Celebrating five years of BSLM

Five years ago TODAY – on October 21, 2016 – the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine was officially constituted as a charity. Our purpose then, as now, is to reframe healthcare using lifestyle medicine – and to give hope to the millions of people around the UK who suffer every day because of chronic disease.

We have come a long way in five years. Remember our first meeting in Bristol when there were less than 100 of us?

In five years, our small but committed band of early enthusiasts has grown into a hugely successful UK-wide movement – with more than 750 people joining us for our 2021 annual conference. Incredibly, we have attracted more than 2,000 members in that time: GPs, healthcare professionals, public health experts, academics and researchers who share our passion for improving the nation’s health and wellbeing using lifestyle medicine.

In many ways, we’ve only just begun – and we look forward to the next five years of embedding lifestyle medicine as a mainstream, evidence-based discipline which is at the heart of the UK’s healthcare systems. Lifestyle medicine education will be an even bigger focus for us in the coming years – and watch out for the forthcoming launch of the BSLM Learning Academy which will be a crucial part of this!

Thank you to everyone who has joined or supported BSLM over our first wonderful half decade – and thank you to our trustees, directors, the BSLM office team – and our international partners in the global lifestyle medicine movement! Let’s not forget the hundreds of diplomate students who have sat the lifestyle medicine diploma exam through BSLM and the IBLM – more than 600 of you by the end of this year!

You have all made our society what it is today – a diverse, respected and welcoming movement which is changing the world of medicine for the better. Go on, give yourselves a round of applause!

Dr Fraser Quin
BSLM Executive Director