royal college of physicians royal college of physicians the royal college of physicians (rcp) is a british professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. founded by royal charter from king henry viii in 1518, as the college of physicians, the rcp is the oldest medical college in england. it set the first international standard in the classification of diseases, and its library contains medical texts of great historical interest. the college is sometimes referred to as the royal college of physicians of london to differentiate it from other similarly named bodies. not to be confused with royal college of physicians and surgeons of glasgow, royal college of physicians of edinburgh, royal college of physicians of ireland, or royal college of physicians and surgeons of canada. royal college of physiciansestablished1518 (1518)typemedical royal collegeheadquartersregent's park, london, englandmembers 40,000 (may 2021)presidentsarah clarkeaffiliationsacademy of medical royal collegesstaff 414 (2019)websitewww.rcp.ac.uk the rcp drives improvements in health and healthcare through advocacy, education and research. its 40,000 members work in hospitals and communities across over 30 medical specialties with around a fifth based in over 80 countries worldwide. the college hosts six training faculties: the faculty of forensic and legal medicine, the faculty for pharmaceutical medicine, the faculty of occupational medicine the faculty of public health, the faculty of sport and exercise medicine and the faculty of physician associates. the rcp's home in regent's park is one of the few post-war buildings to be listed at grade i. in 2016 it was announced that the rcp was to open new premises in liverpool at the spine, a new building in the liverpool knowledge quarter. the spine opened in may 2021. history a college meeting in the early 19th century a small group of distinguished physicians, led by the scholar, humanist and priest thomas linacre, petitioned king henry viii to be incorporated into a college similar to those found in a number of other european countries. the main functions of the college, as set down in the founding charter, were to grant licences to those qualified to practise and to exercise discipline over unqualified and qualified practitioners. this included apothecaries as well as physicians. the college was founded as the college of physicians when it received a royal charter in 1518, affirmed by act of parliament in 1523. it is not known when the name "royal college" was first assumed or granted. it came into use after the charter of 1663. it was legally confirmed by the royal college of physicians of london act 1960, the function of which was primarily to move the premises of the college outside the cities of london or westminster to regent's park). the college has been continuously active in improving the practice of medicine since its foundation, primarily though the accreditation of physicians. it is a member of the uk academy of medical royal colleges. it is sometimes referred to as the royal college of physicians of london to differentiate it from other similarly named bodies elsewhere. it was the first college of physicians in britain or ireland. its establishment followed the incorporation of the barber-surgeons of dublin in 1446 (by royal decree of henry vi of england as lord of ireland), which was the first medical corporation in ireland or britain; the barber-surgeons of edinburgh were incorporated by the city of edinburgh in 1505. the cutlerian theatre in warwick lane, an anatomy theatre designed by robert hooke rebuilt after the fire (demolished 1866). the frontispiece to the royal college's pharmacopeia, 1677. engraving by david loggan the college was based at three sites in the city of london near st paul's cathedral, before moving to pall mall east (overlooking trafalgar square), and then to its current location in regent's park. the first harveian librarian was christopher merret, a fellow of the college and a friend of harvey. he was set up with a lifetime appointment that compensated him with room and board and a small stipend. in 1666, the great fire of london destroyed many of the rooms and most of the books, so they tried to break the contract with merret, but he fought them at the king's court, claiming it was a lifetime appointment. he eventually lost the case, was expelled from the fellowship, had to seek private lodgings and return the books he had rescued from the fire. throughout its history the college has issued advice across the whole range of medical and health matters. college publications include the first ten editions of the london pharmacopoeia (written in latin, and used for regulating the composition of medicines from 1618 and, through the college's police the censors, for enforcing the college's monopoly on medical science, then being challenged by the society of apothecaries), and the 'nomenclature of diseases' in 1869. the latter created the international standard for the classification of diseases which was to last until the world health organization's manual of the international classification of diseases superseded it in the twentieth century. the college became the licensing body for medical books in the late seventeenth century, and sought to set new standards in learning through its own system of examinations. the college's tradition of examining continues to this day and it is still perhaps how the college is best known to the general public. the royal college of physicians celebrated its 500-year anniversary in 2018. membership and fellowship membership the mrcp(uk) postnominal is used by doctors who have passed the examinations for the diploma of membership of the royal colleges of physicians of the united kingdom, which are held jointly by all of the uk royal colleges of physicians. holders of the mrcp(uk) may also become "collegiate members" of the london college (using the additional post-nominal mrcp(lond)) and/or of the other two uk colleges. affiliate membership of the royal college of physicians is a similar level of membership as collegiate membership, but is awarded to senior doctors without mrcp(uk). both collegiate members and affiliate members may be considered for advancement to fellowship of the college. the college also has associate, medical student, and foundation doctor levels of membership. fellowship frcp, the fellowship diploma of the royal college of physicians fellows of the royal college of physicians (who use the post-nominal frcp) are elected mostly from the general membership (collegiate or affiliate), but also occasionally from among the members of the more specialised faculties within the royal colleges of physicians, e.g. occupational medicine (mfom), pharmaceutical medicine (mfpm), and forensic and legal medicine (mflm), etc. there are also fellows who are elected de jure (usually medical experts from other countries) and honoris causa (dignitaries, members of the royal family, etc.). licentiate the diploma of licentiate of the royal college of physicians (lrcp) is no longer awarded. the lrcp qualification used to be reserved for medical graduates, in practice mainly bachelors of medicine from oxford and cambridge, but in the mid-nineteenth century became part of a very popular initial qualification in medicine awarded together with the mrcs (eng) by the conjoint board, which by the end of the twentieth century came to be largely taken by overseas graduates. from 1993 the lrcp was awarded together with the lrcs and lmssa through the united examining board until this pathway to medical registration was abolished in 1999. library the library aims to support the learning and information needs of the members, students, and staff of the college. the unique collections may also used for research by members of the public. an enquiry service provides information on the current role and functions of the rcp as well as its history. the library holds books on a range of subjects including: history of medicine genealogy health and social policy medical education rare book collections the royal college of physicians has had a library collection since its foundation in 1518, although most of the original books were destroyed during the great fire of london in 1666. the rare books and special collections are diverse in coverage, reflecting the collecting habits of earlier fellows and the need to provide the broad educational base considered suitable for physicians. the rare books are normally available to the general public, by appointment, monday to friday 10 am - 5 pm. books and journals — new and old — display a continuum of change and development in the rcp's specialties, as well as in the medical profession. highlights include: approximately 130 books printed before 1502, including some of the earliest printings of the classical medical texts by greek, roman and arabic doctors books belonging to and annotated by the elizabethan astrologer and occultist john dee approximately 3,000 books, dated up to 1688, in the dorchester collection, on a variety of subjects including architecture, science and travel over 4,500 tracts from the 17th to the 19th century covering a wide range of subjects, both medical and scientific the evan bedford collection, which includes almost every significant text in the history of cardiology up to 1970 highlights of the 20th-century collection include: books relating to the history of the rcp's specialties biographies of fellows and prominent figures in medicine books relating to the formation of the national health service (nhs) and its continuing history books relating to the history of hospitals in the uk books relating to medical ethics and the status and role of the physician every item published by the rcp, including reports and pamphlets. the book collections are displayed in regularly changing exhibitions. in december 2020 the college’s board of trustees (bot) discussed in detail the rcp’s financial position, which, like so many charities, had been impacted significantly by the covid-19 pandemic. all aspects of rcp activity had come under review and a range of cost reduction and income generation options considered, including the possible sale of non-medical books from its collection. the bot recognised that this had caused concern for some quarters of the membership and agreed to delay such a sale for the immediate future. museum collections portrait of a physician in his library by cornelis janssens van ceulen, one of the significant portraits in the royal college of physicians' collection the museum collections at the royal college of physicians relate to the history of the college, and the history of the physician's profession. they help to place the history and development of medicine and health care in its widest context. the collections include: portraits, silver, medical instruments, the symons collection, commemorative medals and anatomical tables. the collection of c. 250 portraits provides a pictorial and sculptural record of presidents, fellows and other physicians associated with it from its foundation in 1518 to the present day. it includes pieces by well-known artists, such as a bust of baldwin hamey junior (1600–1676) by edward pierce and one of richard mead (1673–1754) by louis françois roubiliac. there are portraits, such as that of richard hale (1670–1728) by jonathan richardson. in 1964 a volume on the portraits of the college was published by gordon wolstenholme in which they were described by david piper. the silver collection has few pieces pre-dating the great fire of london (1666) because of a robbery during the previous year. baldwin hamey's inkstand bell and william harvey's whalebone demonstration rod, tipped with silver, are two that survive. many pieces of silver are used to this day for formal occasions in the college. special objects include the president's staff of office, the caduceus and the silver-gilt college mace. the college also owns six 17th-century anatomical tables, probably made by drying and mounting the actual blood vessels and nerves of the human body onto blocks of wood and then varnishing them. they would have been used as a teaching aid for teaching anatomy, because it was difficult to obtain cadavers for dissection. the symons collection of medical instruments is displayed within the college building. it began as a collection of objects relating to self-care in georgian times and expanded to include items that would have been used by physicians when treating patients, mostly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. the collections can be searched via an online catalogue and items on display are open to the general public monday to friday 9 am – 5 pm. the royal college of physicians is a member of the london museums of health & medicine. archives the archive collections date