The Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, India was the first medical school for women in Asia. It was founded by Dame Edith Mary Brown. It became officially recognized by the government in 1915.
The medical missionary work was started in Ludhiana in 1881 by the Greenfield sisters, Martha Rose and Kay. They were evangelists and educationalists from Scotland. The pioneering medical work of the Greenfield sisters was the precursor of the Medical Training and Health Care Service Programme of the present Christian Medical College, Ludhiana.
The Greenfield sisters and their associates organized the Health Care Educational Services. Dr. Edith Mary Brown joined them in 1893. In 1894 the North Indian School of Medicine for Christian Women was started by Dr. Brown and her colleagues with the object of training Indian nationals, particularly the women, to serve in the field of medical education and health care services, emphasizing integration of training and health care services. The period from 1894 to 1952 has been an epoch-making era which saw the development from its beginning as a School of Medicine for Christian Women to Women's Christian Medical College. In 1952 when the name was changed to Christian Medical College to enable it to admit men and women for the upgraded MBBS course which came into effect for its first admission from 1953. The college was affiliated with Punjab University, Chandigarh. The Medical School granted LSMF diploma till 1952. Since the College was upgraded to M.B.B.S in 1953, more than 2,000 candidates have graduated and these graduates are serving in India and the world.
The medical and para-medical teaching staff and other staff come from nearly every state in India. The governments of India and Punjab have continued their interest and support in the work and the development of the college and its hospital.
Since July 1999 the college has been affiliated with Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot. In 1964, the department of Medicine attained the requisite number of teachers and services to the extent that it was upgraded to train postgraduates in medicine, leading to the M.D degree. Specialties in Gastroenterology, Cardiology and Medical Oncology were started 1966–1987. Further specialties such as Neurology, Nephrology and Haematology were added until 1993.
CMC, Ludhiana has expanded its services, and includes Christian Medical College, Dental College, College of Nursing, and Institute of Allied Health Sciences. It acts as a referral hospital for a large area around.
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The hospital provides a wide variety of services, ranging from primary peripheral care to superspecialty care. A newly built outpatient block caters to the general and private outpatients.
Departments and services include Anaesthesia and Critical Care, Clinical Psychology, Dermatology, ENT, Gynaecology and Obsteterics, Internal Medicine & Specialties, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics, Pediatrics, Psychiatry,Physiotherapy, Radiation Therapy and surgical specialties. Superspeciality services like Oncology, Neonatology, Neurology, Nephrology, Plastic Surgery and Hematology are provided. Recently, over 10 bone marrow transplants were performed on patients ranging from 1 to 60 years of age.
The hospital's Psychiatry Department is actively combatting the substance abuse crisis in Punjab, in which the majority of Punjabi youth are addicted to drugs.[1] The Department offers de-addiction services and has found that most patients are between 20-30 years old and are addicted to anything from cough syrup and smack to cocaine and alcohol.[2]
A new OPD block was inaugurated in October 1999 to extend comprehensive outpatient services from a single platform and in a more patient-friendly environment. Each floor is dedicated to a particular specialty where patients can seek expert medical opinion on their health problems by senior consultants. A specific area is designated as private OPD, which caters to the medical needs of people registering as private patients of a particular consultant.
CMC, Ludhiana has a keen interest in community health. For many years, it has reached out to the wider community by providing health care and education in urban and rural communities through clinics and medical camps. CMC has also been active in providing health care in tragedies like earthquakes/train accidents. A dedicated Rural Health Outreach Programme (RHOP) has been in place since April 2003. This new initiative has started to provide a network of health services in the rural belts around Ludhiana in conjunction with village [[panchayat[[s, local trusts and other local organizations. A monthly psychiatric clinic is held at Missionaries of Charity, a home for mentally challenged children. Clinics in surrounding villages like Lalton Kalan, Rauwal, Malsihan Bhaike, Hambran are organized and managed under this program. The social and preventive medicine (SPM) department is very active in this program. Community health centers in nearby areas which provide basic health care are managed by this department. Students and physicians are regularly posted in these centers.
The indoor services of the hospital can accommodate 557 patients in the general, private and critical care wards. reduced from earlier 850 beds.The general wards have provision for isolation and all patient care requirements are provided to the patient through well-trained nurses and physicians. Critical areas are centrally air conditioned and well equipped with the latest devices for critically ill patients. Private wards with air conditioning, television and refrigerator are available. Centrally monitored, critical care units are well equipped with ventilators, central oxygen, air, suction lines, cardiac monitors, defibrillators, incubators and photo therapy units.
The library of Christian Medical College was established in 1956. In 1974 it was housed in two buildings, clinical and pre-clinical. The pre-clinical section was shifted to the basement of a private block in the hospital. All medical journals and old collection of the books were kept in college library and 1970 onwards in the hospital library. From January 1990 both the sections have been shifted to a new library in the basic health sciences block.
There are departmental libraries, in addition to the Medical Library, containing valuable supplementary material.
For the leisure hours of the staff, dependents and students, a recreation library is in the basement of the library building. It holds books on fiction, general topics and children's books.
Christian Medical College library consists of books and journals of the basic and clinical science, related subject of medical and dental practice, and nursing. CMC library subscribes to national and international journals. Library services are available for 14 hours.
The college has 50 students in one batch making it a small community. The number of students admitted has been increased to 75 from 2011. The college has a rich tradition of combining academic with extracurricular activities. The students themselves organise sports, drama, music and other literary activities. The college event is THE SYSTOLE. The students also put together a musical every year under the the music and theater workshop. CMC has a rich tradition in music with the college housing some talent. The college is sometimes referred to as the Christian Musical College.
The college has been a pioneer in initiating changes in medical education. The Medical Education Unit which was created in 1987 has been on the forefront in innovating medical education. Three books and over 100 papers on medical education have been published by the college faculty. The Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research, USA recognized the activities of the institution by creating one of the three Regional Institutes for faculty development at this college. Similarly, Medical Council of India has also recognized the institution as a Nodal Center for faculty development. More than 1000 teachers from various medical colleges have so far been trained through these initiatives. The FAIMER regional institute hold its sessions in February every year and enrolls 20 Fellows for intensive training in educational methods and educational leadership.