Ida S. Scudder founded Christian Medical College, which is popularly known as `CMC Vellore`. It is located in the city of Vellore in the state of Tamil Nadu. This is a private educational and research institute that includes a network of primary, secondary and tertiary care hospitals. It is owned and administered by Christian Church leaders from across India.
History of Christian Medical College and Hospital
CMC Vellore was founded by Ida Sophia Scudder in 1900. Ida decided to become a doctor when three women with their babies died on the same night due to severe labour pain in front of her. This incident happened when she came to India; she was just 24 years of age at that time. She thought to become a doctor to treat Indian female patients and inspire Indian women to become doctors.
In 1895, she enrolled her name in the Woman"s Medical College of Pennsylvania to study medical. After finishing her studies, she came to India again and opened a single bed dispensary in Vellore in 1900. In 1902, she built a 40-bed hospital for women and named it Mary Taber Schell Memorial Hospital. She continued to work in her dispensary and started to train women to make compounders at the same time. In 1918, she started a training program for nurses and women physicians with the Union Mission Medical School for Women. Then in the year 1938, government changed the policies for medical degrees as a result of which medical degrees could only be granted by universities. So, Ida decided to upgrade her medical school to medical college- Christian Medical College. Then finally, the college got affiliated to Madras University and from 1942 it began to offer MBBS course.
Academics of Christian Medical College and Hospital
CMC offers MBBS and 57 post-graduate diploma and degree medical courses, which include MS, MD, DM, MCh, Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and PhD etc. Other courses are 44 allied Health Science courses, 14 diploma courses in nursing and 52 Fellowship courses. Each year about 2500 students enroll in this college.
Medical Services in Christian Medical College and Hospital
There are two campuses of CMC. The main campus is in the heart of Vellore city and the other one is at Bagayam- 7 km from main campus. The medical departments of CMC are:
Clinical Immunology & Rheumatology
Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Reproductive Medicine
Child Health
Neonatology
Paediatric Surgery
Orthopedics
Ophthalmology
Hematology
Psychiatry
Radiology
Surgery
Anaesthesia
Anatomy
Biochemistry
Cardio thoracic Surgery
Cardiology
Centre for Stem Cell Research
Chaplaincy
Clinical Biochemistry
Clinical Epidemiology
Clinical Microbiology
Clinical Virology
Cytogenetics
Dental and Oral Surgery
Dermatology
Dietary
E.n.t
Endocrinology
Forensic medicine
Gastroenterology
General pathology
Geriatrics
Gynaecologic Oncology
Haematology
Hlrs - Hand & Leprosy Reconstructive Surgery
Infectious Diseases
Medical Genetics
Medical Oncology
Medicine
Neonatology
Nephrology
Neurosciences
Nuclear Medicine
Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Ophthalmology
Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Physiology
Plastic Surgery
Pulmonary Medicine
Radiotherapy
Reproductive Medicine
Rheumatology
Transfusion Medicine and Immuno Haematology
Community Works of Christian Medical College and Hospital
The community works of Christian Medical College are organised by its Department of Community Health; it was established in 1957. The community programs run by CMC are Community Health and Development (CHAD), Rural Unit for Health and Social Affairs (RUHSA), College of Nursing Community Health (CONCH) and Low Cost Effective Care Unit (LCECU). In 2014, the LCECU community opened the Shalom Clinic for middle-income patients.
Notable Alumni of Christian Medical College and Hospital
Some of the most notable alumni of CMC are:
Binayak Sen, pediatrician, recipient Jonathan Mann Award
Ajit Varki, medical researcher, director Glycobiology Institute, UCSD
Nagarur Gopinath, cardiothoracic surgeon and Padma Shri awardee
K. A. Abraham, interventional cardiologist and Padma Shri awardee
Suresh David, pioneer of Emergency Medicine in India
Significant Initiatives of Christian Medical College and Hospital
There are some important initiatives of CMC which have been proved as significant changes in the medical history. The initiatives are:
Fleming Memorial Research Laboratory in Virology in 1965
Artificial Kidney Laboratory in 1976
Betatron ICMR Centre for Advanced Research in Virology in 1978
National AIDS Reference and Surveillance Center in 1986
Cytogenetics Laboratory in 2002
Vellore Bombay Artificial Limb Bioengineering Department in 2003
Recognitions to Christian Medical College and Hospital
The recognitions which have been given to CMC Vellore are Public Health Champion Award by WHO (World Health Organization) in 2015, SKOCH Platinum Awards in 2014, D.L. Shah Quality Gold Award for Clinical Audit Program.
