Volume 7 - History of Anaesthesia Society

The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) is a direct descendant of these two
zompanies, which in 1540 united to form the Company of Barber Surgeons.
This received its Charter from King Henry VIII, a ceremony superbly
depicted in the cartoons by Holstein in the Barbers' Hall and the RCS.
'heir first Naster, Tnomas Vicary, is comnmorated today by the annual
Vicary Lecture, usually on a historical topic, Followed by a banquet
held alternately in the KCS and the Barbers' Hall, always a prestigious
occasion.
In the course of time the gullds extended their roles, and by the
renaissance period had become similar to modern trades unions in some
respects. They kept their trade secrets to themselves and tried to run
a 'closed shop', but in return for their exclusiveness they took sieps
to ensure that their members were properly trained and licensed to
practice and certainly they took great pride in their work. They also
set fees for their services. The Company of Barber Surgeons required
candidates to serve a seven year apprenticeship to an existing menber
before suhittii to an examination at their tlall. They were conscious
of the difficulty, In a practical subject, that formal examinations
cannot test everything, whilst they can test knowledge and problemsolvinz
abilities they can do little to assess clinical skills wnich are
best leanled from a wise teacher and practised first under supervision.
Hence they laid stress on apprenticeship training, a philosophy
remarkably similar to that of our Colleges today. Only after training
and examination were they then licensed to practice.
Other licensirg bodies existed includiq the Royal College of Physicians
set up in 1518, and the Society of Apothecaries. The latter tawht a
different aspect of medicine, namely the dispensing of drugs. Their
philosophy was similar in requiring an apprenticeship and an
examination, but they also stipulated a period of attachment to a
recopised hospital, perhaps an early example of hospital recognition
proc.edures .
In the period leading up to the Royal Charter of 18W the dominant
figures in British surgery were the ffunter brothers, John and William.
John (1728-1793) in particular has come to be regarded almost as the
patron saint oE the RCS of England, whereas William is perhaps more
renowned in the College in his native city of Glasgow. John is widely
regarded as the first to apply scientiEic principles to the practice of
surgery. His collection of writings, drawings and beautifully dissected
specimens forms the basis of the flunterian Museum of the RCS, still a
fine and very Large collection, in spite of its partial destruction by
the air raids oE the second World War. John Hunter is comnmorated in
several ways, by the Museum, by the Hunterian Institute comprising the
research departments of the RCS, by the series of lectures competed for
by Fellows of the RCS and its Faculties, and of course by an annual
feast on or near his birthday, when a Hunterian Oration is followed by a
fine banquet .