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THE NATIONAL MEDICAL JOURNAL OF INDIA VOL. 27, NO. 3, 2014 179 Indian Medical Colleges St John’s Medical College, Bengaluru at 50 years: A brief history MARIO VAZ INTRODUCTION John XXIII), trusting in Divine Providence.5 In 1963, St John’s The year 2014 marks the Golden Jubilee of the enrolment of the opened its doors to the first batch of students. There were 50 first batch of students in the MBBS course at St John’s Medical students, drawn from all over India (Fig. 2). The college was College, Bengaluru. The pioneer batch had, in fact, joined a year temporarily lodged in the premises of St Mary’s Orphanage in earlier, on 8 July1963, to start the pre-professional course, after Cooke Town in East Bangalore and the students were housed in which they began their medical studies. a thatch and bamboo hut, which they affectionately called ‘Bhoot Bungalow’ (Fig. 3). About this time, Misereor, an organization of THE BEGINNING the German Catholic Church, contributed funds for the building The idea of a Catholic medical college in India can be traced to Dr of the medical college and students’ hostels. In 1964, when Pope Mary Glowrey, a nun and a missionary.1 A graduate of Melbourne Paul VI visited India to attend the Eucharistic Congress in University, Australia, Dr Glowrey became the first woman doctor Mumbai (then Bombay), he blessed the foundation-stone of the to be registered in New Zealand. When she returned to Australia, college and declared the college the chief memorial of the she heard of the pioneering work of Dr Agnes McLaren,2,3 who Congress.6 The foundation-stone was laid in the new campus by had set up a small hospital for women in Rawalpindi (in Pakistan the then Governor of Mysore, and later the President of India, today) and was widely known for her role as a social activist. Dr V.V. Giri, on 27 July 1965.6 Mary Glowrey (Fig. 1) was determined to come to India and in 1920, realized her dream. She joined the religious congregation of THE EARLY YEARS the Order of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and then travelled to Guntur, From the beginning, St John’s had a dynamic and committed Andhra Pradesh, where she converted a small clinic into a large faculty. The founder dean, Louis Monteiro, was a pathologist, women’s hospital. In her first year of work in India, she became educationist and former dean of Topiwala National Medical aware of the enormity of the health needs of women and children in rural areas. She was convinced of the need for the establishment of a Catholic medical college, for she envisaged that the doctors trained here could work in an increasingly large number of Catholic dispensaries/hospitals in rural and remote areas, where doctors were not willing to work at that time. She shared her vision with the local Bishop, Thomas Pothacamury, who encouraged and supported her. However, it took another 20 years for the next major event to take place. In 1943, Dr Mary Glowrey, together with a small group of nuns, formed the Catholic Hospital Association of India (CHAI).4 They did not have the faintest idea that this would grow into an organization which has over 3000 institutions today. A year later, in 1944, the CHAI passed a resolution in Bangalore to see through the creation of a Catholic medical college in India. To ensure the success of this endeavour, the CHAI enlisted the support of the Bishops of India. The creation of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) and the dynamic leadership provided by several bishops, including Thomas Pothacamury, Louis Mathias and Valerian Gracias (later Cardinal and the recipient of the Padma Vibhushan), were critical to progress in the early years. The biggest problem during these years was the inability to find adequate funds for such a venture. Catholics throughout India gave one Sunday’s collection every year for several years, but the amount collected fell short by a considerable margin. In 1960, Bangalore was identified as the site for the medical college and a decision was taken to start the college (now with a name—St John’s, after the patron saint of the then Pope, FIG 1. Dr Sr Mary Glowrey, the visionary behind the creation of a Department of Physiology and the History of Medicine, St John’s Medical Catholic medical college in India. She died 7 years before the College, Bengaluru 560034, Karnataka, India; [email protected] college started. © The National Medical Journal of India 2014 180 THE NATIONAL MEDICAL JOURNAL OF INDIA VOL. 27, NO. 3, 2014 College, Mumbai. Professors K.N. Sharma and Dua Sharma, H.J. Mehta and Govind D. Kalyankar, gave up their jobs in more established institutions to start fledgling departments of physiology, anatomy and biochemistry, respectively, in St John’s. Professor S.N. Kothare came from Mumbai to set up the joint Department of Pathology and Microbiology. In 1968, the new medical college, housed in an iconic red brick building called the Robert Koch Bhavan, was dedicated to the nation by the then President of India, Dr Zakir Hussain7 (Fig. 4). The college finally had a permanent home. The new students’ hostels and large playgrounds were located across what was largely a dirt road. From the beginning, St John’s aspired to be a truly national medical college, with both the students and faculty being drawn from all parts of India. The clinical services of the medical college were initially located in the historic St Martha’s Hospital (Fig. 5). This hospital was set up in 1886, on land granted by the Maharaja of Mysore, in the aftermath of the great famine in southern India. The hospital, which also helped to train nurses, was run by the Good 8 FIG 4. The Robert Koch Bhavan, a state-of-the-art building for its Shepherd Sisters. The Congregation of the Good Shepherd time. It was a striking red brick building. The campus was Sisters was founded in 1829 in the aftermath of the French devoid of vegetation, a far cry from the lush green grounds we see today. FIG 2. The first college office, set up in 1962, was located in the guest house of St Anthony’s Friary, a stone’s throw from the current campus. FIGS 5 and 6. Juxtaposition of the old with the new. St Martha’s Hospital, built in the 1880s, served as the teaching hospital for FIG 3. ‘Bhoot Bungalow’, one of the early boys’ hostels. The the first 20 years of the existence of St John’s. The campus bungalow was made of mud and thatch and invited all manner hospital was built through the 1970s and commissioned for of creatures, including snakes. partial use in 1975. INDIAN MEDICAL COLLEGES 181 revolution. It was on 15 August 1854 that the first batch of sisters earliest courses in medical ethics for MBBS students in India. The arrived in Bangalore, where their primary objectives were to set course in medical ethics stretched through all the MBBS years, as up schools for girls and homes for orphans, and provide shelters well as internship.11 As part of providing support and role models for teenagers and women in distress. Even as far down as the to students, a mentorship programme, in which a few students are seventeenth batch, the students made their way to the hospital in specifically mentored by a faculty member (beyond their academic an old bus. needs), was put in place several years ago. The programme is currently under review to determine what should be done to make THE LATER YEARS it relevant to the changing environment and current needs of the In 1968, Senator John McCormack, the Speaker of the House of students. Representatives, USA wrote to Valerian Cardinal Gracias, the From the beginning, St John’s was committed to excellence in President of the CBCI, informing him that the USA would provide education, clinical services and research. While research at the funds for the construction of a 500-bed hospital on the new new medical college was initially largely confined to the pre- and campus beside the new medical college building (Fig. 6).9 On 3 paraclinical departments, it began to percolate into the clinical August 1971, the cornerstone of this hospital was laid by Dharma departments as well. The year 2004 saw the establishment of the Vira, the then Governor of Mysore, in the presence of Kenneth B. St John’s Research Institute, which had a separate Dean and was Keating, the US Ambassador to India.10 However, spiralling costs, the first of its kind for a medical college campus in India. It aimed as well as the shortage of steel and cement, threatened to jeopardize to enhance the capacity for research on lifestyle and infectious the completion of the project. Bishop Jonas Thaliath played a vital diseases, and cancer in India. role in negotiating the release of additional funds to see the project Throughout its first 50 years, St John’s has maintained its through. The hospital was formally inaugurated in 1975, but it unique focus on the social role of the physician and the need to was not until 1983 that all the staff of St Martha’s hospital could reach the unreached. The 2-year rural service scheme following shift there. In recognition of Senator McCormack’s efforts, the graduation is a part of this. In addition, a quarter of the students, hospital is named the John McCormack Centre. As the new most of whom are nuns, serve the underserved and people in hospital buildings started rising from the foundations, many underserved areas for the better part of their lives.

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