Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet, 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 physicians, and he was the first to bring medical students out of the lecture hall for bedside clinical training. He has frequently been described as the Father of Modern Medicine and one of the "greatest diagnosticians ever to wield a stethoscope". In addition to being a physician he was a bibliophile, historian, author, and renowned practical joker. He was passionate about medical libraries and medical history, having founded the History of Medicine Society, at the Royal Society of Medicine, London. He was also instrumental in founding the Medical Library Association of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Association of Medical Librarians along with three other people, including Margaret Charlton, the medical librarian of his alma mater, McGill University. He left his own large history of medicine library to McGill, where it became the Osler Library.
The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London is one of the livery companies of the City of London. It is one of the largest livery companies and ranks 58th in their order of precedence.
John William Michael Bliss (1941–2017) was a Canadian historian and author. Though his early works focused on business and political history, he also wrote biographies of physicians Frederick Banting, William Osler and Harvey Cushing. Bliss was a frequent commentator on political events and issues. He was an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Apothecary is an archaic English term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica (medicine) to physicians, surgeons and patients. The modern terms 'pharmacist' and 'chemist' have taken over this role.
Rajendra 'Raj' Persaud FRCPsych is an English consultant psychiatrist, broadcaster and author of books about psychiatry. He is known for raising public awareness of psychiatric and mental health issues in the general media, has published five books and received numerous awards.
The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society based at 1 Wimpole Street, London, UK. It is a registered charity, with admission through membership.
The Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine (FPM) is a British non-profit organisation that was founded after World War I and pioneered the development of postgraduate educational programmes in all branches of medicine. It was founded in late 1918 as the Inter-allied Fellowship of Medicine with Sir William Osler as its president. In the autumn of 1919, Osler merged the IAFM with the Postgraduate Medical Association of which he had been the founding President since 1911. In October 1919, Osler was appointed President of the combined Fellowship of Medicine and the Postgraduate Medical Association and Sir William Osler became the first president of the new organisation. The fellowship is supported by national and international fellows with expertise in the practice of medicine, medical education, clinical research, and related disciplines. The office and meeting rooms of the fellowship are in Central London. It is governed by a council that meets quarterly.
Sydney Selwyn was a British physician, medical scientist, and professor. He was a medical microbiologist with an interest in bacteriology, authority on the history of medicine, avid collector, writer, lecturer, world traveller, and occasional radio and TV broadcaster.
David Geraint James FRCP was a Welsh physician who devoted his career to the treatment of sarcoidosis, setting up a specialist clinic for the condition and earning the nickname "King of Sarcoid".
The Faculty of History & Philosophy of Medicine & Pharmacy was set up in 1959. It operates under the Society of Apothecaries, but as its own separate organisation, with its own registered charity status.
William Sidney Charles Copeman was a British rheumatologist and a medical historian, best remembered for his contributions to the study of arthritic disease.
The British Society for the History of Medicine (BSHM) is an umbrella organisation of History of medicine societies throughout the United Kingdom, with particular representation to the International Society for the History of Medicine. It has grown from the original four affiliated societies in 1965; the Section for the History of Medicine, The Royal Society of Medicine, London, Osler Club of London, Faculty of the History of Medicine and Pharmacy and the Scottish Society of the History of Medicine, to twenty affiliated societies in 2018.
The History of Medicine Society (HoMS), 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 History of Medicine.
The Diploma in the Philosophy of Medicine (DPMSA) is an academic award in the United Kingdom. It is awarded to students who have completed a one-year study of the philosophy of medicine in a course run by the Faculty of the History and Philosophy of Medicine and Pharmacy, and have passed an examination.
The Triple Qualification (TQ) was a medical qualification awarded jointly by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow between 1884 and 1993. Successful candidates could register with the General Medical Council (GMC) and practise medicine in the United Kingdom. It was a route used by international medical graduates and those unable to gain entry to university medical schools, which included women in the late 19th century and refugee medical students and doctors throughout the 20th century.
The Fitzpatrick Lecture is given annually at the Royal College of Physicians on a subject related to history of medicine. The lecturer, who must be a fellow of the college, is selected by the president and may be chosen to speak for two years successively. The lectures are supported by funds from the Fitzpatrick Trust which was established in 1901 by Agnes Letitia Fitzpatrick with a £2,000 donation in memory of her physician husband Thomas Fitzpatrick. Agnes was influenced by her husband's close friend, Sir Norman Moore, who persuaded her to choose history of medicine as a subject. Subsequently, Moore was credited with its idea and implementation.
A History of Medicine is a book by Scottish surgeon Douglas Guthrie that was published in 1945 by Thomas Nelson and Sons. It came to wide attention after it was reviewed by the playwright George Bernard Shaw and marked the beginning for Guthrie of a new career in teaching the history of medicine.
Haldane Philp Tait (1911-1990) was the Principal Medical Officer for the Child Health Service, Edinburgh and co-founder of the Scottish Society of the History of Medicine and as a result of his contributions, became its President in 1977 and Honorary President in 1981. He also published Dr Elsie Maud Inglis (1864-1917): a great lady doctor in 1964, and later recorded the history of the Edinburgh Health Department from 1862 to 1974 in a book entitled A Doctor and Two Policemen.
Frederick Noël Lawrence Poynter FLA was a British librarian and medical historian who served as director of the Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine from 1964 to 1973.
John Hedley Cule was a Welsh physician who worked as a general practitioner and later as a psychiatrist. In 2005, he was awarded a MBE for his work in mental health in West Wales.
