History
Founded in 1518 by a Royal Charter from King Henry VIII, the Royal College of Physicians of London is the oldest medical college in England. It continues to play a pivotal role in raising standards and shaping public health today.
Education
- We are committed to taking care, learning and being collaborative. These values drive the way we behave, how we interact with each other, and how we work together to achieve our vision and improve patient care.
- We value learning : This means we continuously improve through active learning and honest reflection, so that we grow personally and as an organisation, while striving for excellence. We support learning and development opportunities.
Research
Members have always given generously, not just of their time, but also their own collections and wealth. Over the centuries the RCP has accumulated a large number of trusts, given and bequeathed by past fellows, members and their families. Some to them founded research programmes or supported RCP activities and services. Many of these endowed lectures which are still active today.
Career
We employ around 400 staff nationally across our directorates, encompassing academia, research, membership services, policy and campaigning. They directly support physicians in the work they do and their environment through quality improvement and influencing for better health and care. Our core services – such as Finance, HR and IT – provide essential support to all staff.
Distance Learning Courses
Medicine & Health (6)
- Advanced Diploma Dermatology
- Advanced Diploma Infectious Diseases
- Certificate Medicine for the Older Person
- Advanced Diploma Obstetrics and Gynaecology
- Advanced Diploma Occupational Medicine
- Advanced Diploma Paediatrics
Student services
As the largest clinical guideline centre in the UK, the National Clinical Guideline Centre (NCGC) specialises in advice and support to healthcare providers across the globe who want to develop their own clinical guidelines and deliver a work programme covering a wide variety of clinical topics.
Whether it's providing guidelines and quality improvement products or professional skills and training, we provide a bespoke consultancy service that will meet a country's or an organisation’s needs.
Library services
The RCP provides information services as a member benefit and to support the delivery of our medical education courses. Our historical collections are made available for the benefit of the public and the historical research community.
ICT services
The library and archive collections are available to the public for reference use. Loans and other services are available to members and course students.
We have two study spaces providing Wi-Fi, desks, PCs, a printer and scanner, and access to physical collections:
- Library Reading Room,
- Medical Education Resource Centre (MERC)
Student clubs
The RCP has a truly international network, with 18% of our members based outside the UK. We listen to, support and learn from members in more than 80 countries.
Our work spans high-, middle- and low-income countries, ranging from accreditation work and guideline development in the Middle East to clinical skills workshops in rural Nigeria.
We also develop and coordinate the globally-recognised MRCP(UK) exams as part of the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians, and deliver a wide range of projects aimed at strengthening health systems and improving medical standards across the globe.
The Accreditation Unit manages accreditation programmes in a number of clinical services including:
- Endoscopy - Joint Advisory Group on gastrointestinal endoscopy (JAG)
- Primary Immunodeficiency - Quality in Primary Immunodeficiency Services accreditation scheme (QPIDS)
- Allergy - Improving Quality in Allergy Services (IQAS)
- Liver - Improving Quality in Liver Services (IQILS)
- Pulmonary Rehabilitation - Services Accreditation Scheme (PRSAS)