History of FJMC / SGRH

BALAK RAM College

Punjab Medical Education and Relief Society with 100 founder members was formed in 1941 with the aims of Establishing a Medical College for Hindus only. Mrs. BALAK Ram, daughter in Law of late Sir Ganga Ram and her son L. Sri Ram who were member of the society purchased a Bungalow occupied by Lala Har Kishan Lal at a cost of Rs. 2,30,000.00 at Queen’s Road to house BALAK Ram Medical College. It started functioning in 1942, with a batch of 50 Students.

The BALAK Ram Medical College was fortunate in having as its first auxiliary the newly built Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Opposite the College building at the time of independence it had 125 beds 

Fatima Jinnah Medical College

Pakistan had to face many problems just after its birth. Health was one of the them and become more acute in the absence of trained personnel. The female doctor-patient ratio become alarming low. As few as 121 register female doctors left 118 in the west wing and 3 in the east wing giving a ration of about one woman doctor to 3.7 lakh of woman. Nurse patient ratio was even worse. Pakistan was facing the problem which India faced in 1870-1880. This state affair was a challenge to the female population of the country. The need of an immediate establishment of an institution to train woman for medical profession was acutely felt by the Government.

The two woman medical institution namely Lady Harding Medical College, New Dehli and Woman Christian Medical College at Ludhiana were now in India. At a time when both Pakistan and the west Punjab were in the midst of a severe crisis, for any one to have conceived such a project was really a most remarkable feat of daring Lt. Col. S.M.K. Mallick , then inspector General of Civil Hospitals, west Punjab and Dr. Shujaat Ali who was attached to the King Edward Medical College as Professor of Physiology,

devoted their attention to this problem. The Balak Ram Medical College and its allied hospital presented itself as the obvious starting point from which to make a begining to meet this most pressing need. The undertaking of starting a Medical College even in normal times requires much thought, application and hard work. Further it require such large financial commitments that Governments think more than once before according their approval to such a project.. Colonel Mallick and Dr. Shujaat Ali however, found in Miss Fatima Jinnah a supporter whose enthusiasm and encouragement helped them through in the most difficult planning stage of the college which was in its infancy stood virtually closed and its premises were abandoned. However Prof. Shujaat Ali with the help and assistance of his other professional colleagues nurtured the idea of setting up a medical institution for producing female doctors and trained them for helping in the health care of the woman folk of this newly established country. It was especially felt that, by virtue of cultural and social setup of a Muslim Society it was much needed requirement of the time.

The father of the Nation the late Quaid-e-Azam himself gave his blessing and graciously approved the name of his sister to be associated with this institution. At that time, the Honorable Prime Mister of Pakistan and Begum Liaqat Ali Khan were also in Lahore and when the scheme was placed before them both of them gave it their whole hearted support. They showed their keen interest in the project by undertaking an inspection of the BALAK Ram Medical College and Sir Ganga Ram hospital and having been convinced of the feasibility of ht scheme extended their full support. The inspector General of Civil Hospital was called to Karachi to discuss the scheme with honorable Mr. Pirzada Abdus Sattar the Minister of Health. Pakistan and the honorable Mr. Ghulam Muhammad, the Finance Minister of Pakistan. Later on Mr. Pirzada & Mr Abdul Sattar took an opportunity to come to Lahore to see things for himself and the scheme was sanctioned by the Provincial and central Government in March. 1948. Seven month after independence the provisional Government of West Punjab played its proper role. But for their unqualified backing, the scheme would not have matured. They appointed Dr. Shujaat Ali to prepare a detailed scheme and programme of work to give a practical shape to the proposals. As soon as his scheme was ready, it was placed before colonel M.A Jaffery the Director General of Medical Services, (Pakistan) who endorsed the plan, the scheme was accepted by the Punjab Government with the permission of his Excellency Sir Francis Mudie the Governor of the West Punjab whose Government took the initiative in organizing the first and at that time the only Medical College for Women in the Muslim World. They agreed to meet 50% of the capital as well as recurring costs. The scheme to establish Women Medical College was approved in March, 1948. Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah was appointed as Patron-in-Chief of the college by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Fatima Jinnah Medical College admitted its first batch of 39 Students and started functioning in October 1948. Formal opening ceremony was performed by his Excellency Alhaj Khawaja Nazimuddin Governor General of Pakistan on Wednesday the 30^th March 1949 at 10:00 a.m. Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah visited F.J. Medical College in 1949 and then 1950.

There have been 19 principals of Fatima Jinnah College, Lahore both male female of disciplines. All of the have contributed a lot in one way of another.

The Present Principal of FJMC is Prof.Dr.Sardar Fakhar Imam 

In 1948 when the college was taken over by the Punjab Government, the Anatomy and Physiology departments were complete with Laboratories and equipment. The rest of the departments were housed in the old building. The administrative block was constructed in 1951. Departments of Pathology and Pharmacology were added in 1952. In 1965 department of Preventive Medicine was built which also accommodated the department of Forensic Medicine till 1985, when a separate department was built. In 1972 the College Library, the department of Histology, the Anatomy Museum and Hematology department’s were added. In 1968 a separate Biochemistry department came into being. Pathology Department has now fully functional Histopathology, Haematology, Microbioloy, and chemical pathology sections with state of the art equipment. Histopathology section is accredited for following programe of college of physicians & Surgeons of Pakistan.

Department of Medical Education & Educational Research has been established since 1987 and is very active in faculty development workshops, continued medical education, Continued professional development and is promoting research. It has a skill lab and Learning resource centre equipment with modern mannequins to train undergraduate and Post graduate Students. At the moment we have 264 Post-graduates in various disciplines at various stages of post graduation in the college and Hospital.

Since then FJMC has been training female students not only from Pakistan but the entire Muslim World other friendly countries and children of expertise.Uptil now 8500 students have graduated

Sir Ganga Ram Hospital

Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, as we see it today has a long history of having been established as far as back in 1921 in the walled city of Lahore by a philanthropist Sir Ganga Ram who also donated a piece of land for this noble cause. This Hospital has to its credit the honor of being the first ever Private Sector Hospital established in this part of the sub –Continent with the sole objective and aim of providing much needed medical facilities to the poor population of the area. The Hospital was shifted to its present location in 1943 to cope with the growing demand of medical and health care services for fastly expanding population of the city and its surrounding area.

Sir Ganga Ram Hospital was attached with the college and thus it became the first teaching hospital in the country to train female doctors. Since then it functioned as an independent institution under the board of trustees till 1980, when like other medical teaching institutions of the province, it was brought under the control of Government of the Punjab, till to date it is functioning under the Govt. Control.

The College together with the Hospital, as we see them today as a prestigious institution in the field of medical care, is the result of consistent strenuous efforts made by all those associated with them during the past decades, as year after year new blocks and related infrastructure were added. Presently there is a huge complex spread on the area of about 314 Kannals.The Lay out has been envisaged for bringing in harmony the present structure and for ensuring that the future growth is purposeful and well planned and a source of uplifting the image and standard of Services of the institution.

Although the number of Students in F.J.Medical College has increased but the teaching beds remain the same at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. To overcome this problem, we required 23 Kannals of land close to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Where we have started Construction of 400 bedded hospital, on self help basis for teaching specialties and support facilities to be extended proportionately. Name of this New Hospital is Fatima Jinnah Block and we hope to get a matching financial grant from Provincial & Federal Government so that we are able to complete this project of public welfare. This will not only relieve the patient’s congestion but also new departments will be established along with subspecialties which will go a long way in the training of under and post-graduates.