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.
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 (RMCS), reflecting the growing acceptance of medical specialties at that time. Key figures in its founding included John MacAlister, the resident librarian at the RMCS since 1886, and his supporters Sir Richard Douglas Powell, Sir William Selby Church and Sir William Osler.
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, Alexander Marcet and William Saunders left the Medical Society of London (MSL) as a protest against its president James Sims, and created the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London.
At its first meeting at Gray's Inn, 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.