British Society for the History of Medicine

Poynter lecture - Congresses - Officers - International Society - Affiliated societies - Constitution
Newsletters - John Blair Trust - Book reviews - Links and information

Congress in Belfast, 2nd to 5th September 2009

The 23rd Congress will be held at Stranmillis University College, Belfast Wed 2nd to Sat 5th September 2009; details with prices and registration form, together with a call for abstracts, are on our Congresses page.

Congress News

A poster session on Saturday Sept 5th is now open for submissions by anyone, with a prize for the best poster by a student - see Congresses page

A summary of the programme has been announced - see Congresses page.

John Blair Trust

The John Blair Trust provides cash assistance for students' research in the history of medicine and allied fields. Such applications might include funding up to £50 for necessary travel, photocopying, research fees and any other incidental or enabling expenses.

2008 Web Newsletter

The 2008 Newsletter is now available. The body of the newsletter is one web page, for ease of printing. The accounts are a separate Word document linked from the treasurer's report.

2008 BSHM Flyer

A two page 2008 BSHM flyer (Word Document) is now available, suitable for black and white printing and general distribution. It has details of the 2009 Congress in Belfast, a list of affiliated societies, a report of the 2008 Poynter lecture, and details of the International Society for the History of Medicine and its journal Vesalius.

Conference on 'The Epidemic in Modern History', Cork, November 6th and 7th 2009

We have the First call for papers for this conference at University College Cork,

Mary Langman Prize for essay about the Peckham Experiment of the Pioneer Health Foundation

The experiment was an enquiry into the nature of health, running from 1935 to 1950, studing the family unit in a community setting. There is an annual award of £500 for an essay that furthers the lessons learnt at the Pioneer Health Centre. See our Pioneer Health Foundation item under related societies/

Book review and notice

We have information on books - review of A History of The London Clinic, by Harvey White, and a review of George Guthrie - Soldier and Pioneer Surgeon, by Raymond Hurt

The British Society for the History of Medicine was formed in 1965, by representatives of the Section of the History of Medicine of the Royal Society of Medicine, the Faculty of the History and Philosophy of Medicine and Pharmacy of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London, The Scottish Society for the History of Medicine and the Osler Club of London. It now has a number of other Affiliated societies. Its objectives are to hold a biennial congress, to arrange the biennial Poynter Lecture in alternate years with the congress, to represent the United Kingdom in the affairs of the International Society for the History of Medicine and to encourage study, teaching and research in medical history. The archives of the Society are held in the archives of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London; please contact the BSHM secretary if you wish to see them.

The Society has no direct individual membership, membership of an affiliated society automatically makes one a member. It is not necessary to be a member to attend the Poynter Lecture or Congress. It is governed by an Officers and Representatives Committee, which meets annually and is comprised of the officers and one representative of each affiliated society or two if its membership exceeds one hundred. The Society publishes the annual BSHM News, which provides a link between its affiliated societies and a forum for the exchange of ideas, a noticeboard for meetings and queries, and the occasional book review. From 2007 the BSHM News will be on this website.

The Society would be glad to have more affiliated societies - please contact the secretary for details of affiliation (see Officers for contact details).

Web pages up to 2002 were held at University of Birmingham Centre for the History of Medicine. Pages were then held at http://www.hawgood.co.uk/bshm/ but are now all on www.bshm.org.uk.

This page by David Hawgood was amended 1 July 2009