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Christian Medical College and Hospital
Vellore, India
The Christian Medical College and Hospital
(CMC) began in 1900 as a one bed clinic started by Dr. Ida Sophia
Scudder, a young American missionary, in response to an encounter
with the suffering of Indian women. Dr. Scudder was one of the
first women graduates of Cornell Medical College in 1899. Shortly
after graduation, she returned to India and began work in Vellore
where in 1902 she built the 40 bed Mary Taber Schell Memorial
Hospital, the forerunner of today's large, well-known, modern
medical complex.
From the beginning Dr. Scudder believed her
calling was to train Indian women to play a part in healing
services. Within three years she had begun teaching several
compounders, and within the next 15 years she had laid the foundation
for both nursing and medical schools for women.
Today the main hospital has 1,500 beds and
serves more than 25,000 inpatients a year and an average of
100 outpatients daily offering a broad spectrum of medical services.
Vellore was the first college to offer a bachelor of science
degree program for nurses in India, the first neurological sciences
department in South Asia, the first thoracic surgery department
in India, the first successful open heart surgery in India,
the first kidney transplant and the first medical college in
India to include a primary health center as part of a community
health teaching department. Today, its Community Health and
Development (CHAD) Program gives medical students experience
in rural medicine and the Rural Health USA (RHUSA) Program trains
nurses and Community Health Workers. It identified the first
known AIDS patient in India and has established an isolation
ward for treatment of AIDS patients. It is world renowned for
its pioneering in reconstructive surgery of the hands and feet
of leprosy sufferers.
As the hospital completes 100 years of existence,
a new project is under way to improve facilities for the care
of women and children. The new Ida Scudder Centenary Hospital
for Women and Children will have adequate space and the latest
equipment for state of the art tertiary care. Health education,
early diagnosis of cancer and sexually transmitted diseases,
counseling for reproductive health, mental health and diet are
areas which will be addressed so that early treatment can be
given.
The American Presbyterian Church first became
formally involved with the CMC in 1947 when representatives
of both the American Presbyterian Mission and the American United
Presbyterian Mission in India began to attend meetings of the
Association of the Missionary Medical College for Women, Vellore.
During these past forty years Presbyterians have continued to
be a supporting church with membership on the CMC Council and
PC(USA) Extra Commitment Opportunities (Acct.# 862394).
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