The society was formed in 1982 by a group of GPs who successfully developed a programme of continuing medical education for rural practices in response to a complete lack of formal postgraduate education in the old county of Montgomeryshire. The founder members believed that GPs should be responsible for their own professional development and their programme was based on the principal of developing educational programmes which were organised for rural GPs by rural GPs. The nature of rural practice meant that practitioners often felt isolated from colleagues and the distances involved resulted in a reluctance to attend postgraduate centres which were based in district general hospitals. This needs based, rural, bottom up philosophy has continued to drive the Society since its early days, working on the belief that their urban peers have little understanding of rural health issues. The evening programme consists of regular lectures and is based on the identified professional needs of the community.
Many meeting are multidisciplinary.
The Society has held a national Rural Doctor's Conference since 1989 at Gregynog Hall. GPs attend from all over the UK and there has been representation from Europe and beyond. Society members have presented papers at conferences in the UK and abroad. The Society realise that they have established Rural Practice as a discipline in its own right and feel that its involvement in a Institute of Rural Health is a natural progression, ensuring that the lessons learned and their vision is extended across the whole of Rural Wales.