The organization can trace its origin to three societies:567
The HPA created its scientific arm in 1984, the Institute of Physical Sciences in Medicine (IPSM). The trade union and scientific activities split in 1989: the scientific arm merged with the BES to form IPEMB while the trade union (HPA) joined the Manufacturing, Science and Finance Trades Union (MSF).89 The Association of Medical Technologists (AMT), formerly HPTA, merged with IPEM in 2001.10
There are several categories of membership:
The Institute is a signatory11 of the Engineering Diversity Concordat of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Science Council Diversity Declaration and has its own Equality Policy.12
The Institute holds an annual conference on Medical Physics and Engineering. During this conference the flagship lecture of the Institute, the Woolmer Lecture, is presented. The lecture is dedicated to Professor Ronald Woolmer who was the first Director of the Research Department of Anaesthetics at the Royal College of Surgeons.13 Woolmer convened a meeting at the Royal College of Surgeons, London, to discuss the evolving field of engineering applied to medicine.14 It was agreed that the group should hold regular meetings and as a result the Biological Engineering Society (BES) was formed with Ronald Woolmer as the first President. Woolmer died two years after the formation of the BES and it was agreed that a memorial lecture would be sponsored in recognition of his achievements. The following table includes a list of the lectures since 2002:
IPEM owns three international peer-reviewed journals:15
PMB and Physiological Measurement are published in association with IOP Publishing while Medical Engineering and Physics is published by Elsevier. The Institute also publishes:16
The IPEM president serves for two years and takes office at the Annual Conference. The following table includes a list of all past presidents of IPEMB/IPEM.17181920
Jennings, Allan (December 2006). "Introduction". Scope. 15 (Heritage Supplement): 2–5. ↩
"Search the Professional Registers". The Science Council. https://sciencecouncil.org/the-professional-registers/search/ ↩
IPEM (2013). "2012 A Review of the Year" (PDF). Retrieved 16 September 2013. http://www.ipem.ac.uk/Portals/0/Images/2012%20Annual%20Review.pdf ↩
K. Reynard (2003). Aslib Directory of Information Sources in the United Kingdom. Aslib. p. 646. ISBN 978-0-85142-472-9. Retrieved 7 January 2013. 978-0-85142-472-9 ↩
Zoi Kolitsi; et al. (2001). "Introduction". In Zoi Kolitsi (ed.). Towards a European Framework for Education and Training in Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering. IOS Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-58603-151-0. 978-1-58603-151-0 ↩
"Engineering Diversity Concordat Signatories". www.raeng.org.u. 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2019. https://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/other/diversity-concordat-signatories ↩
"IPEM EQUALITY POLICY STATEMENT" (PDF). www.ipem.ac.uk. 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2019. http://www.ipem.ac.uk/Portals/0/Documents/Diversity%20&%20Equality/Equality%20Policy%20Statement%20July%202015.pdf ↩
G.S.W.O (February 1963). "In Memoriam: Professor R. F. Woolmer, V.R.D.". Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. 332 (1): 129–131. ↩
"Prof. R. F. Woolmer, 1908–1962". Medical Electronics and Biological Engineering. 2 (1): 161–162. April–June 1963. ↩
"IPEM > Publications > Journals". Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20140222153402/http://www.ipem.ac.uk/Publications/Journals.aspx ↩
"IPEM > Publications". Archived from the original on 9 September 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130909153423/http://www.ipem.ac.uk/Publications.aspx ↩
"Appendix 3: Honorary Officers of the IPEM Diversity within the Institute". Scope. 15 (Heritage Supplement): 56. December 2006. ↩
Ison, Keith (December 2007). "President's Letter: Diversity within the Institute". Scope. 16 (4). ISSN 0964-9565. /wiki/ISSN_(identifier) ↩
Gibson, Chris (December 2009). "President's Letter: Welcome to all readers". Scope. 20 (4): 3. ISSN 0964-9565. Archived from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130123052305/http://www.ipem.ac.uk/Publications/SCOPE/ESCOPE.aspx ↩
Jarritt, Peter (December 2011). "President's Letter: In the Spotlight". Scope. 20 (4): 3. ISSN 0964-9565. Archived from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130123052305/http://www.ipem.ac.uk/Publications/SCOPE/ESCOPE.aspx ↩