Andhra Medical College, said to be one among the oldest medical colleges in India, is celebrating its Centenary Foundation Day on July 19. It was on this day, a 100 years ago that the college was formally opened by Diwan Bahadur Raja Panuganti Ramarayaningar, Minister for local self government.
AMC, as it is popularly known, has come a long way since its inception. Starting with a mere 32 students in the first batch for the Under Graduate course in medicine, AMC today offers 250 seats in MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) and 237 seats in Post Graduation (PG) in various branches. The college was attached to the new Civil Hospital with 270 beds, which was named as King George Hospital, and was utilised for clinical teaching of the students.
AMC Principal G. Butchi Raju says, “For the first time in its history, the college has been sanctioned 126 additional PG seats in 25 different branches recently. The Central Government has allocated ₹150 crore for the additional seats, and the State government is expected to provide a matching grant of 40% of the total cost. The State government has already transferred ₹26 crore, in the first phase, to the A.P. Medical Infrastructure Development Corporation (APMIDC) for construction of two new hostels to accommodate 200 boys and 100 girls.”
LINAC machine
“A LINAC machine, costing ₹25 crore, has been sanctioned to AMC/KGH as part of the State government’s plan to develop comprehensive cancer care in Visakhapatnam, Guntur and Kurnool. We expect to receive the equipment in five months,” says Dr. Butchi Raju.
“AMC used to be under Madras University, till Andhra University (AU) came into existence in 1926. After that AMC was brought under the purview of AU, and the latter used to award our degrees. I too got my medical degree from AU in 1978. After the establishment of the University of Health Sciences (UHS) at Vijayawada in 1988, all the medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh were brought under its purview,” recalls Dr. Sudhakar, a former Principal, who was associated with the AMC for over four decades, first as a student and then as a teacher and Principal.
“The Vizagapatam Medical College, as it was known in its early years, was renamed as Andhra Medical College, on the proposal made by C.R. Reddy, the then Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University, in 1936. The government had accepted his proposal, and the college was renamed through a Gazette notification on February 29, 1940, says V. Edward Paul, history enthusiast and INTACH member.
