The North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS) began in 1849 when 25
physicians united to advance medical science and to raise the
standards for their profession. Today, in our 160th year, we are
more than 12,000 strong and champion the same goals and ideals.
As the largest physician organization in the state, the North
Carolina Medical Society devotes itself to representing the
interests of physicians and protecting the quality of patient
care. The mission of the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS)
is to unite, serve, and represent physicians in order to enhance
physician advocacy for their patients and improve the health of
the people of North Carolina. North Carolina had many skilled
and progressive physicians in the late 18th and early 19th
centuries; it also had many untrained and unscrupulous
practitioners who claimed the title of "doctor." The lay public
often couldn't distinguish one group from the other. Even the
physicians who had bonafide medical training recognized a need
to improve medical education