Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health stands in central London, a modern building on Theobalds Road. It is the professional body for paediatricians across the United Kingdom. The college trains doctors after medical school and sets the exams they must pass. It also awards a diploma for doctors who plan careers in general practice. The college’s first home was in Hallam Street before moving to its present site in 2008. The college began in 1928 as the British Paediatric Association under its first president, George Frederic Still. In 1996 it became a royal college and in 1999 replaced an older paediatrics exam with the MRCPCH. Its journal, Archives of Disease in Childhood, started in 1926. The college works with many health bodies and charities to improve child health at home and abroad. It organises conferences, publishes guidelines and runs training courses for doctors. Inside, the building houses lecture rooms, offices and meeting spaces for members and trainees. The college’s coat of arms shows a baby from the Foundling Hospital’s arms, honouring June Lloyd, its first female president. Nearby Coram’s Fields keeps the memory of Thomas Phaire’s early paediatrics book. The college remains a focus for British child health, linking doctors and shaping care for children.