Madras Medical College (MMC) is a public medical college located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1835, it is one of the oldest medical colleges in India, as well as in Asia.
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History
The Government General Hospital was established on 16 November 1647 to treat soldiers of the British East India Company. Madras Medical College was established on 2 February 1835. Mary Scharlieb graduated from Madras Medical College in 1878.
In 1996, when the metropolis of Madras was renamed as Chennai, the name of the college also changed to Chennai Medical College. It was later re-renamed back to the Madras Medical College since the college was known worldwide by the older name.
The foundation stone for the new building of the college was laid by the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi, on 28 February 2010.
In January 2011, the hospital was renamed as Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.
Red Fort building
A red-brick heritage structure known as the "Red Fort" stands to the east of the MMC buildings. Built in 1897, it has been classified as a Grade I heritage building by the Justice E. Padmanabhan Committee on heritage structures. It housed the anatomy department for several decades, which was partially moved to the new campus of the MMC at the erstwhile Central Prison campus in 2013.
In December 2017, the PWD started the restoration of the heritage structure at a cost of ₹ 19.7 million. Once restored, the structure will be converted to a museum, with the ground floor showcasing the history of MMC and the first-floor showcasing specimens for comparative anatomy.
New campus
A new campus with a six-storeyed building for Madras Medical College was built on land covering 325,000 square feet (30,200 m2) on the erstwhile central prison premises in 2010 and was completed in 2012. The campus has nearly 1,250 students and 400 faculty and staff members. The campus was built at a cost of ₹ 566.3 million and started functioning in 2013.
The old MMC buildings presently house the college of pharmacy, school of nursing and also accommodate students of the recently added courses of audiology, speech learning and pathology, radiotherapy and radio diagnosis.
Affiliation
Since 1857, the college has been affiliated to the University of Madras and all degrees of Health Sciences were awarded by the same until 1988 when the Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Act, 1987 received the assent of the president of India. This affiliating university started functioning from July 1988 and is governed by the said Act.
The college was declared as an independent university called the Madras Medical College and Research Institute (MMC & RI). Later the status as an independent university was withdrawn shortly afterwards and the college was affiliated back to the Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, dropping the suffix: "Research Institute" in 2000.
Affiliated institutions
Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), Park Town, Chennai – 600003
Tamil Nadu Government Dental College, Park Town, Chennai - 600003
College of Pharmacy, Park Town, Chennai - 600003
Barnard Institute of Radiology, Park Town, Chennai - 600003
Institute of Mental Health, Kilpauk, Chennai - 600010
Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Government Hospital for Women and Children (IOG & GH WC), Egmore, Chennai - 600008
Institute of Social Obstetrics and Government Kasturba Gandhi Hospital for Women and Children, Triplicane, Chennai-600005
Omandurar government medical college hospital, Chennai-600002
Institute of Child Health and Government Hospital for Children (ICH & HC), Egmore, Chennai - 600008
Regional Institute of Ophthalmology and Government Ophthalmic Hospital, Chennai (RIOGOH), Egmore, Chennai - 600008
Government Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, K.K. Nagar, Chennai - 600083
Institute of Thoracic Medicine and Chest Diseases, Chetpet, Chennai - 600031
National Institute of Aging, Guindy, Chennai -600032
Government Peripheral Hospital, Periyar Nagar, Chennai
Rankings
In 2025, Madras Medical College, Chennai secured 16th place among medical institutions in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).
The College was ranked 10th and 78th in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in the medical and pharmacy ranking respectively in 2024.
Cultural events
Madras Medical college hosts inter-college cultural extravaganza known as "REVIVALS" and the annual inter-medical sports meet known as "ENCIERRO". Apart from this, it also hosts annual intra college cultural event known by the name " KALAIOMA". GENESIS is the intercollegiate academic conference conducted for undergraduate medical students since 2005. The 17th event of genesis will be held in the month of September 2023.
Administration
The college and hospital are funded and managed by the state government of Tamil Nadu. The head of the institution is the dean followed by the vice-principal.
Dean of institution: K.Shantharaman
Vice-Principal: J. Sreevidya
Notable people
Alumni
Ayyathan Gopalan - First Indian Superintendent of Calicut lunatic asylum (Kuthiravattom mental hospital), Chief Surgeon, Medical Professor, Social reformer of Kerala (Founder of Sugunavardhini movement, Depressed Classes Mission and leader and Propagandist of Brahmo Samaj in Kerala).
Lakshmi Sahgal, Indian freedom fighter and member of the Indian National Army
Ayyathan Janaki Ammal - First female doctor and Surgeon of Kerala, First Malayali Lady doctor and Surgeon.
Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, surgeon and President of the Indian National Congress (1927)
Padmanabhan Palpu, physician from the Kingdom of Travancore who served as a chief medical officer of Mysore State.
A. N. Chandrasekaran, rheumatologist and recipient of the Dr. B. C. Roy Award. Founded the first dedicated department for rheumatology in India and the Journal of Indian Rheumatology Association.
S. S. Badrinath, ophthalmologist, founder of Sankara Nethralaya
C.O. Karunakaran, bacteriologist and founder of Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram
V. Mohan, diabetologist and Padma Shri recipient
Guruswami Mudaliar, a noted professor at MMC and doctor in Madras
G. M. Yahya, Former Dean of Thanjavur Medical College.
Arjunan Rajasekaran, urologist and a recipient of the Padma Shri and Dr. B. C. Roy Award
JS Rajkumar, founder Lifeline group of hospitals, Chennai. Advanced laparoscopic surgeon, former president Association of Surgeons of India (ASI) TN& P chapter
Faculty
Subramanian Kalyanaraman, neurosurgeon, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize laureate
T. S. Kanaka, Asia's first female neurosurgeon