What it is
The College has over 20,000 Fellows and Members worldwide, of which 80% are based in the UK. The Fellows are senior members of the medical profession, usually hospital consultants or physicians working in university departments of medicine.
The majority of our Fellows and Members work in the medical specialties. Others specialise in Occupational Health, Public Health or Pharmaceutical Medicine and practise largely outside hospitals. These three branches of medicine have their own Faculties associated with the College, as does Accident and Emergency Medicine where the practice is within the hospital environment.
Our Education Department develops educational policy and initiatives which effect a continual improvement in the level of education for physicians in all grades and to provide the highest quality of education support. The College oversees the provision of education for physicians-in-training and also supports continuing professional development for consultant physicians.
The Clinical Effectiveness and Evaluation Unit (CEEU) aims to improve the quality of care delivered to patients in the National Health Service. The Unit produces national clinical guidelines and designs clinical audit tools to ensure that the best cures and treatments reach the maximum number of patients able to benefit, and that patient care is managed effectively. By producing these materials, the Unit can help clinicians everywhere measure how effective their treatment and care programmes are, and can encourage improvements in a wide variety of areas.
The College has regional offices, which support the work of the College’s Regional Advisers, and organise a growing range of local education events and other activities. A particular area of involvement is with the process of appointing new NHS Consultants.
[Back to Top]
Our purpose
The Royal College of Physicians aims to promote the highest standards of medical practice in order to improve health and healthcare.
We achieve this by:
- Setting standards in clinical care
- Supporting physicians in their practice of medicine throughout their working lives
- Advising Government, the public and the profession on healthcare issues
- Promoting the advancement of medical knowledge
- Working with others across the healthcare system, nationally and worldwide
[Back to Top]
What we do
- Define and monitor programmes of education and training for physicians at all stages of their careers
- Set examinations, including the MRCP(UK) qualification required of UK graduates before they can enter specialist training
- Review the suitability of hospital posts for the training of physicians
- Provide education for physicians through the lectures, conferences and teach-ins we organise
- Publish educational materials including a bimonthly journal, specific reports and CD-ROMs for distance learning
- Advise Government and other public bodies on matters of health and healthcare
- Make statements and publish reports on issues of health and healthcare we consider to be of public importance
- Contribute to maintaining standards of care via our representation on committees for the appointment of all consultant and trainee physicians
- Maintain close links with medicine overseas, both through our overseas Fellows and Members, and with similar organisations in other countries
- Provide, through our library, a valuable historical resource
- Provide professional advice and support for career grade physicians and those in training
[Back to Top]
Facts and Figures
- The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has 11,000 Fellows worldwide - of whom approximately 6,500 are in the United Kingdom - and over 9,000 Collegiate Members.
- 19,473 candidates took the MRCP(UK) examination in 2004.
- During 2004 1.3 million MRCP(UK) revision questions were attempted on the RCP Medical Masterclass website.
- The RCP has 4,622 trainees enrolled with its Joint Committee for Higher Medical Training (JCHMT).
- The RCP website delivered 7,551,446 page requests and documents in 2004.
- By the end of 2004 there were 4,291 people registered for RCPlive, representing 78 countries.
- The RCP Patient Involvement Unit has the largest network of patients and carers within a Medical Royal College.
- The RCP's Myocardial Infarction National Audit Project (MINAP) has 100% participation with all hospitals in England and Wales that admit patients with acute myocardial infarction submitting data.
- The RCP iLab has access to 157,240,698 episodes of admitted patient care held on Hospital Episode Statistics (England) and the Patient Episode Database Wales.
- The RCP Census is the only annual nationwide workforce survey to collect consultant numbers and working patterns for each general medical specialty.
- The RCP has 74 International Advisers who represent the College overseas and act as a point of contact between local Members and Fellows and the College.
- The RCP has 32 Committees and Working Parties and 23 Specialty Committees.
- The RCP has 10 regional offices.
- In 2004 40,281 publications were sold by the RCP.
10 Historical Facts
- 1518 - The College of Physicians is founded by King Henry VIII
- 1546 - The Arms of the College are granted
- 1666 - The College building is destroyed in the Fire of London
- 1674 - The word 'royal' is used in the College name for the first time
- 1725 - The College petitions Parliament on the evils of excessive consumption of alcohol, mainly cheap gin
- 1768 - The College's first journal, the Medical Transactions, is published
- 1859 - The first MRCP examination is held
- 1962 - The College's first smoking report, Smoking and Health, is published
- 1964 - The College moves into its present building in St Andrews' Place
- 1989 - Margaret Turner-Warwick is elected the first female President
[Back to Top]
|
