The Royal Medical Society (RMS) is a society run by students at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, Scotland. It claims to be the oldest medical society in the United Kingdom although this claim is also made by the earlier London-based Society of Apothecaries (1617). The current president of the 287th session is fifth-year medical student Miss Nanna Sivamanoharan. The RMS is a professional society engaged in the advancement of medical knowledge and provision of assistance to medical students and professionals.

History

In 1737 it was established as 'the Medical Society' in 1737. It was granted a Royal Charter in 1778. Earlier the society was conceived in 1734 by a group of students who dissected the same body in the anatomy dissection room. They included Dr Cleghorn, Dr Cuming, Dr Russell, Dr Hamilton, Mr Archibald Taylor and Dr James Kennedy and perhaps Dr Fothergill. The source is a letter to Dr Fothergill from Dr Cuming in 1782. The RMS sold its extensive library, built up throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, at three sales at Sotheby's in London in 1969. Much of the collection was purchased by the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Journal

Res Medica is the journal of the Royal Medical Society. It was first published in 1957 which means that it one of the longest-running student-led publications in Britain.

The society today

The RMS owns rooms above Potterrow, the Edinburgh Students Union building, on Bristo Square. During the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the rooms are used as a performance venue for Pleasance promoters and host the Performers'/VIP bar (Brooke's Bar). The estate, is managed by the RMS Trust, which has charitable status. The day-to-day running of the society is managed by the RMS Council – consisting of a senior president, three junior presidents and 11 conveners, each concerned with particular areas of the society.

Notable members