Until the 1980s, there was no exclusive university for medical colleges anywhere in the country, with all medical colleges and related courses being administered by local universities.
While other streams of education, such as engineering, had dedicated universities, it was not the case for the medical sciences.
It was only around the 1980s that the need for an exclusive university for medical colleges was felt. “At the time, there were eight government medical colleges and one private medical college in the erstwhile undivided State of Andhra Pradesh. The medical colleges were all attached to different universities, such as Andhra University, Sri Venkateswara University, Osmania and Kakatiya universities,” recalled Radhika Reddy, Registrar of Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences, commonly known as Dr. NTRUHS.
She mentioned how different exam schedules, patterns and syllabi were being followed in different colleges earlier. “Getting anything done was a task since the medical college used to be far away from the university it was affiliated to. Besides, medical professionals follow a different set of rules, most of which are internationally and centrally approved, a different methodology of teaching, and practical and training sessions,” she said.
The then Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh, N.T. Rama Rao, came up with the idea of setting up a university to improve medical education and to bring under its roof all medical courses to impart quality education, research and training.
This led to the establishment of the first medical sciences university in the country, the University of Health Sciences of Andhra Pradesh, in Vijayawada through Act No. 6 in 1986. Medical professionals still consider this to be a landmark decision taken by N.T. Rama Rao during his tenure as the Chief Minister, one which would inspire other States to emulate.
The setting up of UHS was a milestone in the field of medical education, says D. Jayadheer who was part of the first batch of students to have studied in one of the colleges affiliated to the university in 1988-89.
Once the university was established, all nine government medical colleges in the State were brought under its purview. N.T. Rama Rao became its first Chancellor, while medical scientist K.N. Rao became the first Vice-Chancellor.
Since then, every year, thousands of students have been graduating upon successful completion of their courses.
Starting with 900 students in 1988, the university till now has seen over three lakh students passing out of various colleges under its purview. From nine medical colleges in 1986, the university has 466 colleges affiliated with it today, as per information from Dr. Radhika Reddy.
At the time of its inception, the government decided to set up its main office in Vijayawada, instead of Hyderabad. One of the reasons, as per sources, was to decentralise development. By then, Hyderabad was already a major education hub.
But, even today, the university does not have land of its own. The land identified back then was near Siddhartha Medical College, which was under Siddhartha Academy.
“It was the first private medical college in the State. But we were not able to run it for financial constraints. N.T. Rama Rao asked his close friend Mummaneni Subba Rao, then the academy secretary, to see if they could hand over the SMC and the premises to the government for setting up the university. Subba Rao agreed to the Chief Minister’s request,” says N. Lalitha Prasad, Joint Secretary, Siddhartha Academy of General and Technical Education.
“After parting with the lone medical college we had, we regretted the decision, but the State government granted us permissions immediately when we expressed our intention to open another medical college, called Pinnamaneni Siddhartha Medical College, in 2003,” he adds. Now, the university authorities have requested the State government to provide land elsewhere as the present campus is not enough to house all the offices, to which the officials have reportedly agreed.
The university has seen its share of controversies too. The name of the university was changed five times since its inception. At the time of its launch, it was known simply as University of Health Sciences, A.P. Then, it was renamed as NTRUHS in 1998. In 2006, the prefix of ‘Dr.’ was added to the name. The most controversial name change occurred in 2022, when it was renamed by the YSRCP government as Dr. YSRUHS.
The TDP-led NDA government, immediately after storming to power in the 2024 elections, fulfilled one of its key poll promises by issuing a notification reversing the change of name of the institution and reinstating the earlier name of Dr. NTRUHS, honouring the contribution made by N.T. Rama Rao to the field of medical studies.
Published - August 30, 2024 09:53 am IST
