The Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER) is one of the top five medical schools in India. It is located in Pondicherry (formally Puducherry), a union territory town in southern India on the shores of the Bay of Bengal. JIPMER is an Indian central government funded institute with autonomy^[1][2][3] to run its internal administration. JIPMER is both an educational institute that imparts undergraduate and postgraduate medical training and a working hospital that provides inexpensive medical care to a large number of patients. JIPMER is an institute of national importance^{[citation needed]} and a tertiary care referral hospital that is under the direct administrative control of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, on par with similar medical institutes like AIIMS, PGI Chandigarh and Sanjay Gandhi PGIMS Lucknow.

Lecture halls building

JIPMER is a residential medical institution with its own campus spread over 195 acres (0.79 km²). It has about 200 faculty and 360 resident physicians and over 3,000 nursing, administrative and support staff. Every year it admits 100 undergraduate students and 75 postgraduate students.

History [link]

JIPMER originated on 1 January 1823 as "Ecole de Médicine de Pondichéry," a medical school established by the French imperial government in India to train French citizens in Pondicherry. In 1956 the government of India took over administration of Pondicherry from the French and renamed it as "Dhanvantri Medical College." After Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's (who laid the foundation stone after Indian government's takeover of the institution)A death on May 27, 1964, it was again renamed to "Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research" (JIPMER) (on 13 July 1964).

In 1863, a medical college called the Ecole de Médicine de Pondicherry was established by the French government in Pondicherry. It was one of the earliest institutions of tropical medicine and the teaching staff consisted of surgeons and doctors of the French navy and troupes colones. Students who were trained here were granted a diploma called Médicin Locale that allowed them to practice medicine in the colonial territories. With the de jure transfer of Pondicherry to India, the Government of India took over the college and renamed it simply Medical College, Pondicherry. For a short period, it was called the Dhanvantri Medical College and, on July 13, 1964, it was rechristened as the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research. Today, the institution is universally known by the acronym JIPMER.

Under the French, the college was located in the heart of the town of Pondicherry in the modified buildings of the high court, opposite Le place de Gaulle, which is now the Legislative Assembly Hall. In 1959, SE Le Comte Stanislas Ostrorog, Ambassadeur de France aux Indes, laid the foundation stone of the new medical college building that was located on the outskirts of the town and, in 1964, the college moved to its new campus at Gorimedu.

Campus [link]

The campus of JIPMER lies at the western entrance of Pondicherry and spreads across 195 acres (0.79 km²) of a picturesque hillock known locally as Gorimedu. The campus contains the medical college, the hospital, the student and resident hostels, the staff quarters, a couple of banks, a post office, a temple, playgrounds and sporting fields. Broad tree-lined roads crisscross the campus and the lush tropical vegetation forms a green canopy that hides most buildings on campus. While the hospital section of the campus is typically crowded and busy, the residential part of the campus is quiet and idyllic, punctuated with small parks, hidden statues and secluded spots.

Organization [link]

JIPMER is under the direct administrative control of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

The three main functions of this institute are to impart quality education in undergraduate and postgraduate medical and paramedical courses, to be a trendsetter in medical research and to offer patient care of high order.

The institute is headed by the director as the chief executive charged with overall responsibility of running the institute and the hospital. The dean helps the director coordinate all academic activities of the institute including teaching and research. There are 28 academic departments headed by professors. Ancillary hospital service units are supervised by respective technical heads.

Principals of Dhanvantri Medical College, Pondicherry [link]

• Dr Leon Lapeyssonie - first Principal
• Dr. S. Vengsarkar

Directors of JIPMER [link]

• Dr M N Ghosh - first Director
• Dr O P Bhargava
• Dr P Bahadur
• Dr S Chandrasekar
• Dr D S Dubey
• Dr R Sambasiva Rao
• Dr K B Logani
• Dr P H Ananthanarayanan
• Dr K S V K Subba Rao

Dean [link]

Prof. Rajaram Pagadala, MD, DSS (Vienna), PhD: 1990-1993, is an eminent medical teacher, clinician, health care administrator and pioneer in community-based research. He was asked to head the first human reproduction center established by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), government of India. It became the contraceptive testing center for WHO and, based on the research work carried out along with other institutions, The government of India evolved the Minimum Perinatal Care Program of India. Later he assumed the charge of Deputy Director-General of Health Services and was in charge of country's medical education, research and was on the executive committees of ICMR, AIIMS, PGI, MCI, etc. Prof. Rajaram Pagadala was decorated by the president of India as an eminent medical teacher with the "Dr. B.C. Roy Award."

Regional Cancer Centre [link]

The Department of Radiotherapy of JIPMER was converted to Regional Cancer Centre in 2002.^[4]

Academics [link]

As an Institute of National Importance, JIPMER is not affiliated to any university and it awards its own degrees. (Earlier, the institute was affiliated to Pondicherry University.) It offers a number of medical and paramedical courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Admission to the courses are made on all-India basis and strictly on the basis of merit through entrance examinations.

The institute conducts research actively in modern medicine, public health and medical education. A research council at the institute level looks after the research activities and a scientific society provides a forum for presenting research work. Numerous conferences, workshops, seminars and training courses are conducted by the institute every year. Funds for research come from mural and extramural sources like the ICMR, UGC, DBT, WHO, etc. The faculty, the residents and the students publish research papers regularly in journals of national and international repute as well as present research abstracts at national and international conferences.

In addition, frequently a number of awards and fellowships are won by the faculty. Important national journals like the Indian Journal of Pharmacology and the Indian Journal of Urology have been published from JIPMER. Many textbooks have been authored by the faculty.

Courses [link]

JIPMER offers a variety of courses. Undergraduate courses include MBBS, BSc (Medical Laboratory Technology), BMRSc (Bachelor of Medical Record Science). BSc (Nursing) was started in 2006. Postgraduate courses include MD, MS, and diploma in many specialties, MSc in Medical Biochemistry and PhD in several subjects. Super-specialty courses include MCh in cardiothoracic surgery, urosurgery, neurosurgery, paediatric surgery, gi surgery and DM in cardiology, neurology, urology, neonatology, clinical pharmacology and immunohematology. Other courses include a certificate course in French, a higher diploma course in French, MRO and MRT.

Admission [link]

Candidates to the courses offered at JIPMER are selected based on an entrance examination followed by an interview. Entrance examinations are held once a year; calls for applications are announced in all major newspapers in India as well as on the official website. The results of the entrance examinations and the names of selected candidates are published in the newspapers and on the official website.

MBBS course [link]

JIPMER admits 100 students to the MBBS course once every year through an all-India entrance examination. Some seats are reserved for Pondicherry natives and Central Government nominations. There are no seats available through AIPMT. The entrance examination is held once a year in June in Pondicherry, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram and other metropolitan cities for admission to the MBBS course that begins in July of the same year.

Postgraduate courses [link]

Three-year postgraduate courses offered at JIPMER include MD in General Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Pathology, Microbiology, Physiology, Pharmacology, Paediatrics, Anaesthesiology, Dermatology, Biochemistry, Community Medicine, TB & RD and Psychiatry and MS in General Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, Ophthalmology, Oto-Rhino-Laryngology and Anatomy.

Other courses [link]

B.Sc. Nursing.
Four years professional course. Admissions are based on entrance exams.

Rankings [link]

JIPMER is the second best government medical college in India.

JIPMER has consistently been ranked in the top ten medical institutions in India. JIPMER was ranked fourth in the 2007 Doctor NDTV Survey^[5] and as the second best medical college for undergraduate education and the fourth best medical college for postgraduate education by The Week in its February 5, 2006 issue. In India Today's college rankings, JIPMER was ranked third in 1998, third in 1999, sixth in 2000,^[6] 6th in 2001,^[7] fourth in 2006 and fourth again in 2010.

Student life [link]

Undergraduate and postgraduate students at JIPMER hail from all over India as well as from countries and areas like Bhutan, West Indies, the Middle East, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, South Africa, North Africa and Sri Lanka.

The campus has three hostels for undergraduate men — Lister House, Osler House and Aschoff House — and one hostel for postgraduate men named Harvey House. Undergraduate women live in Curie House, postgraduate women in Blackwell House, and the nursing students live in Nightingale House and New Nursing Hostel. All hostels run their own messes that provide north and south Indian meals.

The students union is the JIPMER Students Association (JSA). This students union is very weak compared to the one in the sister institute of AIIMS, which is famous for protecting student rights and keeping student interests. Representatives of the student body are elected annually in a campus-wide election. A similar, albeit smaller, body exists for the postgraduate students and residents and is called the JIPMER Resident Doctors’ Association (JRDA).

The inter-collegiate cultural, literary and sports festival of JIPMER is called Spandan and is held in late August and early September every year and is organized by the JSA. In addition, the JSA holds annual inter-class competitions where undergraduate students at JIPMER compete in cultural, literary and sporting events. The undergraduate men’s and women’s hostels hold annual hostel days.

Alumni groups [link]

JIPMER alumni, especially those who have graduate from the MBBS course, have formed several vibrant alumni communities and organizations.

• The largest is an online virtual community called Jipmernet where alumni from all over the globe are active participants.
• The oldest alumni organization is the JIPMER Alumni Association (JAA) that organizes an annual meet the first weekend of August at JIPMER that is attended by alumni from India and abroad.
• Regional alumni organizations include the JIPMER Alumni Association of North America (JAANA), the JIPMER Alumni Association of the United Kingdom (JAAUK) and the JIPMER Alumni Association of North India (JAANI).

Present status and events [link]

In recent decades, government apathy and neglect towards JIPMER has led to deteriorating infrastructure and a substantial number of vacant faculty positions. In spite of this, JIPMER remains one of the best medical institutions in India for undergraduate medical education.

As of 2007, things have changed and JIPMER is undergoing a major expansion. Funds have been allotted for the construction of a Super-Specialty block, a Trauma Care Centre, a Cancer Care centre and a Nursing college.

In April 2008 the Indian parliament passed a bill declaring Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Pondicherry as an Institute of National Importance and thus granting it more budgetary allocation and autonomy. Provisions like same salary of staff, free treatment to poor patients and reservation for local students have been retained.

The construction of Super-Specialty block, Cancer Research institute and Nursing College and Nursing hostel for ladies have been entirely completed^[8] and are fully functional. The Nursing college and hostel are functional but the other facilities need manpower not currently available at the institute.

Wi-Fi is available campus wide from December 2009.

Notable faculty and alumni [link]

• Dr Surinder Singh Yadav, eminent orthopaedician and recipient of the Padma Shree (2008)
• Dr Mani Menon, eminent urologist and recipient of the B C Roy Award (2008)
• Daisy Martin, RN Assistant Nursing Superintendent, JIPMER, received National Florence Nightingale Award 2009 from the President of India

See also [link]

• Medical college in India
• AIIMS
• Institute of National Importance
• List of medical colleges in India
• List of medical schools
• NEIGRIHMS Shillong
• PGI Chandigarh
• Sanjay Gandhi PGIMS Lucknow
• Spandan

References [link]

External links [link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: JIPMER

• Official website