One hundred years of an association of physicians

Abstract

The creation of this Association stands out as one of the most important landmarks in the history of British medicine. To appreciate its importance and significance we have to remember the state of affairs previous to its conception. The great hospitals and medical schools scattered throughout the country lived largely isolated existences. Even in the large cities there was a minimum of contact between the staff of one hospital and another. An isolation which is now hard to appreciate. Even in the metropolis, the great teaching hospitals tended to live unto themselves, a kind of glorified independence... The Association changed all that. © 2007 Oxford University Press.