king edward medical university

 king edward medical university

The original idea for the establishment of a medical college for the undivided Punjab was placed before the Imperial Government in 1857, but shelved because of ‘War of Independence’, The need was so great that is was decided to make the beginning by establishing a Medical School in 1860. At that time the only other Medical School in Indo-Pakistan Sub-Continent was situated in Calcutta. In August, 1860, Dr. IB. Scriven of the General Hospital in Calcutta was invited to become the Principal of the proposed Lahore Medical School, which was to be the second such Institution in Indo Pakistan Sub-Continent.Dr. Scriven with Dr. Smith, a Civil Surgeon, conducted the first Matriculation Examination on the 1st of November, 1860 having arrived in Lahore on 10th of October, 1860. The classes were to be held in and English 20 students qualified for the Hindustani class in initial examination while another qualifying examination was held on the 15th November, 1860 allowing 24 more students to qualify for the class thus producing a total of 44 students for the Hindustani class. only 5 students were enrolled for the English Class of which only 2 persisted on the College Rolls after a year; one European, and one Indian, English was not widely known in the province at that time.In keeping with the modest beginning, the newly created institution was designated as Lahore Medical School and started functioning in Artillery Barracks at the present site of the Government College, with a Hospital located in a foreign stable near the present Tibbi Police station in Taxali Gate, almost a mile away from the college. This arrangement according to Dr. Scriven was most inconvenient and insufficient for the needs of the community. In October, 1860 the hospital had 56 patients.o.The only posts sanctioned by the Government in the beginning were those of the Principal , who started teaching Anatomy, Physiology; and a Professor ( Dr. T.E. Burton Brown) who commenced his lectures on Chemistry, Materia Medica and Botany Dr. Smith who had spent several years in the Punjab was put Incharge of the Hindustani Classes and was assisted by Mr. Harrison. Dr. Mohammad Hussain Khan and sub-assistant surgeon Rahim Khan. Dr. Neil , the Garrison Assistant Surgeon in Lahore was appointed as Assistant Professor to teach Anatomy. The school soon gained in popularity which was evidenced by the steady increase in the member of students which rose to 40 by the year 1870 in English Classes and 87 in the Hindustani Classes.27 students passed the native Doctor’s Examination in 1863 and one student by the name of John Andrews passed the Sub Assistant Surgeons examination in 1865. In 1864 15 vacancies had been created for the students from the North Western Frontier Province to make up the deficiencies of the Pushto speaking doctors. The same year, College and the hospital was shifted to Shah Alami Gate, which was nearer to the Civil Hospital in Anarkali and provided more opportunities for the study of the patients and postmortem cases.One of the main difficulties of the newly created Lahore Medical School was to popularize Western medicine against superstition, quackery and indigenous healing arts in a custom ridden society. This acted as concert with a lack of foresight of a Government unwilling to loosen their money purse strings. However according to the Principal report of 1868 during the 1867 Cholera Epidemic, fresh native doctors were sent to the affected areas and by virtue of their sound training and working habits alleviated the previously severe misery faced by their fellow countrymen and generated good will and acceptance for themselves in the society.In 1868 the Senate of the University of Dublin granted students of the Lahore Medical School ” privilege similar to the granted to students from English Schools” , who have not passed the college of Surgeons of England. This along with the establishment of Gilchrist Scholarships opened up avenues of further studies for Punjabi students.source=kemu.edu.pk