Madras Medical College (MMC) is apublicmedical college located inChennai,Tamil Nadu,India. Established in 1835, it is one of the oldest medical colleges in India, as well as in Asia.[1]
In 1996, when the metropolis ofMadras was renamed as Chennai, the name of the college also changed toChennai 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.[4]
In January 2011, the hospital was renamed asRajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.[5]
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.[6]
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 erstwhilecentral 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.[citation needed]
The old MMC buildings presently house thecollege of pharmacy, school of nursing and also accommodate students of the recently added courses of audiology, speech learning and pathology, radiotherapy and radio diagnosis.[7]
Since 1857, the college has been affiliated to theUniversity of Madras and all degrees ofHealth Sciences were awarded by the same until 1988 when theTamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Act, 1987 received the assent of the president of India.[8] This affiliating university started functioning from July 1988 and is governed by the said Act.
The college was declared as an independent university called theMadras 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 Later the status as an independent university was withdrawn shortly afterwards and the college was affiliated back to the Tamil Nadu Dr.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.
In 2025, Madras Medical College, Chennai secured 16th place among medical institutions in India by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).[11]
Madras Medical college hosts inter-college cultural extravaganza known as "REVIVALS"[13] and the annual inter-medical sports meet known as "ENCIERRO".[13] 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.
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 Brahmosamaj in Kerala).
JS Rajkumar, founder Lifeline group of hospitals, Chennai. Advanced laparoscopic surgeon, former president Association of Surgeons of India (ASI) TN& P chapter
[Venkatesan Sangareddi] - Former professor of cardiology, and chief civil surgeon of Madras medical college, is one of the long serving faculty in the Department of cardiology for nearly 30 years.His academic work "Expressions in Cardiology," is being published in www.drsvenkatesan.com, as an online cardiology learning resource .The work is globally recognized and stands in top 10 cardiology blogs, attracting 6 million visitors from over 160 countries. He is also the author of A Hand book of "Nobel Laureates in medicine" an Inspirational Journey in the annals of medical science.
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