Faculty of the History & Philosophy of Medicine & Pharmacy - 57th Report

The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries
Of London
THE FACULTY OF THE HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY
OF MEDICINE AND PHARMACY
Fifty-Seventh Report
2023-2024

PRESIDENTS
1959 – 1964 Dr WSC Copeman
1965 – 1968 Dr CE Newman
1969 - 1970 Dr WSC Copeman
1970 – 1972 Dr FNL Poynter
1973 – 1975 Sir Gordon Wolstenholme
1976 – 1977 Dr TD Whittet
1978 – 1980 Dr CDT James
*1980 - 1981 Dr FF Cartwright
1981 – 1985 Professor S Selwyn
1986 – 1990 Dr A Sakula
1991 – 1994 Dr J Dickson Mabon PC
1994 – 1998 Professor M Biddiss
1998 – 2000 Dr DD Gibbs
2000 – 2004 Dr JMT Ford
2004 – 2008 Professor RH Taylor
2008 – 2010 Professor A Hawley
2011 – 2014 Dr DP Misselbrook
2014 – 2017 Dr TJ Matthews
2017 - 2019 Dr C Gardner-Thorpe
2019 - 2022 Ms Briony Hudson
2022-present
Dr Andrew Papanikitas
* Dr FF Cartwright was designated Chairman

FACULTY OF THE HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY
OF MEDICINE AND PHARMACY
TABLE OF CONTENTS
History of the Faculty 1
President’s Report 2
Academic Head of Department 7
Executive Committee 9
Course in the History of Medicine 9
Maccabaean Prize and Medal 13
Osler Lecture 13
History of Medicine Short Course 14
Course in the Philosophy of Medicine 15
The Sydney Selwyn Lecture 17
Collecting and Reflecting Pharmacy History 18
The Rose Prize 18
Fellows Membership 20
Faculty Finance 24
Faculty and Diplomate Ties 25
Faculty Events 2023-24 26
Apothecaries’ Lecturers 28
Friends of the Archives of the Society of Apothecaries 29
Words from the Honorary Curator, Nicholas Wood 32
Honorary Fellows 34
Social Media & Website 35

FACULTY OF THE HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY
OF MEDICINE AND PHARMACY
The Faculty was founded in 1959 as a separate body within the Society of
Apothecaries to foster and extend interest in medical History. Academic in
character and a charity by constitution, membership is open to the public and
is encouraged from all interested persons and organisations. For people who
want to pursue further studies in the History or Philosophy of medicine, or to
publish in these areas, Fellows’ membership offers additional activities and
events.
The founders’ aims have been interpreted widely. We welcome a wide range of
delegates to join our courses in the History of Medicine, the History of
Pharmacy, and the Philosophy of Medicine. Students include undergraduates,
graduates and professors, those in medicine, the wider healthcare professions
and from other disciplines, including people with a general interest. The
Society runs examinations and grants diplomas.
Close ties are fostered with eleven universities and medical schools, through
fourteen appointed Apothecaries’ Lecturers in the History and Philosophy of
Medicine.
A series of Eponymous (evening) Lectures, each of which is followed by a
subscription supper (unless held online) are held throughout the academic
year at Apothecaries’ Hall.
The Faculty is run by a Faculty Manager who is a member of the Society’s
staff, alongside an Executive Committee primarily of elected volunteers.
The Faculty’s pages on the Society’s website (www.apothecaries.org) provide
full details of its activities. Members of the Society of Apothecaries can also
find more information about the Faculty in Apothecary, the Society’s annual
publication.
For further information about matters contained in this booklet, please
contact, Maria Ferran, Faculty Manager & Webmaster
Apothecaries’ Hall, Black Friar’s Lane, London EC4V 6EJ
Telephone: 020 7236 1189 E-mail: Facultyhp@apothecaries.org
Or visit the website: www.apothecaries.org
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PRESIDENT’S REPORT for the YEAR 2022-23
This was the year that we bounced back into the Hall, with lectures and
symposia, course and visits, and finally our inaugural gala dinner to celebrate
60 years of the Faculty.
Events programme
2022-23 events as a rule have been breaking even or better this year so far
financially, though we are still nowhere near able to rest on our laurels. We
have been grateful for the support of the Diamond Patrons’ Fund (and
especially Dr Simon Chaplin for his generous donation this year).
Highlights from 2022-2023 included:
• Packed evening lectures on topics ranging from the ethical pitfalls of
medical crowdfunding, to risk and ‘The Naked Surgeon’, to post -
mortems in the home
• A joint evening lecture with the Chelsea Physic Garden on location to
coincide with the 350 th anniversary of the Garden
• A hybrid creative writing and medical ethics day in the hall, attended
by our US colleagues online!
• Out first Black-Tie Gala Dinner –a wonderful event, with uniformly
excellent feedback from guests
• The London Museum of Health and Medicine held their Winter
Meeting at the Hall in February
Looking forward for 2023-4 highlights include:
• A Three-day, ‘Collecting and Reflecting Pharmacy History’ in
September
• An afternoon on the ‘History and Philosophy of Medical Publishing’
on 2 November
• A ‘Creative Writing for Medical Ethics’ day that leads into an evening
lecture with multiple Sunday Times bestseller author Rachel Clarke on
22 February 2024
• A return of the ‘Keats Memorial Lecture’ at Guy’s Chapel, King’s
College London
• An end of year ‘Faculties’ Gala Dinner with our sister Faculty of
Conflict and Catastrophe Medicine
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The sharp eyed among us will notice a slight change to the way we promote
evening lectures. Rather than advertising an eponymous lecture, we will be
advertising the speaker and title. The pomp and ceremony remain, as do our
eponymous medals which are awarded to our speakers. The move aims to
attract audiences with content of the event, the ‘eponymousness’ of it no
longer being the compelling feature for Faculty and Society members.
Courses
This year’s courses continued to involve a hybrid approach to the programme,
a mixture of in-person days and fully virtual days for each course. Where
possible, all lectures are also available as recordings for students to catch up.
The international appeal of our courses is encouraging and also challenges us
to consider how best to deliver the programme, both in terms of technology
but also to ensure that there is a continued sense of a shared learning
community and an ability to meet each student’s learning objectives. Our new
Learning Management System (Brightspace) which will offer a more modern,
technological way forward for students to engage with learning materials and
resources.
The course directors and examination teams have been doing work to revise
their syllabuses and formats. The aim is that examinations not only remain
worthwhile as a recognised credential, but become extensions of learning and
opportunities to develop work in and of themselves. This year a new
philosophy syllabus has been approved, and both examinations have moved
away from being ‘fact memorizathons,’ to demonstrate more worthwhile skills
and learning. Students utilise the courses to generate publications and serve as
stepping stones in to higher education.
This year we welcome Mr Pete Young as Course Director for the Philosophy of
Medicine. Pete has been Deputy and Co-Course Director for the last two years
and brings previous experience of developing ethics education for doctors in
the USA, as well as research experience at Oxford University’s prestigious
Ethox Centre. Pete has already been involved in upgrades to the course,
syllabus and examination.
Fellows
Having maintained a lively online programme during the last academic year,
our Fellows’ streams continue strongly with a mixture of hybrid, virtual and
in-person meetings, including opportunities to present and discuss members’
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esearch. Read our Fellows reports to see some other amazing activities that
are unlocked by becoming a Fellow of the Faculty. Philosophy and History
streams operate independently meeting 4-6 times a year abut also join forces
annually for a symposium. This year that issue was ‘Risk in Medicine’.
Next year the shared afternoon event will be on ‘The History and Philosophy of
Medical Publishing’. We were delighted to make Mrs Briony Hudson an
Honorary Fellow in recognition for her work and term as President of the
Faculty. Even though we have not presented it yet, Dr David Wright is also
being made an Honorary Fellow for his time as an Apothecary Lecturer,
History Course Lecturer and Examiner. They join illustrious predecessors that
include Dr Ruth Richardson and Professor Raanan Gillon.
Apothecaries’ Lecturers
We have continued to hold online meetings of Apothecaries’ Lecturers,
enabling us to strengthen these mutually beneficial relationships. Thank you
to Dr David Wright and Professor Terence Doyle for their contribution over
the years as they retire.
Archives and Collections
We continue to work closely with the Archives and Collections team to build
better links with the Faculty’s activities. We welcome applications to The
Friends’ Historical Collections Research Grant scheme, and are helping to
promote it through our newsletters, events, and other channels. Please see this
link: https://www.apothecaries.org/history/our-collection-and-access/
Executive Committee membership
We wave goodbye and thank you to Dr Sally Spurr for her term on the
Committee and we welcome Dr Lauren Watts.
Thank you
It has been another challenging year, and I would like to thank our Executive
Committee members and volunteers for their support, in particular Anna
Simmons and Pete Young, Lee Coppack, Rosalind Topping and Noel Snell as
our Course Directors, Fellows' Facilitators and Joint Meetings Secretaries for
their efforts. A special thank you also to those Committee members who have
come to the end of their term especially Roy Palmer. Massive thanks to Maria
Ferran, Faculty Manager, who has continued to co-ordinate and encourage us
with her enduring positivity and hard work.
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We continue to work more collaboratively, and therefore more rewardingly,
with our sister Faculty. We are particularly grateful to Karen Okemiri, Faculty
Manager, and look forward to meeting the new Faculty President. We are
particularly pleased to jointly host the lecture on ‘The role of London Medical
Students in the relief of Bergen-Belsen in 1945’ on 10 April 2024.
The Faculty would also like to thank Alice Philpott, Academic Executive
Assistant and to Precious Eniola, Academic Assessment Administrator for
their support throughout the year as we wave goodbye and wish them success
on their new adventures.
The Faculty is also extremely grateful to all of the Society staff who support
our events and activities, particularly the Clerk, Nick Royle, who serves as the
Faculty’s Honorary Treasurer; Sue Leary for managing the accounts; and Liz
Harriman as Head of the Academic Department. We also greatly appreciate
the contributions of the Dean, David Ross; our Court Visitor, Professor Martin
Rossor; and Past Master Apothecary, Dr Jonathan Holliday.
Finally, thank you to all of our members for your support during the last
academic year, and for my first year in term as President. It has been an
enormous honour to serve as Faculty President, and one that I’ve greatly
enjoyed. I look forward to seeing you at Apothecaries’ Hall in the future. Please
do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any comments or ideas relating to
the Faculty. We greatly value your involvement.
The nine lectures for the 2022-23 programme were as follows:
Programme 2022-23
Tuesday 11 October 2022, Sydney Selwyn Lecture
Crowdfunding, ethics, and medical responsibility
Dr Kathryn Millard
(Sydney Selwyn Winner)
&
Clinician-managers: the boundary of medical ethics?
Dr Koot Kotze
(Highly Commended)
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Thursday 10 November 2022, Flavell Lecture
‘The Naked Surgeon’
Mr Samer Nashef
Wednesday 23 November 2022, Monckton Copeman Lecture
From Powerhouse to Playhouse: London Blackfriars at the heart of
the nation
Dr Simon Thurley
Thursday 19 January 2023, John Locke Lecture
What makes health public? Ethical & legal lessons
Professor John Coggon
Monday 13 February 2023, Osler Lecture
Feuds, egos and controversies in the History of cardiac surgery
Mr Alexander Manché
Monday 13 March 2023, Gideon de Laune Lecture
Before Newton: 17th-century chymical practice at
Trinity College, Cambridge
Professor Anna Marie Roos
Thursday 20 April 2023, Sydenham Lecture
Death in the household: A History of postmortems in domestic
spaces
Dr Jennifer Wallis
Thursday 8 June 2023, Faculty Annual Dinner
For Faculty members and their guests
Monday 12 June 2023, Hans Sloane Lecture at the Chelsea Physic Garden
A Physic Garden from the past, from belief to knowledge 1673-2023
Dr Henry Oakeley
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Academic Department Report
Head of Academic Department: Liz Harriman
Learning platform - The Brightspace learning platform has been
successfully integrated with the new Academic Shop area of the website
meaning that learners who purchase a relevant course or exam are
immediately connected to it. Over 100 current learners on the Conflict and
Catastrophe Medicine Course are now able to access their course day materials
via the platform. This is also the case for new students about to start the
History or Philosophy courses in late September. The platform has also been
integrated with the Turnitin anti-plagiarism software and candidates’
dissertations are immediately checked on submission. We are now looking to
add a new video package to the platform, which will allow for a better online
classroom experience and lectures can be recorded to a higher quality.
Online exams and TestReach – DFMS, DMJ and DGUM candidates have
all successfully sat their exams via the new online assessment platform in
2023. DHIV candidates will also sit remotely for the first time in mid-
September. The last remaining diploma to move to the online platform will be
DMCC, for the short answer question paper (SAQ). This will take place in
March 2024.
The open book format of assessment which has now been adopted for History
and Philosophy means that live remote invigilation is no longer necessary.
These diplomas will use the technology available in the Brightspace platform
to receive dissertations submissions, provide feedback to students, hold test
lectures and mark exam scripts.
This year was the last sitting for the DMJ exam and the Society is currently in
discussions regarding a new Diploma for 2024, which will be announced
shortly.
World Mental Health Day symposium - titled ‘Mental Health in the Face
of Major Incidents, Disasters, Conflict and Disease Outbreaks’. This afternoon
event is due to take place on Tuesday 10 October and precedes the FacCC
evening lecture.
To mark World Mental Health Day, the Academic Department is hosting a
detailed and thought provoking half-day symposium. The programme
highlights the impacts of various incidents, disasters and disease outbreaks on
the people who endured them directly, or in their workplaces. From the
impact of COVID-19 on nurses and, by implication, other health services staff,
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to lessons learned for staff of responding agencies at the Manchester Arena
bombing. The diverse and challenging roles of staff and volunteers of the
RNLI are presented under the heading of Saving Lives at Sea. The afternoon
concludes with focus on important lessons for leadership in emergencies and
the challenges of working across organisational boundaries. Expert speakers
include Professor Jill Maben OBE, Professor John Drury, AVM Aroop
Mozumder CB and Dr Stefan Schilling. Chair is Professor Richard Williams
OBE.
In collaboration with the Faculty of Conflict and Catastrophe Medicine,
themes raised will also continue into the evening, with Professor Richard
Williams giving the Audrey Few Lecture.
8

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The Executive Committee organises the activities of the Faculty and
administers its affairs. It reports to the Court of Assistants through the Court
Visitor.
Membership of the Executive Committee for 2023-2024 is as follows:
President
Deputy President
Honorary Meetings Secretary
Honorary Meetings Secretary
Immediate Past President
Dr Andrew Papanikitas
Dr William Parker
Ms Rosalind Topping
Dr Noel Snell
Ms Briony Hudson
Ex officio
Master
Court Visitor
Dean
Honorary Treasurer (the Clerk)
Head of Academic Department
DHMSA Exam Convenor
Course Directors
History
Philosophy
Pharmacy History
Elected
1. Dr Shahi Ghani
2. Dr Theresa Freeman-Wang
3. Dr John Tricker
4. Dr Paquita De Zulueta
5. Dr Lauren Watts
AVM Aroop Mozumder CB
Professor Martin Rossor
Colonel David Ross
Mr Nick Royle
Ms Liz Harriman
Dr Tina Matthews
Dr Anna Simmons
Dr Andrew Papanikitas
Ms Briony Hudson &
Professor Stuart Anderson
Co-Opted
6. Ms Lee Coppack
7. Professor Michael Heinrich
8. Dr Jane Hone
9. Dr Christopher George
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Medical Student Representative
9. Ms India Mayhook-Walker
In Attendance
Faculty Manager & Webmaster
Ms Maria Ferran
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COURSES IN THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE
Course Director: Dr Anna Simmons
For the year 2022-2023, the Society’s History of Medicine Course has run with
a mix of in-person and online course days over fifteen Saturdays from October
to June. During this time fifty lecturers have given around sixty lectures to a
group of twenty participants from a variety of backgrounds including medical
and History students, early career medics, general practitioners, consultants,
pharmacists, individuals working in medical education and medical data
management, and those researching or working in History and related fields.
The delivery of live online lectures, with recorded lectures for catch-up, has
enabled delegates to participate from the USA, Ireland, and Australia, as well
as from throughout the UK.
The History of Medicine Course is open to postgraduates of all disciplines, to
those who can demonstrate equivalent academic achievement, and to medical
undergraduates and others studying related disciplines. It provides a
substantial introduction to the History of medicine from ancient times to the
present through expert lectures from historians, curators, and clinicians. It
gives individuals with an interest in medical History an opportunity to develop
their knowledge and historiographical skills, whilst learning more about the
resources available for archival research. Its focus is the History of western
medicine with brief insights into non-western medical traditions.
Over the academic year 2022-2023 the History of Medicine Course has
continued to evolve with new lectures, archive sessions, discussions, and tours
added and learning objectives set out. Participants are introduced to the
Society’s History and rich collections and visits to the London Metropolitan
Archives, Guy’s Hospital, the Gordon Museum, and the Old Operating Theatre
and Herb Garret have taken place. The Course Development Group (CDG)
continues to act as an advisory group to support the Course Director with
operational matters, to provide oversight of the course, and to advise on
strategic developments. The group also provides an opportunity for the
History Course Director and DHMSA convenor to work closely together, as we
move towards a new format of the DHMSA exam in 2024. I am very grateful to
the members of the CDG, Martin Edwards, Chris George, Briony Hudson, Tina
Matthews, and David Wright for their support and input over the year.
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The course welcomes participants who want to sit the accompanying Diploma
examination and those who wish to attend for general interest. The Diploma is
intended to indicate familiarity with medical and healthcare practice from
ancient to modern times and an understanding of relevant methods of
enquiry. It demonstrates the ability to identify, access, evaluate and share
historic material; skills which are assessed through completing a dissertation
and presenting a lecture to a specific audience. In June 2023, seven
individuals have taken the Diploma examination, but a similar number from
this year’s cohort intend to sit the new format of the exam in 2024.
In 2023-2024, the course will continue to run in a blended format with some
sessions in-person but available later online, and others live online via Zoom.
This format is designed to appeal to those who value the in-person and live
elements, but also to make the course accessible to delegates who are unable to
travel to London and may also be based in different time-zones. In-person
days will draw on the unique resources available at Apothecaries’ Hall and also
include a mix of visits and workshop-style sessions. The introduction of a new
learning platform, Brightspace, will improve the interface for sharing course
materials and enhance opportunities for online interaction between students.
Changes have been made to ensure that the course supports the new
assessment format, with guidance on undertaking historical research and on
transferable skills in writing, speaking and sharing research outputs added
across the year. The course will continue to evolve and improve, as we work in
partnership with the Academic Head, Liz Harriman, and the examinations
team. I am most grateful to everyone involved in bringing the course together,
particularly the outside organisations which continue to welcome our
delegates and the lecturers who share their expertise.
The full cost of the 2023-2024 course will be £1100 and for students, £660. A
Taster Day costs £100, which can be deducted if the whole course is taken. The
Faculty also provides a limited number of exam bursaries for students.
The Guide to the Diploma including the Regulations and Syllabus,
Administrative Guidance to Candidates and application forms are all available
at www.apothecaries.org.
Please note that this document will be changed significantly prior to the
introduction of the new format of the DHMSA in 2024.
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For further enquiries regarding the examination, please contact:
AcademicAdmin@apothecaries.org
Those successful in completing the DHMSA in summer 2022 were:
Kevin Goodman
Alexander Manche
Lauren Watts
Those successful in completing the DHMSA in summer 2023 were:
Kathy Evans
Thomas Khan-White
Antonio Cavalcanti de Albuquerque Martins
Carolina Martins de Lima
John P. Mason
Yaswant Perumal
David Wiggins
MACCABAEAN PRIZE AND MEDAL
The Maccabaean Prize and Medal is awarded to the candidate who has
presented the best dissertation in the Diploma in the History of Medicine
examination in that year. In 2022 it was awarded to Lauren Watts for her
dissertation: “Drug Development of Digitalis: an account of discovery, trials
and refinement across the 18th and 19th centuries.” The prize and medal were
presented to Lauren at the Osler Lecture on 13 February 2023.
In 2023 it was awarded jointly to Thomas Khan-White for his dissertation
“Torri’r Llech: What does this historical practice reveal about traditional
Welsh medical beliefs” and to Meredith Temple-Smith for her dissertation
“William Bone’s Amputation and Convict Health in Port Phillip, Australia.”
OSLER LECTURE
The Osler Lecture is awarded to the candidate who presented the best test
lecture in the Diploma in the History of Medicine examination in that year. In
2022 it was awarded to Alexander Manché who gave the Osler Lecture “Feuds,
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egos and controversies in the History of cardiac surgery” at Apothecaries’ Hall
on 13 February 2023.
In 2023 the Osler Lecture was awarded to Meredith Temple-Smith for her test
lecture “The Birth of Syphilis Surveillance in Melbourne.” This Osler Lecture
will be given online on Tuesday 7 November 2023 on Zoom BST: 12:00 and
Melbourne, Australia, 21:00.
HISTORY OF MEDICINE SHORT COURSE
The Medical History Short Course, Up Close and Medical, organised in
partnership with the London Museums of Health and Medicine, will run again
from Wednesday 3 July 2024 - Friday 5 July 2024. Planning will start in
autumn 2023 and it is hoped that some new venues will be included.
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COURSE IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF MEDICINE
Course Directors: Andrew Papanikitas FRCGP PhD
Mr Pete Young
The Course and Diploma, instituted in 1978, are intended to promote
familiarity with contemporary ethical and broader philosophical aspects of
medicine and healthcare. The course also covers aspects of the history of
philosophy and of healthcare that have had major significance in the morality
of healthcare practice.
The Diploma is designed as a postgraduate qualification primarily for
members (and students) of health-care professions, although it is open to
other applicants at the discretion of the course director. Whilst the course
director and examiners continue to better align the course and exam, we
would remind readers that the course and examination are managed by
separate teams at Apothecaries' Hall. Queries about the course should be
directed to the Faculty and queries about the examination should be addressed
to the Examinations team.
The course continues to attract both clinicians and medical students as well as
a variety of others with an interest in the philosophy and ethics of healthcare.
In the coming year the course and examination will benefit from a revised
syllabus that takes on board the learning needs of our students and promotes
the skills to participate more fully in the medical philosophy and ethics
community. The course director and examiner team will also be working to
revise the examination so it serves as an extension of the learning on the
course and an opportunity for students to develop their skills and interests.
The Philosophy in Medicine Course had 10 students this year. There were a
mixture of online and in-person attendees, with higher attendance online and
with many students utilising video recordings of our lectures to catch-up as
events prevented attendance. Our flexible hybrid approach meant that we were
able to continue the course this year without breaking stride despite transport
disruptions.
On the 13 th of May, we held a joint student and Fellows symposium at
Apothecaries' Hall on the theme of ‘Cosmopolitan approaches to bioethics.’
This featured sessions on the interface between Middle East and Anglo-
American West (based on a previous John Locke Lecture.
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https://soundcloud.com/Facultyhp/arabian-knots-tales-of-moralmisunderstanding-from-east-west)
‘Defining the Boundaries of Illness’, and ‘Decolonial Bioethics for the Medical
Practitioner’. The symposium gave a chance for students to present their own
research work, and it also led to the selection of this year's Sydney Selwyn
Lecture: “Should GPs promote non-directed altruistic kidney donation?” by
Professor Richard Armitage, which members will see as ‘Should your GP help
you give away a kidney to a stranger?’ on 7 November 2023. Next year’s
symposium theme is ‘The Technological Imperative.’
The 2022-23 year group road-tested the course materials that have been
migrating onto Brightspace over the year. We hope that our shiny new
Learning Management System will allow improved access to course material
and examination entry in 2023-24.
Wider exposure for course in media
One of our students Professor Richard Armitage has been writing regular
pieces (many about ethical topics and directly influenced by the course) for
the British Journal of General Practice journal/blog and the Journal also
featured the Sydney Selwyn Lecture by Dr Kathryn Millard www.bjgplife.com.
Changes to team and course
Mr Peter Young becomes Course Director for the coming 2023-24 academic
year. He is supported by an advisory group that comprises of Dr Andrew
Papanikitas and Dr Koot Kotze as well as an excellent cast of lecturers.
We will be introducing new lectures on ‘Decolonising Medical Ethics’ and on
‘LGBT Bioethics’ as part of a new ‘Diversity and bioethics day’ this year.
The joint History and Philosophy day on ‘20 th Century Bioethics, Human
rights’ and ‘Nazi medicine’ will be run solely in the Philosophy course in 2023-
24. The History of Medicine and Conflict and Catastrophe Medicine delegates
being free to join for the day. Fellows of the Faculty will also be eligible to
attend the day (anyone else may join for a day-rate), which offers an excellent
introduction to the historical development of human rights and medical ethics
as we know them.
In the summer of 2023 those successful in completing the DPMSA were:
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Professor Richard Armitage
Syeda Zoha Imam
The Guide to the Diploma including the Regulations and Syllabus,
Administrative Guidance to Candidates and application forms are all available
at www.apothecaries.org
For further enquiries regarding the examination, please contact:
AcademicAdmin@apothecaries.org
THE SYDNEY SELWYN LECTURE
The Sydney Selwyn Prize was previously awarded to the best candidate in the
Diploma in the Philosophy of Medicine examination. This consisted of a
certificate and a £500 cheque. The prize is in memory of Professor Sydney
Selwyn (1934-1996), past Faculty President, a medical microbiologist and
bacteriologist, bone marrow transplant pioneer and world-class expert in the
History and development of medicine. With the kind agreement of the family
this prize was transmuted in 2018 to The Sydney Selwyn Lecture to join the
Evening Lecture Series. At the 2023 joint Fellows and students symposium we
heard five shortlisted presentations. This year’s Sydney Selwyn Lecturer will
be Professor Richard Armitage on the topic of ‘Should your GP help you give
one of your kidneys to a stranger?’
Click here to book:
https://catalogue.apothecaries.org/product?catalog=Sydney-Selwyn-Lecture
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COLLECTING AND REFLECTING PHARMACY HISTORY
Course Directors: Briony Hudson & Professor Stuart Anderson
As the pharmacy history course runs biennially, there was no programme in
2022. A three day course will run in 2023 from Wednesday 27 to Friday
29 September. Titled Collecting and Reflecting Pharmacy History, the course
is based at six London venues, with a programme that will take delegates
behind the scenes of key pharmaceutical collections with curator-led tours,
object-based sessions and insightful talks that provide background stories and
reflect on the challenges of curating and collecting pharmacy History to
present to visitors in the 21st century.
From carboys to COVID vaccination, herbs to herbals, materia medica to
medicines, it presents a perfect opportunity to explore the objects and
organisations that tell pharmacy histories today. The host organisations are
the Medicine Team at the Science Museum, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
Museum, the Economic Botany Collection at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew,
the Royal College of Physicians, the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, and -
in its 350th anniversary year - Chelsea Physic Garden.
The course fee for the full three days is £260, although there is also the option
to book for individual days. As in previous years, the British Society for the
History of Pharmacy is providing funding to allow for a limited number of
student places at £160 for the full course.
https://catalogue.apothecaries.org/catalog?pagename=Faculty-HP-Courses
THE ROSE PRIZE
The Rose Prize was established as a joint enterprise between the Worshipful
Society of Apothecaries and the Royal College of General Practitioners. The
newly-founded College had its home at Apothecaries’ Hall for the first few
years of its life in the 1950s. This biennial award was offered for the first time
in 2004 for the best submission on the History of general practice in the
British Isles by those who are working or who have worked in primary
healthcare.
The ninth award was hosted by the Faculty and the Society on 2 November
2021 prior to the Monckton Copeman lecture. The award was presented to Dr
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Stephen Gillam for his work on ‘The Changing Gaze of the General
Practitioner’. Click here for more details of his work:
https://bjgp.org/content/67/658/227.full
The rules allow wide scope of topic, content and choice of medium, including
film, multimedia and museum display, though on the first two occasions all
were written presentations. The Rose Bowl, which the winner keeps for two
years, was purchased by the Faculty. The winner receives an inscribed
certificate to retain and a £200 cheque.
Submissions are now open and members of the Faculty and of the Society are
encouraged to enter.
Contact: Maria Ferran, Faculty Manager & Webmaster.
Email: Facultyhp@apothecaries.org
Telephone: 020 7236 1189
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FELLOWS MEMBERSHIP
History Fellows report 2022-2023 by Lee Coppack
The History Fellows have continued throughout the year mixing sessions
devoted to Fellows’ projects and topics with Fellows and outside speakers. Our
meetings usually attract between 20 and 30 Fellows and guests in person and
online. We continued with our annual joint meeting with the Philosophy
Fellows.
2022
Our first meeting of the new academic year took place on 20 September and
featured Fellows’ work followed by discussion.
Our speakers were Dr William Parker: Aspirin at 125: historical and
contemporary reflections; Wallace Mendelson: ‘The Three Doctors Guttmann
and other remarkable refugees from Hitler’s Europe’ and Martin Edwards:
The importance of the 19 th century painting The Doctor.
We concluded the year 10 November with a successful joint seminar with the
Philosophy Fellows on the subject: What is risk and why does it matter in
medicine? We had to move it and the Flavell Lecture online at the last minute
because of threatened train strikes, but we have enough practice that it ran
smoothly. Around 40 Fellows and guests logged in during the event. The
Flavell Lecture in the evening, The Naked Surgeon, by heart surgeon Samer
Nashef, continued the theme.
Our speakers were
Thomas Schlich, James McGill Professor in the History of Medicine
& Department Chair, McGill University: Objectifying Uncertainty: History of
Risk Concepts in Medicine
John Ng, senior data scientist at Reinsurance Group of America, pharmacist:
Applying risk management concepts to medicine
Dr John Spicer, senior clinical lecturer in medical ethics and Law, teacher of clinical
ethics and law to various programmes at St George's, Institute of Medical and
Biomedical Education: Moral luck
2023
During 2023 we have held three sessions. Our 27 January meeting focussed on
Fellows’ work, Dr Anita Hoffmann presented her PhD study, which has as a
20

esearch question: How did the middling sort try to cure manage or conceal
socially embarrassing afflictions and diseases in the long 17 th century in
London?
Dr Jane Orr spoke on Sir Themistocles (‘Temi’) Zammit, a Maltese polymath
(1864-1935), who is not widely known despite exceptional contributions in
multiple fields.
Dr Chris Derrett introduced Paul Worsley, a paediatrician and amateur wood
turner. Chris and Paul are interested in the evolution of the stethoscope, first
developed in 1816 by the French physician René Laennec, who was also a wood
turner and flautist.
Dr Edward Wawrzynczak and his collaborator Jane Wickenden, a writer and
researcher who was Historic Collections Librarian to the Royal Naval Medical
Service at the Institute of Naval Medicine (Gosport), presented their findings
on British naval hospital ships 1620-1815 based on extensive research into
ships’ logs.
On 21 March, we marked the 100 th anniversary of the death of Wilhelm
Röntgen with a seminar entitled: Seeing inside – the development of medical
imaging and its specialities.
We were delighted to have as a guest speaker Anna Kätker, who travelled from
the Deutsches Röntgen-Museum. Anna spoke on Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen –
the discovery of x-rays, the first reactions and the first applications,
Other speakers were Professor Adrian Thomas, radiologist, author of Invisible
Light: The Remarkable Story of Radiology, on Radiation martyrs; retired
orthopaedic surgeon and fellow Bryan Rhodes whose topic was Robert Jones
and the early impact of X-ray in orthopaedics, and Dr Mike Collins on
Following Röntgen: The Development and Evolution of the Speciality of
Radiology.
Dealing with sensitive issues was the title of our final session of the academic
year held on 1 June. We acknowledged that the many strong views now
expressed will evolve, but in the meantime, we need to be sensitive and ask for
varied opinions on our work before publishing. We hope to prepare some
simple guidelines.
My thanks to Christine Gowing for her meeting reports throughout the year,
and Chris Derrett for technical and other support. Mike Collins, Mike
Davidson, Martin Edwards, Bryan Rhodes and Edward Wawrzynczak have
been enormously helpful in compiling the programmes.
21

Plans for 2023-2024
We do not plan a formal meeting at the Hall in September but hope to
organise something informal for Fellows at the British Society for the History
of Medicine (BSHM) Congress from 13-16 September at the University of
Cardiff.
On 2 November, we will have a joint meeting with the Philosophy Fellows on
‘Medical Publishing then and now’ to commemorate the 200 th anniversary this
year of the first edition of The Lancet.
Philosophy Fellows report 2023-2023 by Dr Andrew Papanikitas
This year we held online meetings, hybrid meetings and in person meetings.
Many of our meetings were connected with Fellows’ published work or led to
work being published. We also sought to move our in-person meetings to
coincide with evening lectures so as to minimise Fellows’ travel. This year we
met five times between November 2022 and June 2023.
In November 2022 we ran a joint seminar with the History Fellows: What is
risk and why does it matter in medicine? We asked:
• What is risk and why does it matter in medicine today?
What is the History of risk in medicine?
• How do we objectify uncertainty: History of Risk Concepts in
Medicine”
• How do we Applying risk management concepts to medicine?
• What is moral luck?
• What is risk and how does it manifest in medicine and healthcare?
This event linked into the Geoffrey Flavell Lecture, which was given by Mr
Samer Nashef on Risk, using his field of cardiothoracic surgery as a case study.
It also generated an article in the British Journal of General Practice
(https://bjgplife.com/be-lucky/)
In January 2023, in the Hall, Helen Mosby and I ran what has become an
annual opportunity for Fellows to think about medical ethics in and medical
ethics as creative writing. We ‘flipped the classroom’ encouraging delegates to
watch our session at the Faculty Literary Festival at
https://youtu.be/r8s8Ll5dOf8 in advance of the meeting.
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To see ethics come alive in a fictional event we recommended this video of
medical novelist Sam Guglani reading ‘Dev Bhattia’ for the festival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0Y53FUTIWQ.
Contributions came from both sides of the Atlantic this year and spanned both
fiction and non-fiction. We discussed both techniques in writing and how to
apply ethics in writing about fact and fiction – the moral of the story!
We deliberately held this event on the same day as the John Locke lecture to
reduce Fellows’ travel and look forward to next year when the evening lecture
and John Locke medal will have a writing theme – Sunday Times Bestselling
Author Dr Rachel Clarke will be speaking to the title, ‘Speaking uncomfortable
truths to the world: a critical role for a medical writer.’
In March 2023 we held an online round table with Dr Sian Rees from the
Oxford Academic Health Science Network on trust and trustworthiness in
automation, machine learning and AI.
In May 2023, Fellows were invited to join the updated course day on Human
Rights, 20 th Century Medical Ethics, and Nazi Medicine.
In June 2023, Fellows were invited to join a new lecture on the Philosophy
course: Teaching and learning medical ethics, aimed at developing a medical
ethics curriculum.
Next year we look forward to welcoming Fellows to a joint session with
historians on 2 November 2023 and a creative writing and medical ethics day
on 22 February 2024. Watch this space!
23

FACULTY FINANCE
The accounts of the Faculty are held as a sub-account of the Society and
consequently are subject to an independent examination each year. The
accounts are presented for signature by the Master in her role as Chair of the
Faculty’s Board of Trustees, the Court of Assistants. As a charity, the Faculty’s
accounts are publicly available online via the Charity Commission website.
Income is received from subscriptions, lecture and event fees and course fees,
and from dividends received from investments held by the Society on behalf of
the Faculty.
Expenditure includes Faculty Manager costs, lecturers’ fees and expenses,
Fellows’ facilitation fees, course expenses, the underwriting of course and
examination fees for students, and lecture and event costs (engraving of
medals, refreshments, and support staff).
SUBSCRIPTION TO THE FACULTY
There are two annual memberships to the Faculty, which run from September
to August each year. In September 2023 the cost of Faculty membership will
be as follows
Full rate
Faculty membership £50
Fellows membership £130 (including Faculty membership)
Student rate
Faculty undergraduates £25
Fellows undergraduates £65 (including Faculty membership)
The Faculty will be submitting direct debits on the 14 September 2023,
please expect the money to leave your account within 3-5 working days.
24

FACULTY TIE
The Faculty offers a Faculty tie.
The design is based on the Society’s tie with a diagonal row
of gold rhinoceroses and a gold diagonal line on a royal
blue background. These alternate with a row of silver
unicorns and a silver diagonal line. The rhinoceros is the
Society’s crest, the unicorns its supporters. The silk tie has
been designed and made for the Faculty by Benson and
Clegg of Jermyn Street, SW1.
Ties may be ordered through the Shop or Faculty office at
Apothecaries’ Hall at a cost of £25, and can be collected or
posted (please include £2.50 extra for postage). Please click
here
DIPLOMATE TIE
The Society offers a tie for those who have been awarded its
licence and its diplomas. It is in apothecary blue with small
gold rhinos in diagonal rows. To purchase a diplomates’ tie
at a cost of £25 (please include £2.50 extra for postage),
please Click here
25

FACULTY EVENTS 2023-2024
Tuesday 3 October 2023 – In-Person
Silent Language
Professor Andrew Lees
(Macdonald Critchley Lecture)
Thursday 26 October 2023 – In-Person
Keats Memorial Lecture
Professor Jon Mee
Tuesday 7th November 2023 – Online
How much syphilis is too much? The Melbourne Experiment of
1910
Dr Meredith Temple-Smith
(Osler lecture)
Tuesday 7th November 2023 – In-Person
Should your GP help give one of your kidneys to a stranger?
Professor Richard Armitage
(Sydney Selwyn Lecture)
Monday 27 November 2023 – In-Person
Priests, Plagues and Patients: 900 Years if Hospital Care in the City
of London
Dr Robert Treharne Jones
(Monckton Copeman lecture)
Tuesday 6 February 2024 – In-Person
The ubiquitous Mr Burroughs and the origins of Big Pharma
Julia Sheppard
(Gideon de Laune Lecture)
Thursday 22 February 2024 – In-Person
Speaking uncomfortable truths to the world: a critical role
for a medical writer
Dr Rachel Clarke
(John Locke Lecture)
26

Wednesday 10 April 2024 – In-Person
The role of London Medical Students in the relief of Bergen-Belsen
in 1945
Professor Stephen Challacombe
(Sydenham Lecture – Jointly with Conflict & Catastrophe Medicine)
Tuesday 4 June 2024 - In-Person
A Spoonful of Sugar: Polio, Public Health and Protection
Natasha McEnroe
(Elizabeth Garrett Anderson)
Thursday 8 June 2023, Faculty Annual Dinner - In-Person
Jointly with Conflict & Catastrophe Medicine for Faculty members and their
guests
27

APOTHECARIES’ LECTURERS
There are currently fourteen Apothecaries’ Lecturers in the History and
Philosophy of Medicine appointed in eleven medical schools, universities and
institutions in the UK and overseas. With the approval and support of their
Deans, they teach the History and Philosophy of medicine to medical students
and others, both as part of the normal curriculum and as extra lectures and
courses. Some run student selected courses or the equivalent in medical
History and Philosophy, success in which counts towards final qualification.
Apothecaries’ Lecturers 2023-24:
Brighton and Sussex Medical School
Western General Hospital, Edinburgh
The University of Exeter Medical School
University of Edinburgh College of
Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
University of London, Institute
of Psychiatry
St George’s, University of London
Connections to North Wales
Dean Emeritus
Royal Society of Medicine
School of Medicine,
University of Queensland
Connections to Oxford
Aston University
Dr Hilary Morris
Mr Andreas Demetriades
Dr Christopher
Gardner- Thorpe
Professor Mark Jackson
Dr Iain Macintyre
Professor Edgar Jones
Dr Hugh Thomas
Dr Carwyn Hooper
Dr Graham Kyle
Professor David Misselbrook
Professor John Pearn
Dr Andrew Papanikitas
Dr Alexis Paton
Lancaster University Medical School
Mr Bryan Rhodes
28

FRIENDS OF THE ARCHIVES OF THE SOCIETY OF
APOTHECARIES
We are here to support the Society’s Archive and Collections financially by
raising funds for their conservation and also by undertaking research and
cataloguing projects while working as volunteers. We work closely with the
Honorary Curator and Past Master Nicholas Wood, who sits on our committee
along with Mrs Janet Payne, Professor Michael Biddiss, Dr Julie Papworth, Ms
Briony Hudson, Dr Janet Baldwin and Dr Paul Simmons who is now
Chairman.
Money is raised normally by holding lectures and social functions, but the
Committee meetings have been hybrid with Zoom as an alternative for those
unable to attend in person.
Following our disappointment at having to cancel last year’s spring lecture by
Wendy Moore, we were pleased to welcome Jessie Childs this year who talked
on Apothecaries under Siege: Thomas Johnson, William Rosewell and the
English Civil War. Her recent book The Siege of Loyalty House, partly
researched in the Society’s archives, featured Thomas Johnson, the editor of
Gerard’s Herball, and Past Master William Rosewell, both characters in her
story of the epic resistance of a royalist garrison during the English Civil War:
Basing House near Winchester.
The lecture after the AGM this Society year was a first for the Friends as it
focused on the textiles in the Society’s collection and especially the court dress
of Past Master John Nussey (now moved to a new display area in the shop and
better protected from the sun’s harmful rays).
Amy Hare talked on The Appearance of Easy Fortune: John Nussey,
embroidery and English court dress in the late eighteenth century. Amy is a
Senior Lecturer in Contextual Studies at the Royal School of Needlework, The
Shanghai Institute of Visual Art and University of the Arts London. Her
passion for the subject was exhilarating!
Our Summer Party was held again after the Covid break and much enjoyed by
those who attended.
We have published three newsletters during the year which, amongst other
things, highlighting the large number of people who seek information from the
29

Society’s archives, a number of whom visit to research from the primary
sources. This year, for example, someone researching the sermons preached to
the London Livery Companies in the 17th and 18th Centuries was interested in
three preached by The Revd William Dodd to the Society in connection with
their ‘Election Day Ceremonies’ (Master’s installation) on 20 September 1759,
18 September 1760, 2 October 1761. All three sermons were ordered to be
printed by the Society and payment of 2 guineas was made to Mr Dodd.
Dodd was one of the most popular and accomplished preachers of his day but
lived extravagantly, dabbled in forgery to relieve his debts and was caught and
convicted. Despite a public campaign for a Royal pardon, in which he received
the assistance of Samuel Johnson, he was hanged at Tyburn in 1777.
Another Penfold family member was discovered in Bendigo, Victoria.
Dr Oliver Penfold was cousin to Christopher Rawson Penfold of Penfold’s
wines. An image of a plaque on the property that he lived in gave details of his
LSA qualification which were confirmed by records from the Hall. He settled
in Bendigo in 1870 and lived there for 60 years.
We are not able to help all researchers; a possible connection between the
Duchess of Beaufort, Mary Somerset (1630–1715) and the Chelsea Physic
Garden was unproved by our records. She lived with the Physic Garden on one
side and Sir Hans Sloane on the other and was one of Britain’s earliest and
most distinguished lady gardeners.
A Texan who had purchased a silver spoon bearing our Society Coat of Arms
and initials ‘I A’ believed the spoon had belonged to John Allan (Royal
Apothecary elected Court Assistant 1747 but never Master) and wanted
confirmation of Allan’s gift of spoons to the Society. In fact, Allan gave 24
spoons but by 1759 we were only in possession of 19. The Court Minute Book
of 1745-67 showed the entry of the gift and that the spoons were to be
engraved with his initials.
Bainbridge, who undertook lengthy conservation of a tranche of books the
Friends supported in the ‘Adopt a Book’ scheme, eventually submitted their
invoice for £2,430 which was paid with relief.
We had a successful auction bid by John Hudson on behalf of the Friends for a
silver piecrust tray with inscribed presentation details on the retirement of
Frederick Shelley who was the last to oversee the trade at Apothecaries Hall in
his capacity as Manager and Senior Analyst. This sold for £600 including
30

uyer’s premium and was part-funded by a generous donation from a Past
Master Friend.
Shelley had an interesting career: his father died when he was only 5yrs old
and his mother and two sisters emigrated to Australia. He stayed with his
grandfather, attended Ardingley College Sussex until he was 12yrs old and
then was apprenticed to his uncle who was a pharmacist in Twickenham. His
mother sent for him aged 14 and he arrived in Melbourne where he
subsequently qualified as a pharmaceutical chemist at the Victorian College of
Pharmacy in 1885. He really wanted to enter medical school but needed to
work to pay off his mother’s debts. He then worked, moving around Australia,
and returned to England in 1900. He found little prospects here and became a
representative for Burroughs Wellcome in South Africa for three years. He
obtained a post of Junior Analyst with the Society, continued his studies and
when 38years old obtained the diploma of Associate of the Institute of
Chemistry. He celebrated by marrying a medical student the same year. He
rose up the ranks to his final position from which he retired in 1922 when the
trade side of the Society finished.
Our small research grants scheme has so far helped one researcher from
Canada but our publicity is being improved to increase the number of
applicants. This is a two year trial awarding up to four grants of £250 each
year. Details of the scheme are available from friends@apothecaries.org.
We always need new members! Are you one? If you have not yet joined, there
is always a welcome for you and we would very much hope that if you are a
member of the Faculty that you will also be a Friend of the Archives. Just £10
per year for the Friends’ subscription.
Contact: friends@apothecaries.org or write to us at the Hall.
31

WORDS FROM THE HONORARY CURATOR
Nicholas L. Wood.
Past Master and Honorary Curator
With the ending, hopefully, of the Covid pandemic, activity in the Hall can at
last return to a more normal level. This year has seen a resumption in activity
in the archives where we continue to answer queries, assist students and
generally support the Society. Work has resumed in cataloguing files from the
examination department, augmented by the re-discovery of a cupboard full of
assorted files that have never been catalogued. We are not short of things to
do!
We were delighted to receive various gifts from Liverymen, including brass
scales and other pharmaceutical equipment for the shop from Paresh Modasia,
two small pill tiles from John Hudson, and, with John Moore-Gillon, a silver
salver associated with F.F.Shelley the last Manager of the laboratories.
Further, the Friends of the Archives supported this and the renovation of a
number of books. We now have a new list of volumes awaiting sponsorship
under the Adopt a Book scheme. For details of that see:
https://www.apothecaries.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Copy-of-Rare-
Book-restoration-list-with-prices-i.pdf. Our latest acquisition is a splendid
collection of 17, mainly Italian drug jars, the gift of Dr R. Milner. Fortunately,
the Hall is scheduled for internal renovations this summer, and with the
Parlour due to be spruced up, we shall have newly decorated display cabinets
to show off the additions to our
Collection.
We have assisted with events at the
Hall including helping with the courses
we run. Additionally, we assisted with
the Master’s display of botanical books
and prints in collaboration with
Chelsea Physic Garden for their 350 th
Anniversary reception.
Tours of the Hall have continued to be
hosted, in particular one where we
welcomed members of the Livery and
their guests to see some of the more
unusual and historic artefacts and
papers held in the Collection.
Additionally, the Library has been
32
Figure 1. Italian drug jar of about
1570 containing Oil of Violets

opened on a regular basis prior to Faculty lectures. It is also available by
appointment for private reference.
We have maintained as well links with many other bodies with interests in the
History of medicine including the London Museums of Health and Medicine
group and with the archivist at the Grocer’s Company.
As ever I am grateful to Janet Payne our Archives Officer who answers every
query under the sun, to John Ford for his work on the cataloguing the
Archives, assisted by Diane Leaky who also helps to open the Library along
with Mike Beaman and Liz Wood. Finally, I look forward to further developing
our links and role with the Faculty and with the Academic Department in
general.
33

HONORARY FELLOWS
Honorary Fellowship is awarded to Fellows or Members who have made an
outstanding contribution to the Faculty of the History and Philosophy of
Medicine and Pharmacy, or others who have made a major contribution to the
study of the History or Philosophy of Medicine or Pharmacy.
Professor Michael Biddiss
Dr John Michael Tipping Ford
Dr Christopher Gardner-Thorpe
Professor Raanan Gillon
Ms Briony Hudson
Dr Tina Matthews
Professor David Misselbrook
Professor Vivian Nutton
Mr Robin Murray Price
Dr Ruth Richardson
Professor Tilli Tansey
Professor John Walker-Smith
34

SOCIAL MEDIA
The Faculty is active online and you may follow us on a number of platforms,
find out the latest news or listen to our past lectures.
Why not follow us now?
Twitter: @FacultyHP
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/Facultyhp
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HistoryandPhilosophyMedicine
LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/maria-ferran/9b/71a/437
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqgw2qg79qjE2VBGT23DO9Q?view_a
s=subscriber
Website
Members have access to a dedicated area of the Society's website where you
may book all events in advance, view our information on Fellows' meetings
and agendas, glance at our newsletters and find out what’s happening
elsewhere.
Click on this link: https://members.apothecaries.org/
Registered charity number 233234
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