Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research

History

Way back in 1707, the first hospital in Calcutta was built in the premises of the Old Fort at Gerstein Place. The Council of Fort William constructed this hospital. This hospital, initially built for the Europeans, was then known as Presidency Hospital.

The hospital was accommodated in a single storied building. Later, in 1768, two houses were purchased in Lower Circular Road for converting them into a full fledged hospital. Located near the Presidency Jail, the hospital came to be known as Presidency General Hospital. Doors were opened to the non-European patients from 2nd April 1770. The Presidency General Hospital was best known as PG Hospital till 1954 when it was named in the Independent India, as Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital. The naming was done to commemorate the name of the great donor Sukhlal Karnani. People started addressing the Hospital as SSKM Hospital.

It was then a practice that the Indian medical graduates used to go abroad for studying post graduation and higher medical research. Government felt necessary of opening Post Graduate Medical Learning Centers. PG Hospital was honoured to be the first Post Graduate Medical Institute in Eastern India in 1957.

From 16th January 1957, the hospital came to be known as The Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research (IPGMER). The institute was inaugurated by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India, on 16th January, 1957. Since then the institute is best known as a Medical Learning Center of Excellence and a Specialty Hospital, with the following objectives :

To foster spirit of research in fundamental and applied problems in medicine and also to train young post graduates in the spirit and methodology of research.
To organize postgraduate teaching in different branches of medicine in integrated manner and to groom suitable candidates for postgraduate degrees and diplomas.
To encourage the development of different medical specialties in coordinated way and to offer facilities for practical and advanced training as specialized branches.
To train medical graduates to become the future teachers and research workers.
To arrange refresher courses for medical practitioners and for service personnel.
To establish a forum for the continued progress in all branches of medical sciences by coordinating the resources available in various hospitals and institutions in the state of West Bengal and also for providing additional facilities for research in various institutions.

Yet another feather added to the hat of the institution when Medical Council of India (MCI) granted natural extension of the Institute's Courses Curriculum with the introduction of Graduate Medical Education on 1st August 2004.

Today, the institution is best known for study of undergraduate and post graduate level medical course, specialist medical degrees and diplomas, para medical courses and is known as the Bethlehem of advanced medical research. IPGMER is on its way to have autonomy in medical education and with that, the institute will have more action areas in medical research and advancement. The institute is celebrating its golden jubilee in this year - 2007. The Hospital too has its own glory. This year SSKM Hospital is celebrating its tri-centenary.