Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC), New Delhi

Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi was set up in the year 1914 with an aim to provide an opportunity to the Indian women to study medicine. The college was established to celebrate Her Majesty Queen Mary’s visit to India between 1911-12. The college was named after the then-wife of Viceroy of India lady Hardinge who took the initiative of starting a separate Medical College for women of India. Lady Hardinge laid the foundation stone of the college on 17th March in the year 1914. The college and hospital were inaugurated on 16th February 1916 by the then Viceroy of India Lord Hardinge.  

Lady Hardinge College embarked on its glorious journey holding the hand of Dr Kate Platt, the first Principal of the college. Until India’s independence, the college kept a close alliance with Countess of Dufferin Fund Council and most of the senior teaching staff consisted of members from Dufferin Fund Council. In its nascent years, the course duration used to be 7 years which included a 2-year intermediate pre-medical science course. Curtains were drawn upon the 2-year pre-medical courses and the college started offering a 5-year medical course from 1935 onwards. The MBBS course was further reduced to four and a half years in 1969 with the introduction of compulsory internship. 

The college had come a long way from its prudent beginning with 16 students in the year 1916 to the current strength of around 200 students with the implementation of Central Education Institution (Reservation in Admission) Act 2006.

LHMC, as it is popularly known,  received its affiliation from the University of Delhi in 1950. Postgraduate courses in Lady Hardinge Medical College were first affiliated to Punjab University in 1954 and later to the University of Delhi in 1956. Currently, the institute admits around 150 candidates for PG courses like Neonatology, Pediatric Surgery and many more. 

LHMC during its foster years had only around 80 beds for departments like Gynaecology, medicine and obstetrics. Presently it has approximately 1300 beds in it’s two associate hospitals namely Smt. S K Hospital and Kalawati Saran Children Hospital. The institute received a separate outpatient block in 1958 and has been since catering to the needs of the population of Delhi. 

LHMC Nursing School was started in 1916 with 11 students. In the year 2007, the LHMC Nursing School was to LHMC Nursing College and has a current intake capacity of 50 probationers every year. 

Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi recently celebrated 100 years of its inception and academic excellence in the year 2016 and aims at taking giant strides towards providing state of the art medical training and education in India.  The College motto “Per Ardua Ad Astra” i.e Through Adversity to Stars, highlights the emphasis on the fact that excellence cannot be achieved without hard work.