The California Medical Association has a mission to promote the science and art of medicine, the care and well-being of patients, the protection of the public health, and the betterment of the medical profession; to promote similar interests in its component societies; and to unite with similar organizations in other states and territories of the United States to form the American Medical Association.

The California Medical Association’s roots date back to 1856, in the wake of the 1848 Gold Rush. It was in 1856 that 76 physicians founded the California State Medical Society to set medical standards and create a forum for exchanging information and experience. Earlier medical societies existed in Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles, starting around 1850. It was both the Gold Rush and California’s drive for statehood that indirectly fueled their efforts. Prior to 1848, the practice of medicine in the late 18th and early 19th centuries had been the domain of military surgeons and mission Padres. As the then young United States began to move westward, private physicians from the East, accompanied by other pioneers, established themselves and their families in California. Until gold was discovered in 1848, the development of medical practice in California was gradual and generally well ordered. The Gold Rush however, brought chaos. As an estimated 250,000 people descended on the established population of 14,000 in less than 3 years, it was often impossible to distinguish the trained physician from the self-styled healer. There were far more impostors and quacks than competent doctors practicing medicine. The California Medical Association arose from the needs of doctors to professionalize in the post Gold-Rush era; and those needs expanded greatly in the 20th century. By 1946, CMA included just under 8,000 members; today it consists of more than 30,000 members. Since World War II, CMA has come to occupy a position of importance and leadership in California and the United States. It is the largest state medical association and has become the leader in the socio-economics of medicine. It is also earned a national reputation as a leader in legal advocacy on behalf of physicians and patients. In the 1990’s, it has emerged as a leading advocate for improving the quality of health care.

For more than a century, the California Medical Association has continued to ensure high quality care for all Californians through legislation, continuing medical education, and peer review. But the goals to which the founders subscribed in 1856 remain the same today: "to protect the public health and to promote the science and art of medicine."

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