St. John's Medical College

St. John's Medical College

Motto	"He Shall Live Because of Me"
Type	Private Religious Minority Medical College and Hospital
Established	1963
Dean	George Dsouza
Director	Paul Parathazham
Administrative staff	608
Undergraduates	60 x4 = 240
Postgraduates	60
Location	Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Campus	132 acres (53 ha), Sarjapur Road, Koramangala
Affiliations	Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences
Website	stjohns.in

St. John's Medical College is a medical institutions situated in Bangalore, India. It is part of the St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences run by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India. It was established in 1963. The college annually accepts 60 students for the MBBS undergraduate course based on a national entrance exam. It also accepts over 30 postgraduate students to a number of medical specialties. The college culfest Autumn Muse is one of the oldest in South India.

The Catholic Church in India had long felt the need of adding a Medical College to the many educational and social welfare institutions through which, over the years, it had served the country. However, the complexities of such a venture involved delayed its active consideration until the proposal was pursued by the Catholic Bishop's Conference of India. At the request of the C.B.C.I., the late Archbishop of Madras, Louis Mathias, prepared and presented a report in 1954, in which he reviewed the total requirements of the project. In 1956, Archbishop Mathias, with the aid of medical and financial experts, submitted a comprehensive scheme to the Conference and in September 1960, the C.B.C.I. took the decision to establish a Medical College, with an attached hospital at Bangalore.

Pope John XXIII agreed to the college being called after his Patron, St. John the Baptist, as a mark of his personal interest in the project, and of his approval of its aims and ideals. The college was, accordingly named "St. John's Medical College and opened in temporary premises at Bangalore in July 1963.

In the course of their Joint Pastoral issued in connection with the XXXVIII International Eucharistic Congress, held in Bombay in 1964, the Catholic Bishops of India announced their choice of the College Project as the Chief Memorial of the Congress. This choice received the warm approval of Pope Paul VI, which was conveyed by him in a special message addressed to Valerian Cardinal Gracias, the then President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India and President of the CBCI Society for Medical Education. The Pope has also established a scholarship in the College in his own name, to be awarded each year to the best all round student completing the MBBS course.

The cornerstone of the project was blessed by Pope Paul VI, at Bombay during the principal function of the Eucharistic Congress, held on December 3, 1964, at which he officiated. It was laid at the project site on July 27, 1965 by Shri V.V. Giri, the then Governor of Karnataka, and later, President of India. On the completion of the buildings, the College was dedicated to the cause of Medical Education, Research and Care, on September 29, 1968, at a ceremony presided over by the late President of India, Dr. Zakir Hussain.