The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) will once again open its doors to the public free of charge for its Open Day on Saturday 7 July between 11am and 4pm.
Ahead of the 2012 Olympics, the Open Day has a sports and exercise medicine theme and will feature talks, tours and demonstrations on how to lead a healthy lifestyle and how medicine impacts on the world of sport.
Visit the RCP Open Day event page
Built in 1964, the RCP is housed in a Grade I listed modernist masterpiece. One of only a handful of post-war buildings to achieve Grade I status, the RCP’s provocative home was designed by Sir Denys Lasdun (1914–2001). In 1992 Lasdun was awarded the Royal Institute of British Architects’ Trustees Medal in recognition of his work at the RCP, considered to be ‘the best architecture of its time anywhere in the world’.
Visitors can explore the RCP on a free guided tour led by architectural expert Kieran Mahan. Fans of horticulture can also take a tour of the RCP’s acclaimed medicinal garden which boasts over 1,200 plants associated with conventional medicine, herbal medicine and medical figures.
The RCP was founded by Henry VIII in 1518 and is home to an incredible collection of medical artefacts. At the Open Day there will be guided tours of the RCP’s museum and collections, including the latest exhibition; ‘Curious anatomys’: an extraordinary story of dissection and discovery. The fascinating exhibition charts the history of public dissections and centres on a set of 17th century anatomical tables which feature human veins, nerves and arteries that have been cut from dissected bodies and varnished onto wooden panels.
In keeping with the sporting theme, there will be a sport, exercise and defence rehabilitation exhibition taking place throughout the day. In addition, there will be a series of sport and lifestyle talks from leading medical figures including the chief medical officer to the British Olympic team, Dr Richard Budgett, and the RCP’s special adviser on alcohol and chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance, Sir Ian Gilmore.
For those interested in a career in medicine, the RCP Open Day is an opportunity to discuss career options and get open and honest advice from some of the countries most senior medics. Representatives from a number of the RCP’s medical specialties will be on hand to answer questions and offer information about their specialist areas of medicine.
Younger visitors to the RCP’s Open Day can also learn how to become a senior doctor in an informative session titled Thinking of becoming a doctor? From student to consultant.
Talks, lectures and architectural tours can be booked on arrival. Garden tours, historical talks and sports and exercise demonstrations will run throughout the day. Drinks and refreshments will be available. Entry is free of charge.
For further information, please contact Andrew McCracken, RCP Communications and New Media Adviser, on +44 (0)203 075 1354 / 07990 745 608, or email andrew.mccracken@rcplondon.ac.uk