Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram
‘Medical College With A Difference’
The Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram is India’s first rural medical college. Nestled in the karmabhoomi of Mahatma Gandhi, in Sevagram, this Institute was founded by Dr Sushila Nayar in 1969. Kasturba Hospital has the distinction of being the only hospital in the country which was started by the Father of the Nation himself.
MISSION STATEMENT
In the spirit of its Founder, the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sevagram today is committed to the pursuit of professional excellence by evolving an integrated pattern of medical education and it seeks to provide accessible and affordable health care primarily to underprivileged rural communities.
HISTORY
When Mahatma Gandhi left Sabarmati Ashram and set up his ashram at Sevagram in 1936, the epicentre of India’s independence struggle shifted to this obscure village in Maharashtra. In 1938, attracted by Gandhiji’s leadership in the Indian freedom struggle, a young graduate from Delhi’s Lady Hardinge Medical College, Dr Sushila Nayar, arrived in Sevagram. Her selfless service to the community endeared her to the local people.
In 1944, when Gandhiji returned from his last imprisonment at Aga Khan Palace, Sevagram was experiencing a number of epidemics. In this situation, Bapu had no use of the guest house built for his guests by Shri GD Birla. He got it converted into a dispensary, and later, into a 15 bedded hospital for women and children. He put Dr Sushila Nayar in charge of the same. It was christened “Kasturba Hospital” in memory of Kasturba Gandhi, who had passed away in 1942. Initially this hospital was run by the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi. The hospital was later expanded and its services were also extended to men.
After independence, on 11 September, 1964, an autonomous body, the “Kasturba Health Society” was set up by the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi with Dr Sushila Nayar as its President to manage the hospital.
In 1962, Dr Sushila Nayar became the Union Health Minister. She realised that the distribution of doctors in urban and rural areas was skewed and there were no takers for rural health care. While addressing the Central Council of Health in July 1965, Prime Minister, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, suggested starting medical colleges in rural areas so that young doctors trained in rural settings would be sensitive to the health of people in the rural areas. Kasturba Hospital at Sevagram was the natural choice for setting 
up India’s first experimental rural medical college.
The enthusiasm and hard work put in by Dr Sushila Nayar and her dedicated colleagues made it possible to start India’s first rural medical college by admitting the first batch of 60 students in August 1969. It was a Gandhi Centenary Project. The Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical College, Sevagram was designed to be an experimental model institute where medical education was reoriented to meet the needs of the rural areas. The expenditure of MGIMS was to be shared by the Govt of India, Govt of Maharashtra and the Kasturba Health Society in the proportion of 50:25:25.
MGIMS is four decades old now. From a 15 bedded hospital, the Institute gradually expanded- battling pressures of space and support. Today, Kasturba Hospital has 660 teaching beds. With a view to meet the needs of the community, 100 service beds and 20 private rooms were added, bringing the total to 780 beds.
QUALITY MEDICAL EDUCATION
The institute strives to produce doctors of high clinical competence, professional attitudes and ethical behavior. The Institute believes that Gandhian values and principles are relevant even today and it displays a fierce commitment to advancement of medical education without losing the humane touch.
We, at MGIMS, are conscious of the fact that medical education needs to maintain the right balance in the eternal triangle of ‘quality, quantity and equity’. In our perennial quest to attain the perfect blend, we never forget that these three arms are not in conflict, and equity cannot be kept in abeyance. The students at MGIMS are drawn from all parts of the country and come from all kinds of social backgrounds. Every effort is made to acquaint the medical student to the real rural India. Our approach to medical education with the spotlight on rural community oriented education makes our doctors sensitive to the felt needs of the people they would be serving in their future. Our students are expected to adhere to professional norms which include altruism, compassion, empathy, accountability, honesty and integrity.
The entrance examination to the MBBS course includes a separate qualifying paper on Gandhian Thought. The students and staff of the Institute adhere to a unique code of conduct, where they are expected to wear hand-woven khadi, participate in shramdan and attend an all-religion prayer every Friday evening. Non-vegetarian food, alcohol and tobacco are taboo.
The Institute offers MCI recognized degrees and diplomas in 18 postgraduate disciplines and PhDs in seven departments. It boasts of a well equipped library which is a recognized resource library for HELLIS network in Western India. Three of its faculty members, Dr BC Harinath (1992), Dr (Mrs) P Narang (2002) and Dr PB Behere (2005) are recipients of the National BC Roy Award.
Since 1991, the Institute has asked all its graduates to serve for two years in rural areas. 96 non-governmental organizations have joined hands with the institute to fulfill this dream. This rural service is a mandatory criterion for applying for post-graduation in this Institute. The Report of the Task Force on Medical Education of the National Rural Health Mission spells out the need to draw upon MGIMS Sevagram’s initiatives and experience in curriculum innovation and rural placement of its graduates. It suggests launching a participatory exercise with MGIMS and other like-minded institutions, so that national guidelines can be formulated. Several such visionary and innovative education strategies which started from the Institute have now been adopted by the government.
RURAL HEALTH CARE
The Institute primarily caters to the rural populace. Almost three-fourths of the patients who visit our hospital come from rural backgrounds. The patient load comes to us not only from Vidarbha in Maharashtra, but also from adjoining parts of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh. Kasturba Hospital is a rural institute but it does not lack in any of the modern health care amenities and is able to provide health services at affordable costs. Kasturba Hospital offers the benefits of modern technology with compassionate health care.
In 2010-11, 549319 patients attended the hospital as outpatients and 43204 patients were admitted for various ailments. The Hospital has state-of-the-art intensive care units in Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology and Pediatrics which provide excellent critical care. A well equipped hemodialysis unit is available for patients of renal failure. The Sri Satya Sai Accident and Emergency Unit provides succour to patients of trauma. The Institute has the only Blood Component Unit in the district which provides components not only to patients in Kasturba hospital, but also to adjoining private hospitals. Facilities for MRI, CT Scan and Mammography are available. The Institute also has a Linear accelerator which is used for treatment of cancer patients. The Alcohol and Drug De-addiction centre seeks to rehabilitate patients who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. The Pathology, Microbiology and Biochemistry laboratories have in-house facilities to conduct a battery of diagnostic tests. All departments of the hospital are connected by an advanced Hospital Information System. The Institute added digital subtraction angiography and brachytherapy to its armamentarium.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
The Institute’s commitment to the community is well known. Community-based programmes have been consistently implemented to enhance health care services. The Department of Community Medicine has adopted three primary health centres and developed a model of decentralized healthcare delivery at village level through Community-based Organizations and the Panchayati Raj Institutions. It has formed 170 Self-help groups, 12 Kisan Vikas Manch and 51 Kishori Panchayats in the adopted villages. Through innovative strategies, family life education is provided to adolescent girls in all the program villages.
The health insurance scheme of the institute has won several accolades as it seeks to create health consciousness in the community. A villager can insure himself and his family by paying Rs 350 a year and in return he gets 50% subsidy in OPD and indoor bills. In 2010-11, 16900 families (78029 members) around Sevagram volunteered to obtain health insurance from this hospital. Similarly 40 villages were totally insured and 188458 rural people were insured under this scheme. No other medical institution has achieved this kind of coverage so consistently over the years and at so affordable a rate.
The National Rural Health Mission has lauded the ‘positive contribution of MGIMS in maternal health activities conducted in partnership with the Govt of India’. In 2006, the Institute was awarded the Mahaveer Award for Excellence in the Sphere of Education and Medicine by the Hon’ble President of India.
RESEARCH
The focus of the Institute has been on community based medical research. Quality research has been the hallmark of this rural institute and the large number of funded projects awarded to the various departments is ample testimony to the potential of the researchers. We have consistently received funding from the Indian Council of Medical Research, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, WHO, UNICEF, USAID, Fogarty AIDS Research and Training Program, USA, Canadian Institute of Health Research, Population Health Research Institute, Canada, National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Heart Lung Blood Institute (NHLBI) and other such organizations. Being located in Sevagram has never been a hurdle in acquiring either funds or facilities as the enthusiasm and the dedication of the faculty surpasses all other deterrents. Each year, the large numbers of national and international peer reviewed publications from this Institute provide evidence of excellence in research.
Over the last four decades, the MGIMS faculty has been striving hard to imbibe the philosophy which makes it pursue excellence in academics, healthcare and research, more than mundane needs and money; and to maintain excellence in quality. Today, MGIMS has impressive academic standards and excellent research facilities. In the 42 years of its existence, 2200 doctors have graduated from the hallowed premises of MGIMS. Our alumni, spread far and wide across the globe, continue to bring laurels to their Alma Mater.
