History of the Royal College of General Practitioners--the first 40 years.

A steering committee met in 1952 to plan for the formation of a new college of general practitioners. An analysis of the work of the Royal College of General Practitioners over its first 40 years suggests that the published aims of the steering committee were largely fulfilled and in some ways exceeded. The unifying theme of the College's development appears to have been the wish to establish general medical practice as a scientific discipline.