendees to the GA is needed.
Decisions Taken without a Meeting or a Call
In case all members of the society come together in writing or all members of the society come together in person but against the methods of meeting allowed in this document, decisions taken in this manner are valid. However, any decisions taken this way will not be considered as an ordinary general assembly.
The Duties and Powers of the General Assembly
Article 9 – Below articles are discussed and decided by the General Assembly:
1- Election of society bodies,
2- Changing the bylaws of the society,
3- Hearing of the reports from the board of directors and the supervisory board and acquittal of the board of directors,
4- Accepting the budget prepared by the board of directors as is or after changes
5- The supervision of the bodies of the society and if necessary dismissal of such bodies or member of the bodies,
6- Reviewing the objections related to the cancellation or expulsion decisions taken by the board of directors,
7- Authorizing the board of directors to buy real estate for the society or sales of the real estates owned by the society,
8- Reviewing and accepting the society’s rules of conduct prepared by the board of directors as is or after changes,
9- Determining the salaries, per diems, compensations and travel costs for the members of the board of directors and supervisory boards who are no public servants and determining the per diems and travel costs to be presented to the members who will be assigned an official duty for the society,
10- Deciding for the society to join or resign from a federation and authorizing the board of directors for this purpose,
11- Deciding for the opening of branches of the society and authorizing the board of directors for this purpose,
12- Deciding for the international activities of the society and if the society should join or retire from international organizations,
13- Deciding if the society will establish a foundation,
14- Annulment of the society,
15- Reviewing and deciding about the other suggestions made by the board of directors,
16- As the highest authorization body of the society, taking care of business that has not been assigned to any other body of the society and taking decisions about such matters,
17- All other duties that should carried out by the general assembly which are stated in the related legislation.
Forming, Duties and Powers of the Board of Directors
Article 10 – The board of directors are elected by the General Assembly as 7 actual members and 7 reserve members.
After the election, the board of directors convene to appoint the president, vice president, secretary, treasurer and the members within themselves.
The board of directors can convene anytime in the case all members of the board of directors are called in to such meeting. A meeting of board of directors is official if 1 more than half the number of board of directors are present in this meeting. Decisions taken in this meeting are taken by the simple majority of the number of members who attended to such a meeting.
It is mandatory to call for the reserve member who has collected the greatest number of votes in a General Assembly in case one of the actual members of the board resigns or vacate their seat permanently for any other reason.
Duties and Powers of the Board of Directors
The board of directors conduct business for the following matters:
1- Representing the society or assigning a member from the society or a third party to do so,
2- Working on the income and expense budget of the society and preparing the next budget for the review of the general assembly,
3- Preparing the regulations regarding the society’s way of conduct and presenting them to the general assembly,
4- Buying or selling real estate, having a building or a facility constructed, contracting for rental, participating in mortgages for the favor of the society upon receiving authorization from the general assembly,
5- Taking care of the proceedings to start a new branch or branches upon receiving authorization from the general assembly,
6- Making sure the branches of the society are supervised, and if deemed necessary dismiss the presidents or board of directors of the branches with valid reasons,
7- Taking the decision to open representation offices in necessary locations and opening these offices,
8- Carrying out the decisions taken by the general assembly,
9- At the end of each fiscal year, preparing the income expense budgets and reports of the conduct of the board of directors and presenting them to the general assembly when convened,
10- Making sure the budget is carried out,
11- Taking the decisions on accepting new members and expulsion of actual members,
12- Taking all necessary kind of decisions and actions within its’ purview in order to achieve the aims of the society,
13- Carrying out all other duties specified by the related legislation and using its’ powers.
Forming, Duties and Powers of the Supervisory Board
Article 11 – The supervisory board is elected as 3 actual and 3 reserve members by the general assembly.
It is mandatory to call for the reserve member who has collected the greatest number of votes in a General Assembly in case one of the actual members of the board resigns or vacate their seat permanently for any other reason.
Duties and Powers of the Supervisory Board
Supervisory board supervises and reports on if the society is conducting business within the assigned subjects and limits in the bylaws, if the books and accounts and balances of the society is recorded as written in the bylaws. The supervisory board supervises such articles within the bylaws and within the assigned a period of less than one year and reports its findings to the board of directors and to the general assembly when convened.
Supervisory board can call for a general assembly if needed.
The Source of Income of the Society
Article 12 – The sources of income for the society are listed below:
1- Membership Fee: Members are subject to pay 50,00 TRL (fifty Turkish Liras) to become a new member and 75,00 TRL (seventy-five Turkish Liras) annually. The general assembly has the authority to change these fees.
2- Branch Payment: In order to meet the general expenses of the society branches forward the 30% of the fees collected from the members to the headquarters,
3- The voluntary donations made to the society by individuals or corporations,
4- The income accumulated from congress, scientific meeting, conference, symposium, course, dinner organization, touristic activity, concert, theatre, sports match or tea party organized by the society,
5- Income accumulated from the real estate owned by the society,
6- All donations and gifts collected in line with the legislation about donations,
7- Income accumulated from commercial organizations the society participates into in order to carry out the aims and bylaws of the society,
8- All other income.