The complete doctor: Abraham Colles

“Be assured, that no man can know his profession perfectly, who knows nothing else; and that he who aspires to eminence in any particular science must first acquire the habit of philosophising on matters of science in general.” Abraham Colles, A Treatise on Surgical Anatomy, 1811.

The RCSI has been a leading institution in medical education throughout the last two and a half centuries. Its humble beginnings lie in the dissolution of the barber–surgeon relationship, the formation of the Dublin Society of Surgeons, and the subsequent charter granted by King George III, giving the College the name by which we know it today.