Records of the RCOG Fellowship Selection Committee

Records of the RCOG Fellowship Selection Committee, including bound and signed minute books, and agenda and circulated papers from meetings, relating to the elevation of Members of the College to the Fellowship.

The Fellowship Selection Committee was established in 1930 to select Members of the RCOG to be elevated to the fellowship. Fellows were Members who were judged worthy by their peers in distinguishing themselves in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology. Initially the Committee sat twice annually: in the autumn proposals were put forward for elevation, then after the Committee members had considered the list, a second meeting in the winter confirmed the names to be put to Council. Although the exact administrative arrangements varied, by the 1990s, the procedure was as follows:

1) Recommendations for elevation to Fellowship were invited from all Fellows. Members with sufficient experience were also encouraged to seek elevation by returning a CV form. The College Vice Presidents reviewed the papers in order to assess eligibility, with the assistance of the Chairmen of Overseas Reference and Representative Committees, if applicable. All cases were then put before the Fellowship Selection Committee before a final list was presented to Council for approval.

2) Nominations for Fellows Ad Eundem were collected by the Fellowship Selection Secretary throughout the year. The Finance and Executive Committee considered all the nominations and produced a shortlist. This was then brought to the Fellowship Selection Committee for approval.

In 1998 the process of Fellowship selection was reviewed and discussed. A simplified process was augmented and the Committee was disbanded. Discussions about those eligble for Fellowship became the responsibility of the Finance and Executive Committee, who then put the names to Council. The administrative departments of the College (the Membership Services Department and then the Administration Department) assumed responsibility for the procedure for selecting Members for elevation to the Fellowship, arranging admission ceremonies and maintaining the records of all Fellows, Members and Diplomates.

Chronological

Permission is required for external access to College records less than twenty years old.

Internal transfers from the RCOG Administration Department

Copyright is held by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and reproductions are available at the discretion of the College Archivist.

In 1985 a collection of papers concerning the elevation to Honorary Fellowship, Fellowship Ad Eundem, and Fellowship without Membership were found in a storeroom; these were all retained permanently and are now at archive reference RCOG/A12. Later records were transferred at various times by the Fellowship Selection Committee secretary.

Related material also held in the RCOG Archive may be found at the following references:

RCOG/A12 Papers relating to admission ceremonies, registers of Fellows and an Oath Book signed by Foundation Fellows, and Fellowship selection papers from 1998

RCOG/A1 Foundation records of the RCOG, including lists of Foundation Fellows

RCOG/A4 President's papers relating to Fellows, Honorary Fellows and Fellows ad Eundem

RCOG/PH Photographs of Admission Ceremonies