science

MIMS Ireland

MIMS Ireland is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand MIMS Ireland rather than just read about it. In short: The Monthly Index of Medical Specialities Ireland (MIMS Ireland) is a prescribing guide delivered to medical practitioners in Ireland. It was established in 1960 as a small, concise medical guide.

Key takeaways

MIMS Ireland belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect MIMS Ireland to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of MIMS Ireland from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Monthly Index of Medical Specialities Ireland (MIMS Ireland) is a prescribing guide delivered to medical practitioners in Ireland. It was established in 1960 as a small, concise medical guide. MIMS Ireland is used by the Irish Medicines Board to convey information on drug safety, and is a "recommended text" in the premises requirements for pharmacies issued by the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI). It is also listed as a reference for the use of drugs in sports by the Irish Sports Council. Reed Business Information sold MIMS Ireland to Metropolis International in 2009. MIMS Ireland celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2010.

Origin Dr John O'Connell, an Irish general practitioner who later became the Minister for Health, proposed the concept of a compact, user-friendly medical guide for use by doctors when prescribing drugs to English publisher Alf Morgan. This guide was called the Monthly Index of Medical Specialities (MIMS). As drug names in Ireland were somewhat different from those in the UK, Morgan and O'Connell both set up their own versions of MIMS in their respective home countries. The MIMS concept was subsequently taken up by a number of other English speaking countries around the world who set up their own versions of MIMS.

Editorial content The core of MIMS Ireland consists of entries (monographs) of medicinal products available in the Republic of Ireland. These include a summary of main prescribing information such as indications, dosage, contraindications, interactions, special-warnings and side effects as well as information about pack size and price. MIMS Ireland also works in collaboration with the Irish Sports Council to provide guidance on the use of each drug in sport. In addition, MIMS Ireland contains a preliminary section which each month includes:

Extended monographs of new products that have become available in that month New Clinical Evidence (reviews of recently published/presented results of clinical trials) A Clinical Special (monthly focus on a particular condition) A monthly update on safety issues provided to MIMS Ireland by the Irish Authority for Pharmacovigilance reporting (the Irish Medicines Board, or IMB) A summary of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code provided to MIMS Ireland by the Irish Sports Council Though MIMS Ireland is supported by advertisement and educational grants from the pharmaceutical industry, it is an independently written and edited. Several supplements, focusing on specific areas, have been published alongside MIMS Ireland. These have included an oncology reference, diabetes Reference and cardiovascular reference supplement.

See also Irish Medical Times, also founded by John O'Connell

References

External links Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with MIMS Ireland

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what MIMS Ireland claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to MIMS Ireland before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about MIMS Ireland ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of MIMS Ireland

In research: MIMS Ireland appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses MIMS Ireland in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: MIMS Ireland is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Drugs in the Republic of Ireland, Pharmaceuticals policy, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for MIMS Ireland outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “MIMS Ireland” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study MIMS Ireland in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what MIMS Ireland means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain MIMS Ireland out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is MIMS Ireland in simple terms?

The Monthly Index of Medical Specialities Ireland (MIMS Ireland) is a prescribing guide delivered to medical practitioners in Ireland. It was established in 1960 as a small, concise medical guide.

Why does MIMS Ireland matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study MIMS Ireland?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on MIMS Ireland.