Guy's Society for Clinical Reports

Guy's Society for Clinical Reports was established in 1836 by pupils, with the support of the Treasurer Benjamin Harrison. The Society's aim was 'to preserve and disseminate useful information collected by pupils from the Hospital'. The influence of Thomas Hodgkin appears to have been instrumental in the establishment of the Society. All students attending the hospital were eligible to be members. The students of the Society were allotted in groups to each Physician and Surgeon to report selected cases. They met once a week in the clincial report room of the hospital to describe the cases of most interest. Reports of each case were to be drawn up in 'a condensed tabular shape according to a formula arranged by the society', and were expected to be in minute detail. The wards were arranged in two divisions, and their reports were given to the Secretary on alternate weeks, the completed cases extracted and the papers returned. A daily list of admissions of the previous day and a journal of cases recording all cases in the hospital were also kept in the report room. In 1846 it was made obligatory for all students to report cases, partly due to the success of the Clinical Report Society.