During the winter season of 1955, Doctors Glenn MacDonald and J. Bishop McGill talked over the formation of a medical organization which would be composed of physicians involved in winter activities and physicians interested in skiing, ski patrols, and the care of the injured skier. Dr. MacDonald was aware of the Northwest Medical Association and of its accomplishments. Dr. McGill talked this over with Dr. Philip Wheeler of Brattleboro who was active in caring for ski injuries and in ski patrol work in the Brattleboro area. He also felt that this would be a worthwhile organization and would provide an opportunity for these physicians to exchange ideas and become acquainted, as there was frequently a transfer of patients back and forth due to the very nature of skiing. A group of physicians who might be interested met at the home of Dr. McGill in Burlington, discussed the aims and proposed activities of this organization and agreed that it was a step in the right direction. Dr. Jackson Wright, who was active in the New Hampshire Medical Society, had been contacted and he found that there was considerable enthusiasm in the Hanover area. Plans were made to have the Vermont and New Hampshire doctors get together at the joint meeting of their respective State Medical Societies.

This group met at the Balsams Hotel in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire in September 1957. Present at the first meeting were: Doctors William Baker, Laconia, NH; John Bland, Burlington, VT; Nolan Cain, Burlington, VT; Wayne Griffith, Chester, VT; Bishop McGill, Burlington, VT; Philip Ranson, St. Johnsbury, VT; Stuart Russell, Hanover, NH; Philip Wheeler, Brattleboro VT; and Jackson Wright, Hanover, NH. The consensus was that a medical organization whose main interest and primary concern was skiing and the proper care of the injured skier would fill a definite need in the East. Though a few areas had well-established medical facilities, others had non-existent or poorly-equipped first aid areas and no proper plan for the care and transportation of casualties. The ski patrols were similarly spotty in their functions, and in some areas had little if any liaison with nearby doctors and hospitals. It was decided to discuss these and other problems at an organizational meeting of the new society, as yet unnamed. The constitution and bylaws of the Northwest Medical Association, which had been started several years previously, were reviewed and were of great help in offering a guideline for the Eastern counterpart. Dr. McGill was unanimously elected temporary Chairman. Dr. Russell and Dr. Bland, later replaced by Dr. Wright, were directed to bring forth a set of bylaws at the first annual meeting, which was scheduled to take place at Stowe, VT in February 1958. Dr. M. Glenn MacDonald, an ardent proponent, who was unable to be at the preliminary meeting, and Dr. Wright were appointed cochairmen of the program. Letters were sent to a group of physicians who were involved directly in ski injuries or interested in skiing, and a surprising number of physicians appeared at the first annual meeting.