Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram

About Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram

The Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram (also known as Thiruvananthapuram Medical College) is in Thiruvananthapuram (the capital of Kerala), India. Founded in 1951, it was dedicated by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and is Kerala's oldest medical college. The college was known in early records as Medical College (of Thiruvananthapuram), since it was the only medical institute in the state at its inception.

Its campus houses several hospitals and institutions in addition to Medical College Hospital (MCH), including the Colleges of Nursing and Pharmaceutical sciences, the Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram Dental College, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, the Priyadarshini Institute of Paramedical Sciences and the Sree Avittom Thirunal Hospital for Women and Children (SAT Hospital). The Regional Institute of Ophthalmology (RIO), also a part of the college, is being upgraded to a national-level independent institute. The School of Optometry is also on campus.

The college follows the Kerala model of health care. The state has maintained health indices at par with developed nations, well above the national averages. This has been studied by a number of agencies for use in other states of India and developing nations. During the 1950s Asian flu pandemic, it was the principal institute to isolate and research the virus. The college has been upgraded to one of the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences due to its provision of tertiary care to southern India.[citation needed]

It has ranked 21st in an India Today survey.[full citation needed] The college has a good clinical record, but has been lagged in research.

SAT Mix, developed by doctors and nutritionists at SAT Hospital, is used throughout India to manage childhood malnutrition and is a cost-effective measure to reduce infant mortality. The Thiruvananthapuram Development Chart, a scale to assess child development, was developed by the Child Development Center and is recommended for community developmental assessment. The college is one of 15 across India to be connected through the National Knowledge Commission's National Knowledge Network to integrate its knowledge base with the global scientific community.