History

The Government of Travancore in 1948 appointed a committee to formulate proposals for starting a Medical College at Trivandrum. The Committee submitted its report and the scheme was sanctioned in October 1948. Dr. C.O. Karunakaran was appointed Special Officer for the implementation of the scheme.

The College Campus has 139 acres of picturesque land with a number of hillocks surrounded by evergreen coconut groves and paddy fields, facing the sea which lies at a distance of three kilometers, and is located on the North – West border of the Trivandrum city. The College, is linked with the different sections of the city by bus routes, is very near the national highway NH 47 and the nearest railway station is just few kilometers from the college.

The topographical layout and the architectural designs were prepared by Mr. J.A. Ritchie from Bombay. The College and the hospital buildings are separated by playgrounds for football, hockey, a cricket pitch, courts for tennis, basketball, badminton and volleyball and a 400 meter track.

The foundation stone of the College was laid by His Highness the Raja Pramuk of Travancore – Cochin at 11:45 AM on 26-01-1950. The first batch of sixty students was admitted in August 1951. The College was formally inaugurated by Shri. Jawaharlal Nehru at 8:00 AM on 27th Nov. 1951. In January 1952, the Sri. Avittom Thirunal Hospital ( SATH ) was inaugurated by Smt. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur. In 1952, mens hostel and 1year later womens hostel was also inaugurated. The Medical College Hospital was inaugurated by Shri. Jawaharlal Nehru on 1954.

The School of Nursing was inaugurated by Her Highness Sethu Lakshmi Bai in 1954 and upgraded to College of Nursing in 1963.

The Cancer block was inaugurated in 1958 and later after two decades the Regional Cancer Centre, one of the premier cancer care centers in South India was established.

The BDS course and the first PG course commenced in 1959.

The sixties saw the establishment of library. The artificial limb center, Mental hospital and Ophthalmic hospital were brought under Medical College administration. Later in nineties the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology came into existence.

Over the years, the campus saw establishment of Sree Chitra Thirunal Centre, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Priya Darsini Institute of Paramedical Sciences, Silver Jubilee Auditorium and the Various hostels. The institution has thus grown to glorious proportions.

It is financed and administrated by Health and Family welfare Dept, Govt. of Kerala. The Medical College is affiliated to the University of Kerala..