Lady Hardinge Medical College

Nurses at Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital, 1921

When the national capital of India was shifted to Delhi, Lady Hardinge, the wife of the then Viceroy of India, Baron Charles Hardinge, decided to establish a medical college for women, as she recognized that the lack of such a college made it impossible for Indian women to study medicine. The foundation stone was laid by Lady Hardinge on 17 March 1914 and the college was named Queen Mary College & Hospital to commemorate the visit by Queen Mary in 1911–12. Lady Hardinge was actively involved in collecting funds for the college from the princely states and the public until her death on 11 July 1914.[4]

The college was inaugurated on 7 February 1916 by Baron Hardinge in the Imperial Delhi Enclave area. On the suggestion of Queen Mary, the college and the hospital was named after Lady Hardinge to perpetuate the memory of its founder. The first principal was Kate Platt and the college admitted 16 students. As the college was then affiliated to University of the Punjab, the students had to sit their final examinations at King Edward Medical College in Lahore. The college became affiliated to the University of Delhi in 1950 and post-graduate courses were started in 1954.[4] Ruth Young, who as Ruth Wilson was the first professor of surgery at the college, served as principal from 1936 until 1940.[5] The Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital, one of the two hospitals attached to the Lady Hardinge Medical College, was built in 1956.[6]

Initially, the college was an autonomous institution managed by a governing body. In the year 1953, the Board of Administration constituted by the Central Government took formal charge of the management of the institution. In February 1978, the management was taken over by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India under an Act of Parliament.[7] One of the director professors is chosen as the president of the college, the most senior post in the college.[8]

Patients at the Lady Hardinge Hospital, 2014

The hospital has provided services to male patients since 1991.[9] The admission capacity to the MBBS course is for 200 students.[10] The college has two teaching hospitals, Smt. Sucheta Kriplani Hospital and Kalawati Saran Child Hospital, with 877 and 350 beds respectively. The college and hospital also provides tertiary level medical facilities to the city. The college's Department of Microbiology is internationally acclaimed for its salmonella phage typing, and it is a World Health Organization collaborating centre for reference and training in streptococcal diseases for South East Asia.[11] It is also a surveillance center for AIDS. The first ART center for children in the country, was also started in LHMC in 2007.

The college's campus has a hostel, library, auditorium and laboratories. It also includes a ground for sports and extra co-curricular activities.[12]

The college was 9th among medical colleges in India in 2020 by India Today.[14]

• Department of Physiology
• Department of Anatomy
• Department of Biochemistry
• Department of Pathology
• Department of Forensic Medicine
• Department of Pharmacology
• Department of Microbiology
• Department of Community Medicine
• Department of ENT & Head and neck surgery
• Department of Ophthalmology
• Department of General Medicine
• Department of General Surgery
• Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
• Department of Skin & VD
• Department of Orthopaedics
• Department of Dental Surgery
• Department of Pediatrics
• Department of Paediatric Surgery
• Department of Neonatology
• Department of Radiodiagnosis
• Department of Radiation Medicine
• Department of Anaesthesia
• Department of Accident & Emergency
• Department of Psychiatry
• Department of Neurology
• Department of Blood Bank

The college's alumni are called Hardonians.[15] Notable alumni of the college include:

• Sujata Chaudhuri[16]
• Dr Parvati Gehlot, the first lady doctor of Rajasthan state. Did her MBBS in 1928 and then went for higher studies to England in 1936.
• Sushila Nayyar, with a postgraduate degree in Public Health from Johns Hopkins. Became Health Minister of India 1952-55 & 1962–67.[15]
• Shiela Mehra, 1991 Padma Shri recipient. 1959 graduate. Renowned practising Obstetrician & Gynaecologist of New Delhi
• Usha Kehar Luthra, ICMR[17]
• Malvika Sabharwal, 2008 Padma Shri Awardee[18]
• Hemlata Gupta, 1998 Padma Bhushan recipient
• Zohra Begum Kazi, the first Bengali Muslim female physician, 1935 graduate. She ranked First Class First and was awarded the Viceroy of India's Medal
• Fatima Shah, 1952 M.B. E. (Member of British Empire); 1969 Tamgha e Pakistan; 1974–79, President, International Federation of the Blind; creator of Urdu Braille