History
In 1941, before independence, the Indian Medical Council, in order to introduce a uniform standard of medical education, abolished substandard schools, and raised many others to a university level. Through the untiring efforts of Dr. Holmisted, the medical school at Hyderabad was granted a status of a degree college in 1941, by the Government of Sindh. This was formally inaugurated by Sir Francis Mudie, Sindh’s First Governor, after its separation from Bombay presidency. That same year, the Government of Sindh appointed a committee to implement this decision, and to explore the feasibility of moving this medical school from Hyderabad to Karachi.
In 1943, this committee which consisted of Dr. Hermends R. Wadhwani, the Minister of Public Health; Col. J. E. Gray, the Inspector General of civil hospitals; and Mr. Abhichand, the Executive Engineer, developed plans for Dow Medical College. Major ( Later Lt. Col. ) Aziz K. M. Khan continued this project during the absence of Col. Gray. The college was inaugurated by Sindh Governor Mudie in Hyderabad in 1945. The first batch of the admitted students consisted of forty-five students among which there was a Muslim girl student named Ms. Fahmida Shaikh.
In 1944, the University of Bombay granted a temporary affiliation, which was later withdrawn on the recommendation of a three member committee consisting of Dr. Molgonkar, Dr. Yodh and Col. Jalal M. Shah. However, this committee recommended moving this institution to Karachi and later the affiliation to University of Bombay was restored for 1945 and 1946.
To date Dow Medical College remains the premier medical college of Pakistan.
The foundation stone of the new building was laid in Karachi on 10 December 1945 by Sir Hugh Dow, the Governor of Sindh, after whom this medical college was named. The medical college was transferred from Hyderabad to Karachi on 31 December 1945. It was temporarily housed in the N.J.V. High School building. Dow Medical College started functioning in the new building in the November 1946. In December 1946, Bombay University's team of inspectors recommended to continue its affiliation for the pre-clinical years and a conditional affiliation for the clinical subjects.
In 1947, when Pakistan gained its independence, Dow Medical College came under University of Sindh's jurisdiction. A new committee was appointed by the University of Sindh. It visited the institution on 22 December 1947 and recommended full affiliation. It remained under Government of Sindh until the central government took over on 8 July 1951. Pakistan Medical and Dental Council gave its recognition to the college in 1953. On 7 March 1962, it came under the jurisdiction of the West Pakistan Government. With the dissolution of "One Unit", Sindh Government assumed its control again on 30 June 1970.
In 1953, the Student Union was established. The Student Union published its first magazine in 1950 which was later named "DOWLITE" in 1951.
In 1961, the College Mosque was built. In 1968, Arag Auditorium was built with the efforts of Surgeon A. Rahim. In 1973, the Main Auditorium, the new medical library and common room building were established. The Main Auditorium was later named after Prof. Khawaja Moin. The last major addition to Dow medical College was the "Hygiene Block" building in 1981.
As an endeavour to improve the basic health facilities for the poor patients coming to Civil Hospital Karachi, three students of Dow Medical College namely Abdul Rehman, Inayat Husain Thaver and Iqbal Noor Mohammad established the Patients' Welfare Association – PWA in 1979. The organisation initially provided medicines to the admitted patients and later started what is now the largest blood bank of Pakistan. PWA also has Thalassemia Services department and Follow Up department helping treatment of Tuberculosis and longterm illnessess. The NGO is managed by volunteer students of Dow Medical College since its establishment, making it one of the oldest and largest volunteer organisations in the country. In 2011, PWA signed a memorandum of understanding with Government of Sindh for managing the Thalassemia Day Care Centre at Civil Hospital Karachi.
From 1997 to 1999, a major project of modernization of the college was undertaken. The whole library system was renovated with the addition of the latest audio-visual equipments, computers and multimedia learning resources for the medical students.
To improve the research infrastructure in Pakistan, Students of Dow Medical College namely Akhtar Amin, Syeda Ezz-e-Rukhshan Adil and Anis Rehman, started the Pakistan Medical Students Research Society PMSRS (www.pmsrs.com)in early 2011, which aims to promote research in Pakistan.
Final year students, Anis Rehman and Haris Raiz from Dow Medical College, Batch 2011, successfully launched the first student run international peer reviewed journal from Pakistan. The Journal of Pakistan Medical Students is being edited by renowned faculty from across the world and is indexed in 28 indexation services.
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