The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a
medical society based at 1
Wimpole Street
Wimpole Street is a street in Marylebone, central London. Located in the City of Westminster, it is associated with private medical practice and medical associations.
No. 1 Wimpole Street is an example of Edwardian architecture, Edwardian baroq ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, UK.
It is a registered charity, with admission through membership.
Its Chief Executive is
Michele Acton
Michele Louise Acton (born 25 June 1967) is the current Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Medicine. A former Investment Banker, she is the Principal-Elect of St Hugh's College, Oxford.
Career
Acton was born on 25 June 1967 and read Philo ...
.
History
The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) was formed in 1907 when 17 individual medical societies merged with the
Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London
The Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London (RMCS), created in 1805 as the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, was a learned society of physicians and surgery, surgeons, that received a Royal charter in 1834, and a supplement chart ...
(RMCS), reflecting the growing acceptance of
medical specialties
A medical specialty is a branch of medical practice that is focused on a defined group of patients, diseases, skills, or philosophy. Examples include those branches of medicine that deal exclusively with children (pediatrics), cancer ( oncology), ...
at that time.
Key figures in its founding included
John MacAlister
Sir John Young Walker MacAlister (10 May 1856 – 1 December 1925) was a Scottish journalist, editor, librarian, and promoter of medical postgraduate education. He was the Secretary of the Royal Society of Medicine from 1901 to 1925 and one of the ...
, the resident librarian at the RMCS since 1886, and his supporters
Sir Richard Douglas Powell,
Sir William Selby Church and
Sir William Osler
Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet, (; July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first residency program for specialty training of phys ...
.
19th century
Although the Society became the RSM in 1907, it is generally accepted by its historians that the origins date back to 1805, when
John Yelloly
John Yelloly (30 April 1774 – 31 January 1842) was an English physician.
Life
Yelloly was born at Alnwick, Northumberland, and was the youngest and sole survivor of seven children. His father died when his youngest child was an infant, and Ye ...
,
Alexander Marcet
Alexander John Gaspard Marcet FRS (1 August 1770 – 19 October 1822), was a Genevan-born physician who became a British citizen in 1800. His wife Jane Marcet was a prolific author, whose series of books entitled 'Conversations' treated topi ...
and
William Saunders William or Bill Saunders may refer to:
Science
* William Saunders (physician) (1743–1817), Scottish physician, first president of Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society
* William Wilson Saunders (1809–1879), British entomologist
* William Saund ...
left the
Medical Society of London
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for patients, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
(MSL) as a protest against its president
James Sims, and created the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London.
The history can be further traced back to the creation of the MSL in 1773,
and as far back as 1660 with the formation of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
.
At its first meeting at
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...
, it was decided that the president would hold office for two years, and membership would be by nomination and election with an initial admission fee and then annual subscription.
This was to avoid a repeat of what had happened at the MSL with the autocratic Sims holding office for over 20 years.
Politics, it was decided, was to strictly be kept out of any agenda.
One of the earliest members to join was
Edward Jenner
Edward Jenner (17 May 1749 – 26 January 1823) was an English physician and scientist who pioneered the concept of vaccines and created the smallpox vaccine, the world's first vaccine. The terms ''vaccine'' and ''vaccination'' are derived f ...
.
Sir David Dundas,
James Parkinson
James Parkinson (11 April 1755 – 21 December 1824) was an English surgeon, apothecary, geologist, palaeontologist and political activist. He is best known for his 1817 work ''An Essay on the Shaking Palsy'', in which he was the first to desc ...
,
John Haighton
John Haighton FRS (c. 1755 – 23 March 1823), was an English physician and physiologist.
Biography
Haighton was born in Lancashire about 1755, and, after being a pupil of Mr. Else at St Thomas' Hospital, became a surgeon to the Guards regiment ...
,
Everard Home
Sir Everard Home, 1st Baronet, FRS (6 May 1756, in Kingston upon Hull – 31 August 1832, in London) was a British surgeon.
Life
Home was born in Kingston-upon-Hull and educated at Westminster School. He gained a scholarship to Trinity Colle ...
, and
Richard Croft, were among those invited to be members without election.
Honorary membership was created for leading scientists not necessarily from the medical field; the first including
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences.
Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...
,
John Aikin
John Aikin (15 January 1747 – 7 December 1822) was an English medical doctor and surgeon. Later in life he devoted himself wholly to biography and writing in periodicals.
Life
He was born at Kibworth Harcourt, Leicestershire, England, son of ...
and
Humphry Davy
Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several Chemical element, e ...
.
From 1810 to 1819 the Society met at 3
Lincoln's Inn Fields
Lincoln's Inn Fields is located in Holborn and is the List of city squares by size, largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a ...
before transferring to 57 Lincolns Inn Fields, where it stayed from 1820 to 1834.
In 1834 it received a
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...
by
King William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded hi ...
, became the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, and in the same year moved to 53
Berners Street
Berners Street is a thoroughfare located to the north of Oxford Street in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, originally developed as a residential street in the mid-18th century by property developer William Berners (property d ...
, where it remained until moving to 20
Hanover Square in 1890.
By 1891 the building there housed 16 separate medical societies.
John Yelloly.jpg, John Yelloly
The Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London. Wellcome L0005255EB.jpg, Librarian's room. 2 Verulam Buildings, Gray's Inn (1805–1810)
The Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London. Wellcome L0005255EA.jpg, Library and Reading Room. Berners Street (1834–1890)
Early 20th century
In 1905, at his RMCS presidential address, Powell delivered an official proposal to form one co-ordinated central organisation consisting of sections that represented the varied specialties, each with its own council.
The first president was Church.
Under the leadership of MacAlister and Osler several medical societies merged with the RMCS of London to form the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) in 1907, but the Medical Society of London remained separate.
The
Harveian Society
The Harveian Society of London, named after the physician William Harvey, is a medical society and registered charity, founded in 1831. Doctors assemble regularly at the Medical Society of London, Chandos Street, Cavendish Square to converse and di ...
and
Hunterian Society
The Hunterian Society, founded in 1819 in honour of the Scottish surgeon John Hunter (1728–1793), is a medical society based at the Medical Society of London, London.
Established by William Cooke, a general practitioner, and Thomas Armiger ...
were kept out as it was decided that these two societies served different purposes.
New rules were adopted on 14 June 1907.
One woman member,
Mary Ann Dacomb Scharlieb
Dame Mary Ann Dacomb Scharlieb, Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, DBE (née Bird; 18 June 1845 – 21 November 1930) was a pioneer British Female physicians, female physician and gynaecologist in the late 19th/early 20th centur ...
of the obstetric and gynaecological section, was listed in the first council meeting.
Between 1907 and 1909, the 17 old societies that had merged, formed their corresponding specialty sections at the new RSM.
The sections of medicine and surgery were created from the RMCS.
The first general meeting was held on 14 June 1907 at Hanover Square.
The 17 societies that merged with the RMCS were:
* Society of Anaesthetists
* British Balneological and Climatology Society
*
Clinical Society of London The Clinical Society of London was founded in London in 1868 and merged in 1907 with the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London to form the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM).
The founding of the Clinical Society was mainly due to Drs. Edwar ...
* Dermatological Society of London
* Dermatological Society of Great Britain and Ireland
* Society for the Study of Diseases in Children
* British Electrotherapeutic Society
*
Epidemiological Society of London
The Epidemiological Society of London was a British medical society founded in 1850 with the objective of investigating the causes and conditions which influence the origin, propagation, mitigation, and prevention of epidemic disease. In 1907 it m ...
* British Gynaecological Society
* British Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Association
* Laryngological Society of London
* Neurological Society of the United Kingdom
*
Obstetrical Society of London
*
Odontological Society of Great Britain The Odontological Society of Great Britain was a learned society formed in 1863 by the merger of the Odontological Society of London and the College of Dentists of England, both of which had been founded within a day of each other in 1856. In 1907 ...
*
Pathological Society of London
The Pathological Society of London was founded in 1846 for the "cultivation and promotion of pathology by the exhibition and description of specimens, drawings, microscopic preparations, casts or models of morbid parts."
Its first meeting was he ...
* Therapeutical Society
In 1910 the Society purchased 2-5 Henrietta Street, the site at the corner of Henrietta Place and
Wimpole Street
Wimpole Street is a street in Marylebone, central London. Located in the City of Westminster, it is associated with private medical practice and medical associations.
No. 1 Wimpole Street is an example of Edwardian architecture, Edwardian baroq ...
, which was opened by
King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
George was born during the reign of his pa ...
and
Queen Mary in May 1912.
Until then, the Society met at 15
Cavendish Square
Cavendish Square is a public square, public garden square in Marylebone in the West End of London. It has a double-helix underground commercial car park. Its northern road forms ends of four streets: of Wigmore Street that runs to Portman Square ...
, having moved out of Hanover Square two years earlier.
The building at 1 Wimpole Street was designed by architects
John Belcher and
J. J. Joass.
In the first nine months membership increased from 1,322 to 2,025.
It housed the Marcus Beck Laboratory, where animal experiments were carried out by
Sir Ronald Ross
Sir Ronald Ross (13 May 1857 – 16 September 1932) was a British medical doctor who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on the transmission of malaria, becoming the first British Nobel laureate, and the f ...
.
Ross, at the time living around the corner from the RSM, in Cavendish Square, applied to use the laboratory at the suggestion of McAlister in 1913.
Some financial support was received from
Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence, and with assistance from Champneys, he was granted a license to conduct animal experiments there.
[ One of his activities was a survey of local children's spleens.][ His younger brother joined him at the laboratory in 1915.][ Ross resigned from the RSM in 1917.][
The Emergency Surgical Aid Corps occupied the building during the ]First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. In 1919, the Postgraduate Medical Association
Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...
was created there.
Late 20th century
Chandos House
Chandos House is a Grade I listed building at N° 2 Queen Anne Street, Marylebone, in central London. It was designed by Robert Adam, the most prominent architect in Georgian Britain, and built by William Adam and Company. It is seen as the fi ...
was acquired in 1963 and later sold in 1986.
Chandos House by C. Halliday Wellcome L0010993.jpg, Chandos House
21st century
In 2005, the building was redeveloped. The library and entrance was renovated, a lecture theatre for 300 people was built, and the atrium was created. Chandos House was re-acquired in 2002. The former building at Hanover Square was sold in 2001. By 2020, membership included around 35,000 healthcare professionals and physicians. The number of sections by this time numbered 58 and the Society was hosting around 400 events a year.
RoyalSocMedicine2011.jpg, Entrance at Wimpole Street
Chandos House, Queen Anne Street, London 12 September 2015.JPG, Chandos House
Heritage Centre at RSM.jpg, Heritage Centre
Historical accounts
The first history of the Society was published in 1905, at the request of Powell, 100 years after the creation of the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London. It was edited by Norman Moore and Stephen Paget
Stephen Paget (17 July 1855 – 8 May 1926) was an English surgeon and pro-vivisection campaigner. and gave an account of how it was established for the "purpose of conversation on professional subjects, for the reception of communications and for the formation of a library". Maurice Davidson Maurice Davidson (1883-8 November 1967) was a British chest physician and historian of several medical societies. He delivered the Fitzpatrick Lecture in 1952–1953 at the Royal College of Physicians. His books include one on the history of the Roy ...
wrote a second history to cover the years 1905 to 1955, first published by Aberdeen University Press
Aberdeen University Press (AUP) is the publishing arm of the University of Aberdeen. Launched in October 2013, AUP is built on the legacy of the defunct printing firm and publishing house of the same name, which existed from 1900 to 1996. Unlike ...
and later by the RSM, who also published a bicentenary account in 2002 authored by Penelope Hunting and edited mainly by the Society's History Section and other professional historians.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
was designed by Martin Travers
Howard Martin Otho Travers (19 February 1886 – 25 July 1948) was a leading English church artist and designer.
Travers was born in Margate, Kent, educated at Tonbridge School, entered the Royal College of Art in 1904, and was awarded its Dipl ...
in 1927. The crest is made up of three all-heal sprigs. At the centre is the tau cross, frequently mistaken for the Rod of Asclepius
In Greek mythology, the Rod of Asclepius (⚕; , , , sometimes also spelled Asklepios), also known as the Staff of Aesculapius and as the asklepian, is a serpent-entwined rod wielded by the Greek god Asclepius, a deity associated with healing ...
. It represents healing. On either side are the Saints Cosmas and Damian
Cosmas and Damian ( – or AD) were two Arabs, Arab physicians and early Christian martyrs. They practised their profession in the seaport of Yumurtalık, Aegeae, then in the Roman province of Cilicia (Roman province), Cilicia.
Cosmas and ...
, one holding a physician's medicine jar and the other a surgeon's knife. The physician stands on the green side of the crest and the surgeon to the red. Beneath is the motto "non-est vivere sed valere vita", as passed down from the RMCS, and translated to "it is important to enjoy good health to live fully".
Library
The RSM houses the fourth largest medical library in Europe, with a holding of circa 413,000 volumes. Its online resources can be accessed 24-hours a day by its members. Due to its historical library holdings, the RSM is a member of The London Museums of Health & Medicine
The London Museums of Health & Medicine is a group that brings together some of the activities of several museums in London, England, related to health and medicine. The group was founded in 1991.
The museums and medical organisations are:
* Al ...
group. The first edition of William Harvey
William Harvey (1 April 1578 – 3 June 1657) was an English physician who made influential contributions to anatomy and physiology. He was the first known physician to describe completely, and in detail, pulmonary and systemic circulation ...
's ''De Motu Cordis
''Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus'' (Latin, 'An Anatomical Exercise on the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Living Beings'), commonly called ''De Motu Cordis'', is the best-known work of the physician William Harv ...
'' was donated to the library by Osler in 1917, and the historical collections also include Celsus's ''De Medicina
''De Medicina'' is a 1st-century medical treatise by Aulus Cornelius Celsus, a Roman encyclopedist and possibly (but not likely) a practicing physician. It is the only surviving section of a much larger encyclopedia; only small parts still surviv ...
'', (1478) and ''Rosa Anglica
Rosa or De Rosa may refer to:
Plants and animals
* ''Rosa'' (plant), the genus of roses
* Rosa (sea otter), a sea otter that has become popular on the internet
*Rosa (cow), a Spanish-born cow
People
* Rosa (given name)
* Rosa (surname)
* Sant ...
'' (1495) by John of Gaddesden
John of Gaddesden (1280–1361) was a medieval English physician. He wrote a treatise on medicine titled ''Rosa Medicinae'' (''The Rose of Medicine''), also called Rosa Anglica ("The English Rose"), between 1304 and 1317, considered to be the fi ...
.
Early years
The library's origins can be traced to 1805 in the rooms at 2 Verulam Buildings, where it started with 35 books. In 1809, Peter Mark Roget
Peter Mark Roget ( ; 18 January 1779 – 12 September 1869) was a British physician, natural theologian, Lexicography, lexicographer, and founding secretary of The Portico Library. He is best known for publishing, in 1852, the ''Roget's Thesau ...
took over the arrangement of the library and in 1812, then in Lincoln's Inn Fields, dermatologist Thomas Bateman Thomas Bateman may refer to:
*Thomas Bateman (antiquary) (1821–1861), English antiquary
*Thomas Bateman (physician) (1778–1821), British physician and dermatology pioneer
*Tom Bateman (politician) (1922–2003), Australian politician
*Tom Batema ...
, was appointed the newly created position of honorary librarian. Bateman completed the first library catalogue
A library catalog (or library catalogue in British English) is a register of all bibliographic items found in a library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations. A catalog for a group of libraries is also ...
in 1816. After the move to 53 Berners Street, a formal library committee was created, which held its first meeting on 16 April 1836. Following complaints of discomfort and cold, gas lighting
Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a fuel gas such as methane, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly by ...
and two Arnott stoves were acquired in 1838. By 1855, the revised catalogue revealed that the library had been growing by around 500 volumes a year and now totalled 17,000 volumes. An interest in historical works by 1859 led to the purchase of a glazed bookcase, and the following year it was decided to keep duplicates of ''The British and Foreign Medical Review
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...
'', ''The Cyclopadia of Anatomy and Physiology
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...
'', ''The Lancet
''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal, founded in England in 1823. It is one of the world's highest-impact academic journals and also one of the oldest medical journals still in publication.
The journal publishes ...
'', ''The London Medical Gazette ''The Medical Times and Gazette'' was one of the principal medical journals of 19th century Britain.
The paper was established in January 1852, and ceased publishing in December 1885. It incorporated the earlier ''Medical Times'' and the ''London ...
'', and '' The Medical Times and Gazette''. By 1868, the library held around 25,000 volumes. In 1874, it was decided that Bergeret's book ''The preventive obstacle; or, Conjugal onanism
''The preventive obstacle; or, Conjugal onanism'' is the English translation by P. De Marmon of the third French edition of Louis François Étienne Bergeret's book (1868). It was published in 1870 by Turner and Mignard Printers and Publishers. ...
'' at first be restricted for loan and then ordered to be destroyed. The Councils minutes record that it was burned later that year. By 1879, the library housed around 31,000 volumes. MacAlister was appointed in 1887 and made the growth of the library the main reason for moving to the larger building at Hanover Square.
Library at 1 Wimpole Street
Between 1907 and 1909, the library incorporated the libraries of the other various societies that had merged with it, and it again became the focus when planning 1 Wimpole Street. The books of Albert Chalmers were received in 1921. The Marcus Beck Library, named for Marcus Beck
Marcus Beck (14 October 1843 – 21 May 1893) was a British professor of surgery at University College Hospital. He was an early proponent of the germ theory of disease and promoted the discoveries of Louis Pasteur, Robert Koch, and Joseph List ...
, was created in 1924 as an extension to the main library for the purpose of storing historical works, and was converted from the former Marcus Beck Laboratory. Roger Beck granted permission for the renovation on the agreement that it retain Marcus Beck's name. William John Bishop joined the library as sub-librarian in 1934.
With the assistance of a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, around 40,000 books and journals were transferred out of London to a place in St. Albans during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
Sections
The first 13 sections were formed directly from their corresponding society that had merged with the RMCS. Admission fees were waived for these section members and they were offered a RSM membership subscription or for a third of the cost, just the membership to their section. One of the first to merge was the Pathological Society of London
The Pathological Society of London was founded in 1846 for the "cultivation and promotion of pathology by the exhibition and description of specimens, drawings, microscopic preparations, casts or models of morbid parts."
Its first meeting was he ...
which dissolved on 4 June 1907.
Anaesthesia
The Section of Anaesthetists of the RSM was created in 1908, when the Society of Anaesthetists, founded in 1893, joined the RMCS. The merge would have occurred in 1907, but it took to secure fellowship of its 13 women members. In 1995, Adrian Padfield, then the Section's president, proposed that its name was changed to the Section of Anaesthesia.
Dermatology
The Dermatology Section was created by the merger of the two founding dermatology societies. One was the Dermatological Society of London, founded in 1882. The other was the Dermatological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.
The specialties for skin disease and sexually transmitted disease
A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, or ...
were traditionally kept separate, although the subject matter had a significant commonality. The unpopular topic of venereology was not added to the section title, despite its many papers on syphilis
Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...
. A call to change its name to that of Dermatology and Venereology Section was never followed up.
Ear, nose and throat
The ear surgeon Alfonso Cumberbatch insisted that otology
Otology is a branch of medicine which studies normal, pathological anatomy and physiology of the ear (hearing). Otology also studies vestibular sensory systems, related structures and functions, as well as their diseases, diagnosis and trea ...
(ear) be kept separate from rhinology
Otorhinolaryngology ( , abbreviated ORL and also known as otolaryngology, otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ORL–H&N or OHNS), or ear, nose, and throat (ENT)) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the surgical an ...
(nose) and laryngology
Laryngology is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders, diseases and Trauma (medicine), injuries of the larynx, colloquially known as the voice box. Laryngologists treat disorders of the larynx, including diseases that affects the voice, swa ...
(throat). From the start, in 1907, the section for the ear was kept separate to the combined section for the nose and throat, although it was not unusual for them to all collaborate and membership to both was common. In the 1920s, both sections successfully petitioned for otolaryngology to be included in the medical curriculum. A diploma in otolaryngology, issued by the Royal Colleges, was shortly issued, and by 1938, the BMA specialist list recognised them as one category.
Epidemiology
The Section of Epidemiology traces its origin to the Epidemiological Society of London.
History of medicine
A section to cover history of medicine was created in 1912, with Osler as its first president. He turned down offers to be the president of the RSM in 1914 and in 1918, without giving any particular reason. Osler felt the section to be one of his most useful achievements during his life in England.
Odontology
The Odontology Section was created directly from the Odontological Society of Great Britain The Odontological Society of Great Britain was a learned society formed in 1863 by the merger of the Odontological Society of London and the College of Dentists of England, both of which had been founded within a day of each other in 1856. In 1907 ...
, which in 1863 had formed by the merger of the Odontological Society of London and the College of Dentists of England, both of which had been founded within a day of each other in 1856. In 1907 they brought to the RSM around 370 new members, 5,000 volumes on dentistry and odontology, and around £5,000 of investments. It also brought with it its entire museum of 2,900 items, later transferred to the Royal College of Surgeons. Harold Mummery became the section's first president, and in 1945 the section elected its first female president, Lilian Lindsay
Lilian Lindsay, CBE, Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA (née Murray) (24 July 1871 – 31 January 1960) was a dentist, dental historian, librarian and author who became the first qualified female dentist in Britain and the first female presi ...
.
Orthopaedics, proctology, and urology
In 1913, the urologist Edwin Hurry Fenwick aksed Sir Francis Champneys, then the president of the RSM, to allow a section for the relatively new specialty of urology
Urology (from Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:οὖρον, οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of t ...
. It was included as a subsection in the Section of Surgery along with proctology and orthopaedics. In 1920, following the First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, it became a full section. It appointed its first president as Peter Freyer
Sir Peter Freyer (2 July 1851 – 9 September 1921) was an Irish surgeon with an expertise in urology, genitourinary surgery, best known at first as an Indian Medical Service (IMS) officer, for making popular the procedure for crushing bladder ...
. The Section of Orthopaedics traced its origin to 1894, when it was called the British Society of Orthopaedics. The Coloproctology Section, originally named Section of Proctology, traces its origin to December 1912 as the British Proctological Society, nine of its 15 founding members being staff of St Mark's Hospital
St Mark's Hospital, The National Bowel Hospital (informally St Mark's) is a hospital in Park Royal, Greater London, England. Managed by London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, it is the only hospital in the world to specialise entirel ...
included John Lockhart-Mummery
John Percy Lockhart-Mummery FRCS (14 February 1875 – 24 April 1957), was a British surgeon at St Mark's Hospital, London, who devised a classification of rectal cancer and described familial polyposis which led to the formation of the polypo ...
. It held its first meeting in February 1913, at 1 Wimpole Street, and three months later became incorporated as a subsection of the Section of Surgery. A request to form a full section was made in 1921 by its president Sir Charles Gordon-Watson. In 1925, George Grey Turner
George Grey Turner (8 September 1877 – 24 August 1951) was an English surgeon.
He was born in North Shields and received his medical degree from Newcastle Medical School (then a part of the University of Durham). He received a Fellowship fr ...
's address "The relationship of proctology to greater medicine" to the sub-section was used as a charter in the petition for a full section, which was granted in 1939 following Lock-Hart Mummery's petition of 1938.
The Urology Section hosts regular meetings and awards.
Awards
Gold Medal
The Society's Gold Medal was to at first be awarded on St Luke's day every three years for outstanding contribution to medicine; the first was received by Sir Almroth Wright in 1920. In 1947, two were awarded together, to Alexander Fleming
Sir Alexander Fleming (6 August 1881 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish physician and microbiologist, best known for discovering the world's first broadly effective antibiotic substance, which he named penicillin. His discovery in 1928 of wha ...
and Howard Florey
Howard Walter Florey, Baron Florey, (; 24 September 1898 – 21 February 1968) was an Australian pharmacologist and pathologist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Ernst Chain and Sir Alexander Fleming for his ro ...
. Other recipients have included Wilfred Trotter
Wilfred Batten Lewis Trotter, FRS (3 November 1872 – 25 November 1939) was an English surgeon, a pioneer in neurosurgery. He was also known for his studies on social psychology, most notably for his concept of the herd instinct, which he f ...
in 1938. Noble laureate Sir Martin John Evans in 2009, Lord Walton of Detchant in 2014, Sir Michael Marmot in 2017, and Dame Sarah Gilbert in 2021.
Edward Jenner Medal
The Edward Jenner Medal
The Jenner Medal of the Royal Society of Medicine, formerly known as the Jenner Memorial Medal or the Jenner Medal of the Epidemiological Society of London, is awarded from time to time by the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM), London, at the recom ...
was originally established in 1896 by the Epidemiological Society of London (1850–1907) to commemorate the centenary of Edward Jenner's discovery of a means of smallpox vaccination. It is awarded periodically by the RSM to individuals who have undertaken distinguished work in epidemiological research.
In 1912 the medal was awarded to Robert Daniel Lawrence
Robert "Robin" Daniel Lawrence (18 November 1892 – 27 August 1968) was a British physician at King’s College Hospital, London. He was diagnosed with diabetes in 1920 and became an early recipient of insulin injections in the UK in 1923. He dev ...
, in 1925 to Sydney Copeman, and in 1981 to Richard Doll
Sir William Richard Shaboe Doll (28 October 1912 – 24 July 2005) was a British physician who became an epidemiologist in the mid-20th century and made important contributions to that discipline. He was a pioneer in research linking smoking t ...
.
Ellison-Cliffe
The annual Ellison-Cliffe Travelling Fellowship of £15,000 is open to Fellows of the Royal Society of Medicine working in the UK or Ireland who are of specialist registrar or lecturer grade or equivalent or who are consultants within three years of their first consultant appointment. The Society hosts the annual Ellison-Cliffe Lecture concerning the advancement of medicine, along with the associated award of a medal.
Norah Schuster prize
The History of Medicine Society
The History of Medicine Society (HoMS) (formerly "section"), at the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM), London, was founded by Sir William Osler in 1912, and later became one of the four founder medical societies of the British Society for the His ...
's Norah Schuster prize is awarded annually to one or more essays in the history of medicine.
''Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine''
The ''Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
The ''Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal. It is the flagship journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, located in London, with full editorial independence. Its continuous publication history dates back to ...
'' is published by SAGE Publishing, and is editorially independent from the Royal Society of Medicine.
See also
* List of presidents of the Royal Society of Medicine
Notes
References
Further reading
* (Written at the request of the President and Council by Dr. Norman Moore and Stephen Paget)
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External links
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