IIT Madras plans medical school with MBBS, MD degrees

IIT Madras plans to open a School of Medical Sciences and award its own medical degrees, including MBBS, MD and PhD, Director V. Kamakoti told India Today in an exclusive interview. The institute's Department of Medical Sciences and Technology, established in 2023, currently offers a BS in Medical Sciences and Engineering and a PhD programme, producing medical technologists and physician-scientists, not practising doctors. The proposed school would go a step further to train clinicians.

However, Times Now reports that the institute has clarified necessary regulatory approvals from the National Medical Commission and infrastructure including a teaching hospital are still pending. IIT Kharagpur, which built its own hospital, provides a precedent: it won approval for an MD course while its MBBS plan awaits infrastructure. Kamakoti argues any technology institution must start a medical school for India to reduce dependence on imported medical equipment, a need exposed by the pandemic.

The next concrete step: IIT Madras must secure NMC approval and build or partner with a teaching hospital before it can admit its first medical students.