Sindicato Independente dos Médicos

What Sindicato Independente dos Médicos does

Sindicato Independente dos Médicos (SIM) is Portugal's largest independent medical union, founded in 1979 and headquartered in Lisbon. The organization represents and defends the professional and labor interests of physicians working in Portugal's National Health Service (SNS), hospitals, healthcare centers, and other medical institutions. SIM operates through a national headquarters and seven regional secretariats (Norte, Centro, Lisboa e Vale do Tejo, Alentejo, Algarve, Açores, and Madeira), supported by a network of workplace delegates in healthcare institutions. The union engages in collective bargaining with the government and private healthcare operators, achieving concrete outcomes including salary increases, working condition reforms, and binding company agreements.

SIM's core offerings center on legal support and representation (Serviço Jurídico), salary transparency tools (salary tables and an overtime pay calculator web application), career development resources (medical competitions/concursos listings, training fund), and member benefits including a social fund, vacation apartments in Isla Canela, and partner discounts. The union publishes quarterly bulletins, operates a multi-channel communications presence across web, social media, email newsletters, and YouTube, and hosts events including the S3 Summer School for medical residents. Technology consists of a member portal, the overtime calculator, an email newsletter subscription system, and RSS feeds — standard web infrastructure rather than proprietary platform technology.

The business model is subscription-based membership dues billed monthly to affiliated physicians, with revenue dependent on member count. Membership is open to all categories of Portuguese physicians — hospital doctors, primary care, residents, specialists, and general practitioners. SIM is governed by a National Council led by President Jorge Roque da Cunha and a National Secretariat led by Secretary-General Nuno Rodrigues, and operates independently of political parties. The union is a member of FEMS (Federação Europeia de Médicos Assalariados) and engages in international physician advocacy.

Name

Sindicato Independente dos Médicos

Legal name

Sindicato Independente dos Médicos

Website

https://simedicos.pt

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sindicato Independente dos Médicos (SIM) is Portugal's largest independent medical union, founded in 1979, representing physicians in collective bargaining and providing legal support, salary tools, and career development services through seven regional offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lisbon

HQ country

Portugal

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Union Membership Dues: SIM generates revenue through membership fees/subscriptions from affiliated physicians. The union offers various membership benefits including legal services, salary information, professional development funds, and access to partner protocols and discounts that incentivize membership.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

Sindicato Independente dos Médicos (SIM) is Portugal's largest independent medical union, founded in 1979, representing and defending the professional and labor interests of physicians. The union provides members with free legal support, salary information tools including an overtime calculator, training and social funds, vacation accommodations, and access to partner discounts. SIM negotiates collective bargaining agreements with the Portuguese government on behalf of physicians working in the National Health Service (SNS), hospitals, and healthcare centers across mainland Portugal and the autonomous regions of Açores and Madeira.

Product overview

Sindicato Independente dos Médicos (SIM) is Portugal's largest medical union offering a comprehensive suite of member services including legal support, salary tools, professional development resources, and communication platforms. The core offerings center on legal assistance and representation, salary information tools (including an overtime calculator), career development resources through competitions and training funds, and communication channels including quarterly bulletins, news, press releases, and multimedia content. Member benefits include social support funds, vacation accommodations, and partnership discounts. The organization also facilitates events, webinars, and the S3 Summer School program for young physicians.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Serviço Jurídico (Legal Service) Free legal support and representation service for member physicians, including legal advice, document templates (minutas), memoranda, and legislation resources. Members can submit legal questions online and access legal documentation through the dedicated legal service portal.
• Calculadora Horas Extra (Extra Hours Calculator) Standalone web application allowing physicians to verify if their overtime compensation is correctly reflected in their pay slips. Provides automated calculation against current salary tables and overtime rules.
• Tabelas Salariais (Salary Tables) Reference resource displaying current remuneration tables applicable to physicians in Portugal, including career progression scales across different medical specialties and seniority levels.
• Concursos (Medical Job Competitions) Job competition listings for medical positions in Portugal, including recruitment and career progression opportunities. Provides centralized access to public sector competitions relevant to physicians.
• Fundo de Formação (Training Fund) Financial support fund providing member physicians with resources for training and professional development activities.
• Fundo Social (Social Fund) Social support fund providing assistance to SIM members in various personal and professional situations requiring financial aid.
• Apartamentos Isla Canela Vacation apartments in Isla Canela, Spain, available for member physicians and their families to use during holidays.
• Newsletter Subscription Email newsletter subscription service delivering union communications to members across multiple categories including news, official communications, press clips, and quarterly bulletins.
• Union Membership Standard monthly membership subscription for physicians in Portugal, providing access to all union services including legal representation, collective bargaining outcomes, salary tools, training funds, social funds, and member discounts.

Quantifiable outcome

• Salary increases up to 26.9% for medical residents between 2023-2027, with monthly increases exceeding €500 in some positions
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Ribera PortugalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 July 2026SIM reached an agreement with Ribera Portugal, the manager of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) at Hospital de Cascais Dr. José de Almeida. The new Company Agreement (Acordo de Empresa) establishes a comprehensive framework for career development, compensation, and work organization for SIM-affiliated physicians. Key provisions include mandatory career integration, protection of remuneration and benefits, payment for night work, supplements for Saturdays, Sundays, holidays and rest days according to SNS hospital physician regime, night work recognition from 20h00 to 08h00 in emergency and intensive care, dispensation from night work from age 50 and emergency work from age 55, two days of weekly rest and 12 hours between shifts.
• Santa Casa da Misericórdia de LisboacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSIM signed an agreement with Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa covering working conditions and compensation for physicians. The agreement addressed disputes and led to the cancellation of a planned strike action.
• FEMS - Federação Europeia de Médicos AssalariadoscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSIM participates in the European Federation of Salaried Doctors (FEMS), attending general assemblies and contributing to discussions on healthcare policy and physicians' rights across Europe. SIM's President participated in FEMS General Assembly in Wroclaw, Poland discussing challenges faced by health professionals and public health systems in Europe.
• Protocols and Partnerships (Protocolos e Parcerias)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSIM maintains various protocols and partnerships providing benefits to members including discounts on services, products, and access to vacation apartments in Isla Canela. These partnerships enhance member value and incentivize union affiliation.
• Nova School of Business and Economics (Nova SBE)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerSIM signed a protocol with Nova SBE for management education partnerships, providing SIM members access to health services management courses and professional development programs.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• FEMS — Federação Europeia de Médicos Assalariados: European federation of which SIM is a member. Operates at a supra-national level, coordinating salaried-doctor representation across EU member states — directly comparable in mission to SIM but at pan-European scope.
• British Medical Association (BMA): UK's national trade union and professional body for doctors. Comparable in mission (physician representation, collective bargaining, legal services) and in offering a portfolio of member benefits, publications, and policy advocacy — though operating at significantly larger scale than SIM.
• Canadian Medical Association (CMA): Canada's national physician advocacy organization. Comparable in mission (physician representation, policy influence, member benefits) and operates with a comparable national scope, though Canadian healthcare funding structures differ from Portugal's NHS model.
• Australian Medical Association (AMA): Australia's principal professional association and lobby group for doctors. Comparable in providing member services, salary advocacy, and policy representation — though operating at continental scale and combining regulatory and union functions.

Regional players

• Marburger Bund: Germany's largest doctors' union, focused on hospital physicians. Operates in the German healthcare system with a similar collective-bargaining and member-services model to SIM, but at much larger scale and in a different national market.
• Confederación Estatal de Sindicatos Médicos (CESM): Spain's main medical union confederation, representing physicians across Spain's autonomous communities. Highly comparable to SIM in structure and mandate, but operates in the Spanish (not Portuguese) healthcare system — hence a regional/geographic peer.
• Confédération des Syndicats Médicaux Français (CSMF): France's leading medical union representing salaried and liberal physicians. Comparable mission and member-benefit structure to SIM, but focused on the French healthcare system rather than Portugal.

Direct peers

• Ordem dos Médicos: Portugal's professional regulatory body for physicians. While not a union per se, it shares the same constituency (Portuguese physicians) and intersects with SIM on professional standards, ethics, and career progression issues.
• FNAM — Federação Nacional dos Médicos: Portugal's other major medical union representing physicians in the SNS. Direct competitor for physician membership, collective bargaining mandates, and government recognition — operating alongside SIM in the same national territory with overlapping constituencies.

Emerging players

• Associação Médica Brasileira (AMB): Brazil's national medical association representing physicians. Operates in a different healthcare system but shares with SIM the mission of professional representation, continuing education, and member services for a Portuguese-speaking medical workforce.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/login
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@sindicatoindependentedosme3204
• Facebookfacebook.com/simedicos.pt
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sindicato-independente-dos-m%C3%A9dicos
• Instagraminstagram.com/simedicos.pt

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sindicato Independente dos Médicos