| Description | The Medical Act 1858 marks the start of the modern period of medical regulation in the UK. The purpose of the Act was to create the body then known as The General Council of Medical Education and Registration of the United Kingdom. Explaining its purpose, the Act says 'it is expedient that Persons requiring Medical Aid should be enabled to distinguish qualified from unqualified Practitioners'.
The Act created the position of Registrar of the General Medical Council - an office still in existence today - whose duty is to keep up-to-date records of those registered to practise medicine and to make them publicly available.
The 1950 Medical Act introduced disciplinary boards and a right of appeal and formally renamed the body to the General Medical Council. It also introduced a compulsory year of training for doctors after their university qualification. The Medical Act 1983 provided the current statutory basis for the General Medical Council's functions. The Council is also bound by laws that implement a European directive on mutual recognition of professional qualifications from European Economic Area countries.
Following the merger of the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) with the General Medical Council (GMC) on 1 April 2010, the GMC is now responsible for regulating all stages of medical education in the UK.
[Source: Wikipedia; www.gmc-uk.org]
Contents: Although medical registration was compulsory from 1859, as these volumes date from 1865, the registration of medical students may have started later.
Medical Students Registers, 1865-1942 |