The West Virginia State Medical Association was established in 1867 as the Medical Society of West Virginia by Dr. James Edmund Reeves and colleagues. Reeves was the brother of social activist Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis. The organization's name was changed to the West Virginia State Medical Association in 1902.

In 2010, the West Virginia State Medical Association had more than 2,700 members, including practicing physicians, medical students, medical residents, and retired physicians. Sixty percent of practicing physicians in West Virginia are members of the association. The association focuses on public health issues, strives to provide a high level of continuing medical education, and advocates on behalf of the medical profession. The organization has a political action committee that presents health care issues to legislators and endorses political candidates.

The West Virginia State Medical Association oversees 30 regional medical societies within the state, which are chartered through the bylaws of the state organization. In 2002, the association established an educational and charitable organization, the West Virginia Medical Foundation, which administers various health promotion programs, including a preventive medicine conference.

The West Virginia State Medical Association, which is headquartered in Charleston, publishes the bimonthly West Virginia Medical Journal.