In some Commonwealth countries and Ireland, a medical royal college is a professional body in the form of a Royal College responsible for development of and training in one or more medical specialities.
Standards and guidance
They are generally charged with setting standards within their field and for supervising the training of doctors within that specialty, although the responsibility for the application of those standards in the UK, since 2010, rests with the General Medical Council.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland most medical royal colleges are members of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) are listed below, with their postgraduate faculties (some of which are independently members of the Academy) and institutes. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges itself has one faculty of its own - the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management.
The Royal Colleges are involved with international activities to improve health through education and training, with some of these efforts coordinated by the International Forum of the AoMRC. The Royal College of General Practitioners has been actively involved on an international level to help family medicine doctors have access to “contextually relevant training and development programmes”.
Medical colleges can seek royal patronage and permission to use the prefix Royal, usually also having a Royal charter.
The letters in brackets are commonly used for or by the institution, for example in post-nominal letters that denote membership or fellowship. Dates in brackets are the year of incorporation by Royal charter. The origins of some of these institutions may predate their incorporation by many years, for example the origins of the Royal College of Surgeons of England may be traced directly to a Guild of Surgeons in the City of London in the fourteenth century.
Some institutions with similar functions are not listed here: they do not have a Royal Charter and are not members of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, for example the Irish Colleges of Anaesthetists, of General Practitioners, of Ophthalmologists and of Psychiatrists.
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd, 1506)
Faculty of Dental Surgery
Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine
Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care
Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine (FSEM)
Intercollegiate Faculty of Surgical Trainers
Royal College of Physicians of London (RCP, 1518)
Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine
Faculty of Occupational Medicine (Independently a member of AoMRC)
Intercollegiate Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine (Independently a member of AoMRC)
Intercollegiate Faculty of Public Health (Independently a member of AoMRC)
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (RCPSG, 1599)
Faculty of Dentistry
Faculty of Physicians
Faculty of Podiatric Medicine
Intercollegiate Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine (Independently a member of AoMRC)
Intercollegiate Faculty of Public Health (Independently a member of AoMRC)
Faculty of Surgeons
Faculty of Travel Medicine
Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI, 1654)
Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine of Ireland (joint with RCSI, College of Anaesthetists of Ireland and Intensive Care Society of Ireland)
Faculty of Occupational Medicine
Faculty of Paediatrics
Faculty of Pathology
Faculty of Public Health Medicine
Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine (joint with RCSI)
Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE, 1681)
Intercollegiate Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine (Independently a member of AoMRC)
Intercollegiate Faculty of Public Health (Independently a member of AoMRC)
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI, 1784)
Faculty of Dentistry
Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine of Ireland (joint with RCPI, College of Anaesthetists of Ireland and Intensive Care Society of Ireland)
Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery
Faculty of Radiologists
Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine (joint with RCPI)
Institute of Leadership
Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS, 1800)
Faculty of Dental Surgery
Faculty of General Dental Practice
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC, 1929)
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG, 1930)
Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare
Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP, 1952)
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP, 1969)
Royal College of Pathologists (RCPath, 1970)
Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych, 1971)
Royal College of Radiologists (RCR, 1975)
Faculty of Clinical Oncology
Faculty of Clinical Radiology
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO, 1977)
Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP, 1979)
Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth, 1988)
Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA, 1992)
Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine
Faculty of Pain Medicine
Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH, 1996)
Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM, 2006)
