London School of Medicine for Women London (Royal Free Hospital) School of Medicine for Women Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine

London School of Medicine for Women London (Royal Free Hospital) School of Medicine for Women Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine

Until 1874 it was almost impossible for women to train as doctors in Britain. Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was actually the first woman to qualify in Medicine, but as soon as she had done so, in 1865, the loophole which allowed her to do so was closed, preventing others from following in her footsteps.

In 1874 a group of women, led by Sophia Jex-Blake, who had been expelled from Edinburgh University after beginning their medical training, set up the first female medical school, the London School of Medicine for Women (LSMW), in a small house in Henrietta Street, (renamed Handel Street in 1888), and male doctors sympathetic to their cause agreed to teach them. The School could not at this stage offer clinical instruction, but three years later they persuaded the Royal Free Hospital to open their wards to the female students. The Royal Free thus became a teaching hospital, the first to open its doors to women and, until 1947, the only all female medical school. The arrangement between school and hospital worked so well that in 1898 the School officially became the London (Royal Free Hospital) School of Medicine for Women. The school building was rebuilt and enlarged in 1898, the main entrance was moved to the Hunter Street side of the building, and the address changed to reflect this. The School was further enlarged in 1914, when the number of women wishing to study medicine made it necessary to practically double the number of laboratories and lecture rooms. At this time the school had over 300 students, making it the largest of the women's university colleges in Britain. In just 40 years the number of women on the medical register had increased from two to 1000, 600 of whom were graduates of the School.

A long tradition of overseas co-operation began when the first Indian student arrived in 1890. In following years a large number of the LSMW students went abroad to help train women who came from cultures where women could not be seen by male doctors, encouraged by Queen Victoria, who felt very strongly that all her subjects in the Empire should have access to proper medical treatment.

All medical schools became co-educational in 1947, when the first two men entered LSMW and necessitated a change of name, to the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine. A major extension to the School was built in 1950, but conditions nevertheless remained cramped, although the School continued to be pre-eminent in medical research, known particularly for its medical unit, renal unit and haemophilia centre. When the Royal Free Hospital moved to Hampstead in 1974 the new Medical School building was planned on the same site, the last department finally moving from Hunter Street in 1983. After World War Two the School was threatened by successive government reports either with closure or with a merger with another school on three occasions (in 1946, 1968 and 1980) and each time had rejected the proposals. In 1998 however, the School finally merged with University College London to form a new school, the Royal Free and University College Medical School.

The School was originally administered by a Provisional Council, comprising 24 registered medical practitioners. In 1875 the Provisional Council handed over control to a Governing Body, consisting of its own members, and of a number of other influential friends and subscribers, with an Executive Council, who were responsible for the day-to-day administration. In 1898, with the formalisation of the link to the Hospital, the Governing Body and Executive Council were replaced by a Council, with four ex-officio members, including the Dean, and two representatives of the Hospital. The Council was advised by the larger School Committee, mainly comprising the teaching staff of the School. The School Committee was renamed the Education Committee in 1930. In later years several committees reported to the Council or School/Education Committee, of which the most important was the Finance Committee.