The constitution of the New York Academy of Medicine, adopted at the first official meeting on January 6, 1847, stated that the organization’s objectives were to separate regular from irregular practitioners, such as homeopaths; to provide an opportunity for mutual recognition and fellowship; to promote the union and harmony of the regular profession in the city and its vicinity; to elevate the standard of medical education; and to advance medical science, especially through contributions to medical literature. On January 13, the Academy elected its first slate of officers and added 53 more Fellows to the original list of 132 founders, bringing the total to 185. At that same meeting, Isaac Wood presented three volumes of Martyn Paine’s Medical and Physiological Commentaries (1840) to the members, the first volumes in what has become one of the most significant medical libraries in the United States.
It took some time for the newly constituted organization to decide on a plan of action, and many early meetings were devoted to resolving questions related to internal governance. Nonetheless, in its first year the Academy investigated several public health issues, including an outbreak of typhus fever and problems related to the distribution of impure and adulterated milk. The Fellows also encouraged the state legislature to pass laws related to the registration of births, deaths, and marriages, and, in collaboration with the New York College of Pharmacy, to control the importation of impure drugs. Public health questions and regulating the practice of medicine became major focuses of the Academy during these early years, setting a pattern for the future.
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