NEWSLETTER

Spring 2026

Message from the Chair

Since our last newsletter a lot has happened in the IPM, not least our Annual Scientific Meeting which this year was held at the stunning Graduate hotel in Cambridge.  The riverside setting in this historic university town was a perfect venue for IPM colleagues to meet and connect once again.  The programme, organised by our Programme Secretary Rhianna Davis, was split into two days, the first day focusing on Subfertility and Psychosexual Medicine, the second on Medically Unexplained Symptoms.  We heard diverse accounts from speakers from a range of professional backgrounds (more to follow on this in the journal and a selection of pictures above).

AGM 2026

We held our 2026 AGM online on 14th April, hearing annual reports from each Council Postholder.  When we listen to the reports we understand how much work has taken place over the year and how much we continue to develop and move forward.  Council roles are voluntary and I am truly grateful to each member of Council who continues to give their time and energy to shape the IPM.

We voted on changes to our Constitution which have been worked on by Beccy Hobbs and Andrew Stainer-Smith, more on this below.  My thanks extend to both of them.

At the AGM we said goodbye to Penny Goold, who stepped down as Recertification Officer, and Rivinda Vitharana who stepped down as Co-Editor of the journal. They have both done amazing jobs and I hope it is only a matter of time before we see them back on Council.

We are delighted that our request for Diplomates on Council resulted in three people stepping forward and at the AGM we welcomed Ashal Uyanak, Hilary Turnbull and Louise Morgan on to Council. I look forward to working with them.

Exam marking system

Following several years of hard work the new exam marking scheme was introduced in September for the Membership exam. Particular thanks go to the Chairs of Examiners, Kate Howells and Laura Jarvis, and also to Jeanette McGorrigan who wrote the descriptors which have proved invaluable.

Looking forward to 2026

In 2026 I anticipate that we will build on our success of 2025. The ITs are going from strength to strength and there are plans for new shorter courses to extend our reach (more below). Plans to develop the ASM into a more locally run operation are under way, and plans for our November Virtual ACM are also underway.  Dates are below - please put them in your diaries now!

We are always keen to hear your views and feedback on any aspect of the IPM - as a membership organisation it is important to us that our members are involved and heard - without you we could not exist! Please feel free to contact myself or Katie, our Admin Secretary, with any questions or comments.

Thanks as always to Katie, Mandy and Emma, and to everyone on Council who make my job so easy.

What the recent changes to our Constitution will make possible

At our AGM in April, we voted to make some changes to our Constitution, our charity governing document. We agreed changes to the membership categories aligning our constitution with the categories we wish to use currently. We wish to use a category of retired membership, for example. Following this vote we plan to update the membership documentation.

We also agreed to make changes to who may sit on Council. Council members, our Trustees, no longer need to have the Diploma or Membership qualifications. This will allow us to recruit Trustees with the skills and experience Council currently lacks to improve the effective running of the charity. We aim to make Council more representative. Trustees are volunteers who give their time and expertise with the knowledge they are helping the charity do its work and giving something back. There will be more to follow about this. If you know of a friend or relative with skills such as accountancy, marketing, law, business strategy or other skills relevant to running a charity please do encourage them to email me for more information.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our Trustees who work so hard and do valuable work. Without them, there would be no IPM.

The Bursary Fund

We are setting up a Bursary Fund for trainees who are having difficulty financing their training. At present we are raising funds to enable us to open this to trainees. This initiative will fulfil our obligations as a charity and allow trainees to complete their training and attain qualifications. At the excellent ASM in beautiful Cambridge we held a raffle and raised over £420 towards this. Thank you everyone who bought tickets and donated prizes for your generosity. As the IPM made a small surplus last year we donated £1,000 to the bursary. With donations and gift aid we have raised nearly £4,000 so far. We do need to raise more to ensure longevity of the bursary.

There are several ways you can help raise funds:

Easyfundraising is an online platform where your shopping can raise donations at no cost to you. Please consider signing up as a supporter and helping us raise more funds for the bursary.

https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/institute-of-psychosexual-medicine

The Benefact Group run Movement for Good. You can nominate charities to win £1,000 or £5,000 in their regular draws. It only takes a few minutes to nominate us.

https://movementforgood.com/draws/1000#charitySearchForm

We have a donation page for the Bursary on our website.

https://www.ipm.org.uk/donate.aspx

I will keep you informed of our progress.

Examination News

Congratulations to the following IPM members who passed the Diploma Exam in February 2026:

Jenna Brassington, Ailsa Campbell, Chathurika Dunumalage,

Louise Morgan, Hanny Stockman, Priya Vansia, Angela Wright

2026 Exam Dates

Exam dates and application details can be found on the website here: Diploma Exams | IPM

Diploma Exams:

Tuesday 7th July 2026 (London, F2F)

Membership Exam:

Tuesday 22nd September 2026 (London, F2F)

Training News

The first quarter of 2026 has been particularly busy for the IPM Training Committee, with a record number of Introductory Courses held this Spring, continuing to build on the success of recent years. A very warm welcome to all our new and returning trainees. Many of those completing an Introductory Course have now joined Regular Seminar Groups and are continuing along the IPM Training Pathway towards the IPM Diploma.

A reminder that trainees should refer regularly to the IPM Training Guidelines throughout their training. These contain full details of our training and examination requirements, as well as key administrative processes - IPM Training Guidelines | IPM.

Mentoring

The IPM Mentoring Scheme continues to offer additional help and support for trainees, both before and after taking the Diploma and Membership Exams. Full details can be found in the subscribers’ area of the website here: Mentoring | IPM

Essentials Course

Following requests from several Trusts, the Training Committee has been developing a new Essentials/Foundation course.  Currently at pilot stage, this shorter, three-hour format is designed to provide a condensed version of the Introductory Course, without case discussion, and will not count towards examination hours. We hope to finalise the curriculum later this year.

Training Mornings

Our recent annual Diplomate Training Morning, led by Pippa Brough and Cath White, was very well attended, with 26 Diplomates joining the day. This event remains open to all subscribing Diplomates - whether currently in training for the Membership Exam or wishing to recertify and stay engaged with IPM.

The Training Committee also continues to support Leadership development, with three Leaders’ Workshops and a Training Day already held this year and more planned for the coming months.

A Fond Farewell

We are sad to say farewell to two longstanding and much-respected Leaders this term — Gillian Vanhegan and Jeanette McGorrigan — and would like to thank them both for their outstanding contributions to IPM as Leaders and Trustees. We wish them every happiness in their very well-deserved retirement. At the same time, we are delighted to welcome Rhianna Davies, who will be taking over Gillian’s London and Cambridge groups from the autumn term.

We are also very pleased to welcome two new Introductory Course Leaders — Nicola Lomax and Alyson Welsh.

Continuing Support

A reminder to subscribing Diplomates that you are very welcome to attend one free Seminar per term. If you would like to do so, please liaise directly with your Leader. These hours are not logged or counted towards Membership, but they provide a valuable opportunity to stay connected and present cases to peers. 

Attendance at a Peer Supervision Group (PSG) for Members - those that have passed the Membership Exam - is now a mandatory requirement for Membership Recertification, so Members should contact their local PSG Leader for details of meeting dates.

Towards the end of the summer term, we will be sending out our annual training evaluation to all Regular Seminar Group trainees. Please keep an eye out for the email.  We do understand how busy everyone is, but your feedback is invaluable and greatly appreciated. 

Payment Reminder and Feedback

A kind reminder to all trainees to pay invoices promptly and in advance of the term ahead. As our administrative team is small and part-time, it is very time-consuming to chase late payments. Please note that trainees with unpaid fees from a previous term may not be permitted to attend the following term, and all outstanding invoices must be settled before sitting any IPM examinations.

Word of mouth remains the best recommendation for IPM training, so please do help us spread the word by promoting our courses to colleagues and teams where possible. The full schedule of Introductory Courses is available on our website, and we can also arrange bespoke courses for groups with sufficient numbers, and also our new Essentials Course.

We always welcome your feedback, so please do get in touch at training@ipm.org.uk if there is anything you would like to discuss.

Contribute to our Journal!

Desperately Seeking Submissions! Some of you will be too young to remember "Desperately Seeking Susan" - the 1985 breakout movie vehicle for Madonna and Rosanna Arquette. I'd recommend! Full of female fashion emancipation and of course an amazing soundtrack. Back to us! Submissions are welcome at any time of year from IPM Trainees, Diplomates and Members and anyone else working in our field. For our next issue, please send in submissions by 10th June to be considered for the next edition.

Desperately Seeking: articles, QIPs, cases, reflections or thoughts or letters on the recent ASM, responses to articles in past journals, film/book/app reviews. Really anything goes!

Please send submissions or queries on future submissions directly to me:

ipmjeditor@ipm.org.uk 

We are also Desperately Seeking a Successor! An IPMJ Editor successor in fact. My fabulous co-editor Rivinda Vitharana has stepped down. I'd like to take the opportunity to thank Riv for all his hard work and dedication to the Editor role. So I'm solo at present and need a fresh set of eyes, energy and enthusiasm! We'd love to hear notes of interest from IPM Trainees, Diplomates or Members. This is a really fun role and no prior experience needed. It is a wonderful way to be involved in the running of the IPM without a huge workload or great responsibility. To note your interest please e-mail me or Katie our Admin Secretary before the end of June 26. 

Looking forward to hearing form you all!

From the Archives

Our Archivist, Andrew Stainer-Smith, has spent some time compiling past AGM reports and newsletters from the early days of the IPM, the pre-cursor to our current IPMJ.  These have now been uploaded to the members section of our website.  Do dip into these when you can as they are a fascinating snapshot of the history of the IPM.

The archive can be found here: From the Archives | IPM

The ASM is coming to Glasgow - save the dates!

We are delighted to announce that we will be taking the ASM back to Glasgow in 2027, our first return to Scotland since 2013!  Please put the dates in your diary as we always love to see as many of you as possible.