Through the Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, the Madras Medical Mission promises to provide comprehensive and quality medical education with ethical values, to select young men and women who have the dedication to master the art of healing and explore the frontiers of medicine, with a mandate to reach the unreached through compassionate practice,committed teaching and constant research.
The Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences is the culmination of the Madras Medical Mission far-reaching vision to create a healthier society by providing affordable and exemplary healthcare services, and training young aspirants with the orientation to reach the unreached by serving the community through compassionate practice, the medical profession through committed teaching, and the science of medicine through constant research. In order to achieve this, the Madras Medical Mission has created a state-of-the-art hospital and medical college, the Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) at Kalapet, bordering the state of Tamilnadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry in southern India.
The PIMS project got off to a grand start when the then Home Minister and the former Deputy Prime Minister Shri L.K. Advani laid the foundation stone for the hospital and college buildings on12th July 2000. Since then, a world-class hospital and a college complex have sprung up on a sprawling 32-acre a green environment on the East Coast Road close to the Bay of Bengal, 20 kilometers from the city of Pondicherry.
The Hospital units started functioning in October 2001 after the inauguration of the Emergency Block in March 2001 by the then Chief Minister of Pondicherry, Thiru P. Shanmugam. At present, the hospital has a capacity of 550 beds with the specialty departments functional from January 2002.The medical college with world-class infrastructure, affiliated to Pondicherry University admitted its first batch of MBBS students in 2002-2003
Apart from the hospital and college facilities, in consonance with the motto of reaching the unreached, the PIMS has set up an impressive outreach programme with Community Health Outreach Centres existing in Chunampet (40km), Koonimedu (8km), Thiruvannamalai (100km) and in two urban centres in Pondicherry City. The services that are provided at these centres have been a boon to these communities. The college has been recognized by the Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, USA for guiding community based research projects undertaken by its students of Public Health.
PIMS is steadily making progress in its quest to provide exemplary healthcare services to the needy, and to train students to become world-class physicians.The hospital services have kept pace with the development of the college with superspeciality departments like Paediatric Surgery, Urology, Plastic and Microsurgery, Nephrology, Cardio-thoracic Surgery, Cardiology, Neurosurgery, Neurology, Joint Replacement, Spine Surgery and Interventional radiology to name a few. The hospital caters to patients from all across Pondicherry and neighbouring states. During the short span of four years, fourteen departments of the Medical College and Hospital have been recognized for Post-Graduate studies in medical disciplines.The College of Nursing recently established envisions quality nursing personnel to serve the global market.
The Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, meticulous care has been taken to provide the best of equipment and instruments to facilitate the learning process.Since medical studies involve a substantial amount of hands-on experience, it is imperative that students have access to state of the art facilities for practical learning.The PIMS is fully equipped to train future doctors as well as to engage them in cutting-edge research. For the students, the Basic Sciences Block acts as the hub of the college and houses all the important departments of the medical college.It is set in an atmosphere of serenity, blending the glimpses of history of medicine with the present technological revolution.
The Anatomy department has unique features hitherto unseen. The dissection hall is a masterpiece of planning, giving the students facilities to personally dissect the cadavers under guidance. Video cameras and multiple projection equipment help in demonstration and close supervision. Added to the department is a unique museum with a rich collection of foetuses at various stages of development, and other specimens. The histology lab has self-illuminating microscopes and workstations for individual students.
The Biochemistry department offers an opportunity to learn and understand the basic tests with the best of automated instrumentation like autoanalysers, blood gas analyser and electrolyte analyser. The Physiology block has amphibian and mammalian sections, a clinical laboratory and a Haematology section with individual microscopes for each student.
Each department has also exclusive laboratories, demonstration rooms and lecture halls to cater to specific requirements of each discipline. Moreover, the architectural design and internal ambience have been crafted to provide a totally new-age learning environment.
To put theory into practice, medical scholars will have full access to the Emergency Block where there is an exclusive centre for trauma care. Additionally, it has patient testing facilities in the form of microbiology and biochemistry laboratories apart from hosting blood transfusion equipment. The Intensive Care Unit is also housed within the Emergency Block and consists of operation theatres and separate recuperating wards for men and women
Complimenting the Emergency Block is the Hospital Extension Block. Here, the accent is on surgical intervention. It accommodates operation theatres, laboratories and specialized ICUs for neo-natal and paediatric treatment besides support services for the hospital. There is also a full-fledged Out-Patient Department (OPD) that can be accessed by patients in and around Pondicherry. A fleet of ambulances is constantly on stand-by for meeting any medical emergency
In pursuit of its mission, the PIMS recruits faculty and staff dedicated to the achievement of excellence in educating the physicians of the future, for leadership in education, research, patient care and community service. The members of the PIMS faculty have come from some of the best institutions in India including CMC, Vellore; CMC, Ludhiana and JIPMER, Pondicherry to enable students to get exposure to first hand medical knowledge from the finest minds from around the country. Besides being experts in their respective fields, they are committed to pursue excellence in medical education, follow a high code of ethics and provide enduring service to society.
Since the curriculum is contemporary, the teaching too will be through the latest inter-disciplinary problem-solving approach rather than traditional techniques. Another reason why PIMS is equipped with world-class infrastructure in terms of men and material.
PIMS has a well-stocked library that forms an essential part of medical studies, in view of the need to keep abreast of the latest technological changes taking place around the world. At present the library stocks 1800 books and 40 journals of both national and foreign origin in the field of medical practice. In addition, there are also departmental libraries containing valuable material supplementing the information in the main library.
At PIMS, besides having a physical library, what stands out is its Virtual Library. Here, students can access online medical developments across the globe since the Virtual Library is connected to databases of leading medical universities around the world. This is facilitated by IMS affiliations with international centre of excellence.
