History

In November 1952 the British College of General Practitioners was established as an unincorporated association. By 1961 the College was established as an incorporated association with approximately 2000 members, and in 1967 the British College was granted permission to use the title The Royal College of General Practitioners.

Less than a year after the first annual meeting, in 1955, New Zealand members of the British College established a local Council, and it took until the early 1970s before a referendum of members overwhelmingly supported a the New Zealand College of General Practitioners. It was incorporated on 13 August 1973 under the Charitable Trusts Act. It was the first specifically New Zealand College in any medical discipline.

In 1979 the New Zealand College had also obtained permission to use the title The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.

Improving both standards and conditions for general practice were early priorities for the new College, which moved to establish the Family Medicine Training Programme (FMTP) in 1977 and advocated vocational registration of general practitioners through to the late 1980s, when the government of the day passed regulations enacting such a structure.

Today the College continues to enhance standards and quality in General Practice, providing postgraduate vocational education and continuing professional development, and representing the views of its members through submissions, lobbying and public statements.

We are indebted for this information to "A History of General Practice and of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners" by R. E. Wright-St Clair.