Situated on the bank of the river Buriganga, its hospital wing Mitford Hospital is the first hospital in Bangladesh. Sir Salimullah Medical College was established in 1875 as Dhaka Medical School in the old part of Dhaka city. Sixteen local kings and philanthropists helped in erecting the medical school building in 1889. The school was made a medical college in 1962. To acknowledge the contributions of the Nawabs, the college was named after Nawab Sir Salimullah (1871-1915). Until 1957 License of Medical Faculty (LMF) degree was offered from this college. During 1963-1972 condensed courses for MBBS degree was offered. In 1972 it was upgraded as a full-fledged medical college and the first batch students for MBBS degree enrolled in 1973. The civil surgeon of Dhaka was in charge of both the college and the hospital until 1974, when a principal and a superintendent were appointed for the above institutions. The superintendent was later (1984) made the director of the hospital. The college offers about 25 courses at the postgraduate level. General Information
The medical college consists of following departments: preclinical (anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology), paraclinical (pathology, microbiology, forensic medicine, community medicine), clinical medicine (internal medicine,Cardiology,Neuro medicine, psychiatry, sexual-skin-and-venereal diseases), pediatrics, surgery (general surgery, orthopedic surgery, pediatric surgery,neuro surgery), ophthalmology, otolaryngorhinology, anesthesiology and diagnostic (clinical laboratory, radiology and imaging). The medical college possesses a 600 bed general hospital including OPD and IPD services in above disciplines and an integrated emergency department. 150 students having pre-medical A-level education are admitted each year through open competitive examination. Students are awarded undergraduate MBBS degree after 5 years' study in college and hospital and 3 professional examinations (first prof. after 2 years, second prof. after 4 years and final prof. after 5 years of admission) under the University of Dhaka. Then, they do 1 year full residency training in the hospital to get registration for practicing medicine.MBBS degree from this historic institution is recognized by General Medical Council of United Kingdom. SSMC draws in students not only from Bangladesh, but from all over the world with students hailing from Canada, Nigeria, Syria, Iran, Palestine, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Srilanka, Mauritious, Malaysia, Bhutan etc. SSMC also pioneered some nationwide appreciated volunteer organizations like, Sandhani, Rotaract club, Leo club,Medicine club etc.
