Royal Society of Medicine

The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) was founded on the 22nd of May 1805 when leading members of the Medical Society of London split from the society to form a new society that would bring together branches of the medical profession "for the purpose of conversation on professional subjects, for the reception of communications and for the formation of a library". It was originally known as "The Medical and Chirurgical Society of London".

It is not to be confused with the older Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh, Scotland.

It takes members from a wide range of professions including medicine, dentistry, veterinary sciences and allied healthcare specialities. It also welcomes students of medicine, dentistry and veterinary science to join.

Its main purpose is as a provider of medical education running over 350 meetings and conferences each year.The headquarters of the RSM are at [http://www.1wimpolestreet.co.uk/ 1 Wimpole Street] , London and contain one of the largest postgraduate medical libraries in Europe. The Society publishes an eponymous Journal, the JRSM.

For those potentially interested in becoming a doctor and wanting to know what it entails, the society also publishes a comprehensive guide to medical school application, entitled [http://www.acareerinmedicine.net/ A career in medicine] .

The society also owns the nearby [http://www.chandoshouse.co.uk/ Chandos House] , designed by the eighteenth century architect Robert Adam, which it runs as a venue facility.

As of 2006, the President of the Society is Professor The Baroness Finlay of Llandaff FRCP FRCGP.

Honorary Fellowships

The origins of the Society's Honorary Fellowship may be traced back to the first meeting in 1805 of the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, when the following resolution was passed: 'That Gentlemen who have eminently distinguished themselves in Sciences connected with Medicine, but who are not of the Medical Profession, or do not practise therein, be admissible as Honorary Members'.K Newton, "Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine", Volume 84, April 1991, page 245] . A further resolution elected the following inaugural Honorary Members:

*Sir Joseph Banks Bt KB,
*Sir Charles Blagden,
*Dr Aikin [It is not certain whether 'Aikin' is Charles Rochemont Aikin, Arthur Aikin, or John Aikin, author of 'Biographical memoirs of medicine in Great Britain'.]
*Humphry Davy Esq,
*Charles Hatchett Esq,
*Edward Charles Howard Esq,
*Smithson Tennant Esq,
*Dr Wollaston

Later Honorary Follows have included:

*Charles Daubeny
*Thomas Huxley
*Richard Owen
*Charles Darwin
*Louis Pasteur
*Sir William Jenner
*Samuel Wilks
*Sigmund Freud
*Sir MacFarlane Burnet: Nobel Prize Winner for Medicine & Physiology
*Sir Richard Doll: Globally recognised authority on smoking and cancer
*Sir Donald Acheson: CMO and spearhead of UN medical relief envoy in Sarajevo
*Prof Jerry Morris: Expert on exercise and cardio-vascular disease
*Sir George Godber: CMO and leading light in health planning & education
*Sir Kenneth Calman: CMO and fundamental restructuring of medical education
*Michael Shepherd CBE - eminent psychiatrist and driving force behind the increased role played by NHS general practitioner in the treatment of patients with psychiatric illness.

Publications

* 1809 - 1907 : "Medico-Chirurgical Transactions" (Med. Chir. Trans)
* 1908 - 1977 : "Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine"
* 1978 - present : "Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine"

References

External links

* [http://www.rsm.ac.uk/ RSM website]
* [http://www.chandoshouse.co.uk/ Chandos House website]
* [http://www.jrsm.org/ JRSM website]
* [http://www.medsoclondon.org/ The Medical Society of London]

ee also

*List of Royal Societies