Dow Medical College commenced this day, seventy five years ago. Jubilant enthusiasts watched Sir Hugh Dow lay foundation stone of Dow Medical College, Karachi, on 10 th December 1945, at the site of old NJV School. This is where the basic sciences including Department of Anatomy are currently located. Three weeks later, on 31st December 1945, the college consisting of forty-five students, including one female Muslim student, transferred from Hyderabad to Karachi. The 20 member teaching faculty was led by Dr Kewalram Tarasing Ramchandani as the Principal. Some staff taught multiple subjects. It was housed in the old NJV High School Building on Mission Road. The story began in 1879, when the Surgeon General and the Government of Bombay asked the Commissioner in Sindh to establish a medical school. It commenced in 1881 in Hyderabad, Sindh, in the premises of the Civil Hospital, with 20 students. It imparted training of Licentiate Physicians, drawn from the locals, to help with the provision of health care to the population. Initially, it was managed as a locally funded institution overseen by a committee, but was taken over by the Government in 1928. In 1934 the Medical Council of India was established whose remit included medical education. The report of 1938 led to full review of medical education. In 1941, it abolished or raised some medical schools’ statuses to medical colleges. Following separation of Sindh from the Bombay Presidency, the existing medical school at Hyderabad was upgraded. It was granted a status of a degree college, the Sindh Medical College, affiliated to the University of Bombay Following separation of Sindh from the Bombay Presidency, the existing medical school at Hyderabad was upgraded. It was granted a status of a degree college, the Sindh Medical College, affiliated to the University of Bombay. A committee was set up in 1941, consisting of Dr Hemandas Rupchand Wadhwani (Minister of Public Health), Col. J. E. Gray (Inspector General of Civil Hospitals) and Mr. P. W. Abhichandani (Executive Engineer) to develop the plans for the medical college. Major (later Lt Col) Aziz Khan continued this project. An inspection committee consisting of Dr. Molgonkar, Dr. Yodh and Col. Shah, found the staffing and facilities inadequate, specially a lack of anatomy museum and dissection specimens. Based on its report, the University of Bombay, in 1944, threatened to withdraw its temporary recognition. It recommended improvements and a relocation to Karachi, the province’s capital. The Government of Sindh under the lead of Dr. Hemandas Wadhwani, transferred the college from Hyderabad to Karachi, with the support of Hugh Dow. Thus de-recognition was avoided. Dow Medical College (DMC), as it was named, started functioning in the new building in November 1946. Col Aziz Khan was appointed as the Principal and Professor of Surgery in 1946. Prof. Mahmud Ali Shah, the ophthalmologist (who later became the longest serving Principal of DMC, 1955-1969), and his wife Prof. Mubarika Shah created a very well stocked Anatomy Museum and equipped dissection hall. Bombay University’s Inspection Team re-visited in December 1946, and was impressed with this quick progress. It recommended to continue the affiliation. The Civil Hospital, Karachi which was the best equipped hospital of the province, was designated as its affiliated hospital. Robert Francis Mudie, who followed Hugh Dow as the Governor of Sindh, formally inaugurated the College in November 1946 when the new building was erected. Following partition, DMC came under the remit of University of Sind. The committee, appointed by the University of Sind, visited the institution on 22 nd December 1947 and recommended full affiliation. As University of Karachi established in 1951, DMC became affiliated to it. First batch qualified from the college in 1950 with M.B.B.S. from University of Sind. Pakistan Medical and Dental Council recognised the College in 1953. In 1955, the General Medical Council of Great Britain accorded its graduates full recognition. Administratively, it remained under Government of Sindh until the Central Government took over on 8 th July 1951. On 7 th March 1962, it came under the jurisdiction of West Pakistan Government. With the dissolution of ‘One Unit’, Sindh Government resumed its control on 30 th June 1970. In December 2003, DMC became a constituent institution of the newly-established Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi. Further re-organisation of teaching posts occurred in 1951. Jinnah Central Hospital (JCH) was attached to DMC in 1952. Basic Medical Sciences Institute was initially established at DMC, before re-locating to JCH. A course of Diploma in Pharmacology commenced in 1952. Lyari General Hospital was attached in 1985. On 9 th March 1960, College Academic Council was set up with Principal designated as the Chairman. Over the years, intake of medical students increased, from 92 students admitted in 1948, 158 in 1957, 223 in 1970, to 350 this year. The first foreign student to enrol was in 1948 who was the only one for that batch. College Mosque was built in 1961. Banking facilities were provided in 1966 with opening of a branch of Habib Bank. A new state of the art Arag Auditorium was built in 1968 with the efforts of Surgeon A. Rahim. The original administration block in the old NJV School building was replaced in 1973, with the construction of the Main Auditorium, the new medical library and Common Room. Behind that, Sports Arena was developed in 1979. The new block across was named Hygiene Block which completed in 1981. Deteriorating law and order, led to erection of a wall between the college and hospital in 1987. Student experience has always been prime for the College. The staff ran the union with students, overseeing sports and other leisure activities. The Principal being the President of the Union. The first Union in 1945, had Major Aziz Khan as the President, Dr. B. C. Bose Vice President, Dr. M. A. Shah Treasurer, Mr. C. G. Thakur General Secretary, and others as secretaries for various sports. It was in 1953 that the elected student union was formally incepted, with Mir Rahman Ali Hashmi the first student President of the Union. The Union had been instrumental in supporting students through their needs, social and sporting events as well as art, literary and debating activities. It established lending library facilities in 1952. The first annual magazine of the college was published in 1950 and the following year it was named ‘Dowlite’. It carried that title each year since 1957. The students of the college commenced Patients' Welfare Association in 1979. Abdul Rahman and Abdul Bari Khan (currently of Indus Hospital) bore the torch of this charitable work. The College held its first independent convocation in 1979. Medical books were expensive and often un-affordable. In 1980, the Students Union published some books locally and supplied at a very low cost breaking the monopoly. On 15 th April 1982, first Annual Symposium was held with Lt. Col. Aziz Khan as chairman. During the session, he sustained cardiac arrest, and was resuscitated on the stage of the very college he developed, but unfortunately did not survive that. A number of luminous medical figures have visited DMC including Sir Alexander Fleming, Professor Norman Jeffcoate, Professor Wilder Penfield, Sir Gordon Taylor, Lord Rosenheim, Sir Rowan Boland, Professor Charles Wells, Sir Wilfred Sheldon, and Dame Sheila Sherlock, besides many more. The College continues to flourish and provide renowned doctors to the nation and the world. Consultant Respiratory Physician, Southend University Hospital, UK.