The Royal Postgraduate Medical School (RPMS) was an independent

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, ...

, based primarily at

Hammersmith Hospital Hammersmith Hospital, formerly the Military Orthopaedic Hospital, and later the Special Surgical Hospital, is a major teaching hospital in White City, West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the London Borough ...

in west London. In 1988, the school merged with the Institute of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and in 1997 became part of

Imperial College School of Medicine Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) is the undergraduate medical school of Imperial College London in England, and one of the United Hospitals. It is part of the college's Faculty of Medicine and was formed by the merger of several hist ...

History

The medical school had its roots in the British Postgraduate Medical School, based at Hammersmith Hospital. It incorporated by

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, b ...

in 1931 and opened in 1935. Its first director was

Edinburgh Medical School The University of Edinburgh Medical School (also known as Edinburgh Medical School) is the medical school of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the United Kingdom and part of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. It was es ...

graduate

Francis Richard Fraser Sir Francis Richard Fraser (14 February 1885 – 2 October 1964) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to Sir Thomas Richard Fraser, the Professor of Materia Medica at the University of Edinburgh and member of the Royal Society, and Susanna Margaret Du ...

. It was the result of recommendations by the Athlone Report of 1921, and was a pioneer institution of postgraduate clinical teaching and research. The school had always been closely linked with the Hammersmith Hospital and the Medical Research Council, where its teaching research and clinical work were carried out. Senior academic staff of the school provided consultant services and academic leadership for Hammersmith Hospital. The RPMS has had an enormous influence on British medicine and had a major role in developing endocrine surgery in the UK. The school became part of the British Postgraduate Medical Federation in 1947, and was known as the Postgraduate Medical School of London. In 1974 the school became independent, with a new charter and the title Royal Postgraduate Medical School. Its separate status ended in 1997 with its assimilation into Imperial College London. Hammersmith Hospital is now a district general hospital and is still a centre of postgraduate medical education and research, although its influence is much less than in the past.

Controversy

An article entitled 'Human Guinea Pigs: A Warning' published in 1962 in the journal ''Twentieth Century'' by Maurice Pappworth highlighted many unethical practices regarding human experimentation at the postgraduate medical school. According to Pappworth, experiments had been carried out without valid

consent Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, with specific definitions as used in such fields as the law, medicine, research, and sexual relationships. Consent as und ...

on vulnerable patients, such as children and the

mentally ill A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitt ...

History

Controversy

See also

Further reading