On July 19, 1832 Sir Charles Hasting’s founded the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association (PMSA) which published a weekly medical journal. By 1856 they became the British Medical Association (BMA) known today as a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. [1]
The Provincial Medical and Surgical Journal which began Oct 3, 1840 (which happened to mention smallpox vaccination, an act performed by surgeons!), merged with the Association Medical Journal in 1857 to become the British Medical Journal (BMJ). [2]
The BMA Medical Reform Committee after 20 years of negotiation successfully drafted and secured the passing of the Medical Act 1858, which established the General Medical Council and the Medical Register, therefore distinguishing, for the first time, between the qualified and unqualified practitioners – on their terms. “This also positioned the BMA to play a major role in future medical politics, campaigning on issues such as Poor Law Medicine, quackery, public health, alternative medicines and military medicine, and contract practice. During this time one of the most active and influential of the association’s bodies was the Parliamentary Bills Committee, formed in 1863 to take a leading role in influencing legislation on public health matters” [1, 2]