Introduction
Medical education in
Varanasi,
the oldest living city of the world, dates from the days of Sushruta
500 BC.
Infact this is also the history of Medical education in India. The
great
treatise - 'Sushruta Samhita' is a living testimony of contributions to
Medical
education that originated in Varanasi, Sushruta
was
the first to perform cadaver dissections and described a number of
operating
instruments and surgical operations. Perhaps it is a continuation of
this historical
perspective that Medical education in Banaras Hindu University took
roots in
1920 with the establishment of Department of Ayurveda under Faculty of
Oriental
Learning and Theology (1922-1927). Under the influence of Pandit
Madan Mohan Malviyaji, Seth
Mathuradas Vissanji Khimji
of Bombay donated a large some of Rs.1.5 Lacs
for the Ayurvedic
College.
This was further augmented by donations from Shri Daya
Shankar Dev Shankar
Dave of Kathiawar and Bombay.
In the year 1924-25, Ayurvedic Aushadhalaya was
established to 1. prepare
medicines, 2. teach Ayurvedic students the
formulations, and 3. make
the Ayurvedic
formulations available to general public at affordable price. To help
in this
arrangement a large Botanical Garden was created for raw materials that
still
continue to discharge its purpose.
In the next series of
developments, Maharaja Sir Prabhu
Narayan Singhji of
Banaras laid the foundation stone of the Ayurvedic
Hospital on 19th January 1924.
Years later, in 1960 the Ayurvedic College was converted
to the College of Medical
Sciences with Professor K.N. Uduppa
as its founder
principal. The College of Medical Sciences then had 10 Departments - 9
in
Modern Medicine and 1 in Indian Medicine. In 1963, MBBS training was
recognized
both by General Medical Council, U.K. and Medical Council of India. The
Post
Graduate Institute of Indian Medicine (since 1963) was merged with
Institute of
Medical Sciences established in 1971.
The postgraduate medical
education, started as in-service program in 1963 (3 years after
establishment
of Medical College), took the form of a formal training program in 1971
after
due permission from the Visitor of the Banaras Hindu University i.e.,
the
President of India. This upgraded College of Medical Sciences to
Institute of
Medical Sciences in 1971.
Further
growth of postgraduate
education continued with approval of DM and MCh
courses in 10 Superspecialties
in 1976. In 1978, the
existing Faculty was bifurcated into the Faculty of Ayurveda and
Faculty of
Medicine to facilitate their independent growth.
