The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries

The Galen Medal of the Society of Apothecaries

The Galen Medal in Therapeutics is presented by the Society of Apothecaries annually and is its most prestigious honour. It has been presented annually since 1925. The Medal is awarded for important services or contributions in the broad field of therapeutics. This can include treatments in clinical medicine or other clinically-related areas, therapeutic aspects of public health, and science leading to such treatments.

The 2024 Galen Medal has been awarded to Professor Jack Cuzick CBE, in recognition of his work transforming identification of women at high risk of breast cancer and pioneering modern prevention cervical screening strategies that have been adopted worldwide.

Professor Cuzick joins a list of ‘stellar’ figures who between them, with their varied contributions and backgrounds, have improved the lives of many millions of people in the UK and around the globe.

Galen Medal Previous Winners

Nominations for the 2025 Galen Medal are now closed and the winner will be announced later in the year.

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The William Farr Medal of the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries

The Farr medal is one of the Society’s most prestigious honours and is presented alongside the premier award of the Society, the Galen Medal each year. It was inaugurated in 2006 and is awarded to medical practitioners who have made a particularly significant contribution to the management of the care of elderly people as part of their clinical or research work in the United Kingdom. The Society wishes to acknowledge innovations in the care of the elderly and particularly encourages the nomination of those in the middle of their career.

William Farr was a 19^th Century licentiate of the Society who later became chief statistician in the Office of the Registrar General. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and developed an international reputation for his system of disease classification.

The 2024 Farr Medal has been awarded to Professor Iain Moppett in recognition of his work raising the profile of perioperative care of the older person and in particular the development of the first hip fracture specific risk prediction tool.

Previous Winners of the William Farr Medal

Nominations for the 2025 Farr Medal are now closed and the winner will be announced later in the year.

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The Apothecaries' Prize

Created in 2017 to mark the Society’s 400th anniversary year, the Apothecaries' Prize is aimed at doctors eligible for a consultant post in the UK within the next 3 years or, in pharmacy training, those practicing at Advanced Stage II of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Faculty or similar. Entry for the prize consists of submitting a published paper in medical therapeutics or public health medicine.

Please click here for more information.

The 2024 Apothecaries’ Prize has been awarded to Dr Wen Ding for her paper “Adeno-associated virus gene therapy prevents progression of kidney disease in genetic models of nephrotic syndrome”.

Previous Winners of the Apothecaries' Prize

Applications for the 2024-5 Apothecaries Prize have now closed.  The 2025-6 application round will open in May 2025.

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Rhino Elective Awards

These scholarships, worth £400 each, will enable medical students within their final 3 years of training to carry out medical electives. The Society welcomes creative ideas that address the principal purposes of an elective, including travelling to a new institution for an experience that benefits the student and the local population. Winners of the awards write a post-elective report to share with the Society and our community what they have learnt through their experiences.

The 2023 winner was Shreya Agrawal and you can read her report here.

Applications for the Rhino Electives Awards have now closed.  Applications for Electives taking place between March 2026 and February 2027 will open in September 2025.

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Prize for Excellence in Military Medical Support to Crisis

Inaugurated in 2019, this prize is awarded in collaboration with the Surgeon-General for an action or contribution to a crisis subject to a specific MoD operational name or for planning, implementation or delivery of a specific activity within the crisis.

The 2024 Prize has been awarded to the 13 person Tactical Aeromed and Critical Care Air Support Team, a selection of individual augmentees from across the RAF Medical Services who deployed with between 8 and 48 hours’ notice despite many not being held at readiness to support tactical taskings. Whilst the Operational picture was still developing, they rapidly deployed to provide tactical Aeromed Evacuation across Turkey including the capability to support Critical Care patients.

Previous winners of the Prize for Excellence in Military Medical Support to Crisis

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If you have any queries about the Society’s Awards or Medals,
please contact the Deputy Clerk: deputyclerk@apothecaries.org