The first Catholic physicians guild was founded in Boston in 1912. In the 1930s, the head of the Brooklyn guild, Dr. R.A. Rendick, spearheaded the formation of a national organization with which the various local guilds could affiliate. The NFCPG inaugurated its publication, the Linacre Quarterly, at the same time. The organization peaked in the 1960s at 10,000 physician members in more than 100 associated guilds. From 1944 to 1965, the NFCPG operated in conjunction with the Catholic Hospital Association. It broke with the CHA over the issue of socialized medicine and moved its headquarters from St. Louis to Milwaukee. In the same decade conflict erupted within the NFCPG over the question of the morality of artificial contraception, leading to the disassociation of many guilds and declining membership. By 1997, most of the local guilds had dissipated and the organization was renamed the Catholic Medical Association.