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 1 Wimpole Street, London and contain one of the largest postgraduate medical library 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 A career in medicine.

The society also owns the nearby 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.