Medical colleges and hospitals in India

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Today India has more than 590 medical colleges, and about 64 standalone postgraduate institutes. There are more than 70,000 hospitals in India. Healthcare system in India is ancient. We first interacted with modern medicine through Portuguese physicians. However, British East India Company (EIC) established first hospitals. First modern hospital was Cogan’s house (west 1664) in Fort St George (current Chennai). Built for the company officials and soldiers, it shifted many locations in next 100 years. EIC build another hospital in Fort Williams (current Kolkata) – Presidency hospital in 1707.

A Portuguese doctor Manoel Roiz de Sousa was were the first to initiate some sort of medical teaching in Goa in 1691. Portuguese medical school is forefather of Goa Medical College. Britishers established early native medical schools in Calcutta (1822) and Bombay (1826). Meanwhile, French had established Ecole de medicine de Pondicherry in 1823. This French medical school is a forefather of JIPMER Pondicherry. These efforts were either intermittent or unstructured. These efforts gave way to more structured and sustainable options in later years.

First Medical Colleges in India: Calcutta
Postage stamps on four of the first six medical colleges in India at Calcutta, Madras, Lucknow and Delhi.

Lord William Bentinck Governor General of India in 1833, set up a committee to assess need for a medical college in India. On committee’s recommendation in January 1835, EIC established Calcutta Medical College. In the same month, Governor General ordered closure of previously established Native medical institute. Calcutta Medical College had 49 students in the first batch. Till 1883, it only admitted men.

A postage stamp was issued in 1985, on 150 years of Calcutta Medical College.
Prestige of any institution lies in its alumni. Calcutta medical college alumni in postage stamps. (1) Dr BC Roy was an illustrious alumnus (admitted in 1901), and also served as a faculty in the same college. Dr BC Roy became first chief minister of West Bengal. His birthday -1st July is celebrated as Doctor’s day in India. (2) Dr Mahendra Sircar completed his MD in 1860, and left modern medicine to practice Homeopathy in Calcutta. He spent his life to fund scientific research. (3) Dr Henry Gidney was admitted in 1889, and specialised in Opthalmology in England. He returned to India, worked in Naga-hills as a civil surgeon. Later he was a practicing ophthalmologist in Mumbai.
Second is not far away: Madras

Next month, in February 1835 Governor of Madras Sir Frederick Adams set up Madras Medical school, renamed as Madras Medical College on 1st October 1850. EIC established this institution in the premises of an oldest hospital in India. Till 1875, it admitted only men.

A postage stamp issued in 1985, on occasion of 150 years of Madras Medical College.
Madras Medical College Alumni (1) Dr Yellapragada Subbarao was an alumnus of this institute (1910). He went on to study at Harvard Medical School, and discovered various medicines such as Folic acid, Methotrexate, DEC. (2) Dr MA Ansari graduated from Madras Medical College, was trained as a surgeon from England, and returned back to India in 1910. He helped set up Jamia Millia University in Delhi and later became its Chancellor.
Bombay get a medical college too !!

Sir Robert Grant, Governor of Bombay wanted to establish a medical college. He first established a Medical and Physical Society of Bombay in 1834. Only two years ago, a previously established Native Medical School of Bombay had closed down. In 1838, EIC accepted proposal to establish a medical college. Robert Grant, died a month before this acceptance. Thus, EIC named first medical college of Bombay in memory of Robert Grant as Grant’s Medical College. Medical colleges need an accompanying hospital. Sir Jamshedjee Jeejeebhoy gave a donation of Rs one lakh to set up a hospital, we know today as JJ hospital.

While no postage stamp on Grant’s medical college has been issued, various prominent scientists worked here. Dr Haffkine worked here in 1896, and Haffkine’s institute in Mumbai is named after him.

In 1857, we had three medical colleges. This was a turbulent time of first war of India’s independence. Governance changed hands. Company rule ended. British established their direct rule through a viceroy. British set up a third medical college in Lahore in 1860. Thereafter, it would take five decades for the next medical college.

Medical colleges vs Medical schools

Meanwhile, need for support personnel in health-care was growing. There was also a need to train doctors in indigenous systems of medicine. A few medical schools filled this void. British government established Sealdah (later Campbell) medical school in 1873, and Calcutta school of medicine in 1886. Later these medical schools would become NRS (1948) and RG Kar (1916) medical colleges of today. Meanwhile, many medical schools were set up in Agra, Indore, Bombay, and Madras. They offered courses in nursing, midwifery, apothecary and laboratory sciences.

In 1900, three colleges at Calcutta, Madras and Lahore had their own names for their medical qualifications. Basic degree was Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery (LMS), and an advanced degree was Doctor of Medicine (MD). In 1906, Bombay University came up with MB, & BS for Medicine Baccalaureus, & Bachelor of Surgery. This mix-match of latin and English became MBBS of today. Baccalaureus has an interesting etymology. It comes from Latin bacca (“berry”)and laurea (“laurel”). Graduates in those days wore laurel crowns filled with berries, a fruit that would symbolise the fruit of their study.

LMS became an inferior qualification to MBBS. Colleges gradually phased it out. MD /MS became a superior qualification. Those doctors who went to England for more studies were FRCP and FRCS. We have lived with these names till today.

King George

Maharaja of Vijaynagar wanted to establish a medical college in Lucknow in 1870. He had no funds. British government took took up this task in 1905, and next year Prince of Wales laid foundation of the new college. In 1911, King George V visited India, to inaugurate New Delhi. The same year, he gave his name to the new institute – King George Medical College or KGMC. KGMC had a brief stint of a name change, as also indicated on its postage stamp. We know it today as King George Medical University.

King George V in a postage stamp from 1935, and King George Medical University in a centenary postage stamp and cover issued in 2011
Lady Hardinge

In 1911, British moved to their new capital to Delhi. Wife of Viceroy Charles Hardinge, Winifred Sturt or Lady Hardinge wanted to establish India’s first Women’s medical college. British government agreed to this request. In 1914, British Government set up a college in the heart of New Delhi. Lady Hardinge died earlier in 1914. This college was to be named as Queen Mary college, became Lady Hardinge Medical College. In 1916 it has its first batch of sixteen students. This college started treating male patients only after 1991.

Lady Hardinge Medical College was established in 1916. Medical College at Lahore, then in undivided India, was well past its Golden jubilee then. (Lahore stamp and first day cover are internet images)
Alumni of Lady Hardinge Medical College : Dr Sushila Nayar (b1914-d2001), a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi was an alumnus. After completing her medical degree, she worked with Mahatma Gandhi, and after his demise she obtained DrPH from John Hopkins. Later, she went on to become a minister in Nehru’s cabinet. She established Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, at Sevagram in 1969. MGIMS Sevagram in my alma mater, and an image on the left is a cover-page of a 2001 memoir on Dr Sushila Nayar, edited by Dr SP Kalantri (which I helped proof-read). Khadi (hand woven cloth) that forms background of the cover-page, is an actual scan of Dr Kalantri’s stitched shirt !!!
India-post issued a special cover in 2005, commemorating her, and MGIMS Sevagram
Regulatory bodies for Medical Education and Research

In 1911, British Government established Indian Research Fund Association (IRFA). Later, in 1949, Government of Independent India renamed it as Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). ICMR has conducted and supported Medical research in various medical institutions. It is one of the oldest medical research bodies in the world.

A postage stamp issued in 2011 on 100 years of Indian Council of Medical Research

Doctors trained in modern medicine, established a professional body named Medical council of India (MCI) in 1933. Initially, the purpose of this body was to maintain a list of all MBBS trained doctors. This list is known as Indian Medical Register. Later it adopted additional roles, such as ethics, and regulation of quality of medical education. In 2020, Government dissolved MCI, and has established a National Medical Commission (NMC) in its place. NMC performs all the functions of erstwhile MCI, and maintains a list of medical colleges and medical doctors.

Medical Council of India (est 1933) was dissolved in 2020 and is now replaced by National Medical Commission (NMC) A postage stamp issued on its Platinum Jubilee in 2009.
Nationalism in Medical Education

In early 20th century access to medical education was limited. Established medical colleges admitted only selected medical students. Indian doctors, who were well trained were not accepted as faculty in these colleges. This prompted nationalist medical colleges to be set up. RG Kar Medical College in Calcutta (1916), GS Seth medical college in Bombay (1925), and Mysore medical college in Mysore (1924) were such institutes. In 1920 in Hyderabad, Nizam was able to get recognition for a medical college. Erstwhile Hyderabad medical school, was now a college. These institutions were not controlled by the British, and provided more opportunities for Indian doctors and students.

Medical colleges set up between 1915-1930. Dr Dwarkanath Kotnis was an alumnus of GS Seth Medical College in Mumbai. Both India and China have issued postage stamps in his honour.

British Government established two more medical colleges. In 1923 Vizagapatam medical college, and in 1924 Prince of Wales Medical College in Patna. Today we know them as Andhra Medical College and Patna Medical College respectively.

Patna Medical College (previously Prince of Wales Medical College). Prince of Wales became King Edward VIII in 1936. Dr Shreenivas was an alumnus of Patna Medical College. He studied cardiology in US and returned back to Patna to establish institute of Cardiology. He is credited as first Cardiologist of India.
Medical colleges at the time of independence

More medical colleges were set up during and after the Second World War. We required more doctors, and healthcare need was recognised by the governments.

Medical colleges in Agra, Chennai, Vellore, Cuttack and Mumbai were established between 1930-1945
Various medical colleges were started in 1945-48. These were at Jaipur, Gwalior, Ahmadabad, Indore, Nagpur, Guntur, Darbhanga and Calcutta.
Postage stamp on Assam Medical College Dibrugarh issued in 2022. It was first medical college in North Eastern India, inaugurated in 1947. Stamp from Monaco shows Dr Prakash Amte and Dr Mandakini Amte, alumni of Government Medical College Nagpur
Orrisa Medical School was upgraded to a medical College in 1944. It was renamed in 1951 as Srirama Chandra Bhanj medical college (SCBMC) to honour Mayurbhanj Maharaja who provided funds to establish the college.
Postage stamps on CMC Vellore, and TNMC Mumbai. Christian Medical Collage Vellore, was established as a hospital by Dr Ida S Scudder in 1900. It was recognised to give Medical degrees in 1942.
Topiwala National Medical College was established in 1921, but it was affiliated to Bombay University in 1946. It was recognised by Medical Council of India in 1964.
Indore Medical School was set up in 1878. It became a medical college in 1946. A first day cover shows Calcutta National Medical College, recognised in 1948
Medical Colleges established in Independent India

Most medical colleges of today were established in Independent India. List is long, and those that have completed 50 years of their existence are listed in following images.

Some medical colleges in Independent India are represented in postal stamps. The following section presents this philately material (postage stamps, first day covers, and special covers). Please savour these and let me know if there are some others that I do not have.

Bangalore Medical College, established 1955
AIIMS New Delhi, established 1956
AFMC Pune established 1962
PGIMER Chandigarh established 1962
JIPMER Pondicherry (1959 – renamed 1964). JLN Medical College Raipur (1963)
Medical colleges established within last 50 years – no Golden Jubilee yet

The following philately material is about the colleges that are yet to complete 50 years. Please let me know if there is more philately material about them, that I do not have.

Dr BR Ambedkar Medical College Bangalore and INHS Jeevanti
Privately owned medical colleges were established by Dr MS Ramaiah (Postage stamp 2022). RMMC Chidambaram (First day cover 1987)
Privately owned medical colleges in Madhya Pradesh – RD Gardi Medical College Ujjain, and Chirayu Medical College Bhopal
GB Pant hospital and Safdarjung hospital – Now Vardhaman Medical College (2001)
Rajiv Gandhi University of Medical Sciences, Postage stamp issued in 2021
Gallery of Indian hospitals

Some Indian hospitals have a philately presence. Enjoy the gallery below. Please suggest if you will have more to add to the list.

India’s oldest Mental Health Institutions at Ranchi (1918) and Chennai (1794)
Two of the oldest missionary established hospitals from Stephen’s 1885 and Martha’s 1886
TMC Mumbai has pioneered in Cancer therapeutics. It is currently stand alone postgraduate institute.
Two of the early privately owned hospitals in Southern India
Two of the eminent private / corporate hospitals – Lilavati and Apollo
Special covers – Privately owned hospitals in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh

14 comments

  3. Overwhelming to go through glorious history of medical science in indian sub-continent.
    Surprised to see the foresightness of britishers to establish a women medical college in india.
    Very informative and interesting article. Great work

  6. Very Informative and interesting write up…. Thanks Sir for this piece of information🙏👏👌👍

  10. Thank you very much for a lucid description of the evolution of medical colleges in India through postal stamps. We have indeed come a long way & more glory to the future of medical education in India. The blog made me nostalgic reading on about Institutions of which i am an alumni.

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