Sir Salimullah Medical College (SSMC), commonly known as Mitford, is a public Medical College in Dhaka(dacca) Bangladesh.
Founded in 1875, it is the oldest medical school in Bangladesh. It includes Mitford Hospital, which is the oldest hospital in the country and one of the earliest hospitals in the Indian subcontinent from where evolution of medical education started in the region.

The medical college was established to promote medical education in East Bengal and to provide better healthcare services to the people It has been producing quality physicians, eminent researchers and health policy makers who are currently working in different medical sectors at home and abroad.

Sir Salimullah Medical College was established in 1875 in Old Dhaka as Dhaka Medical School with Mitford Hospital being a part of the college. Mitford Hospital was named after Robert Mitford, a British colonial official, who funded the hospital.

 He left his estate to the government of Bengal to establish a medical facility in Dacca. The Governor General of India, James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie, established Mitford Hospital with the endowment. Funding for the school came from 16 aristocrats and philanthropists of Bengal. Babu Protap Chandra Dash, Gour Netai Shaha Shonkhonidhy, Shontosh Rani Dinmony Chowdhurany, and Shontosh Raja Monmoth Roy Chowdhury contributed funding for the water and sewage facilities of the School.

A medical school, the first of its kind in this region, began its journey on 15 June 1875. Later on, the DC of Dhaka division Mr. W.R. Larmini laid the foundation stone of the academic building in April 1887. In September 1889, Governor of Bengal Sir Steuart Colvin Bayley presided over the opening ceremony of that building.

A total number of 384 students got admitted to the school in the first batch. The number increased by and by. They got admitted for a 4-year course leading to a diploma of LMF (Licentiate of Medical Faculty), offered by the State Medical Faculty

 

The then Nawab of Dhaka, Sir Khwaja Salimullah's contribution was there that we can not deny.

The LMF course was abandoned in 1957. The medical school was converted to a medical college and named Mitford Medical College in 1962. The next year, East Pakistan governor Abdul Monem Khan renamed it Sir Sallimullah Medical College, after Khwaja Salimullah, Nawab of Dhaka, in recognition of the contribution of the Nawab family to the establishment of the college. From 1963 to 1973, the college offered a condensed MBBS program.

AFM Nurul Islam took the chair of principal and started the condensed course of MBBS in 1963. After the Independence of Bangladesh, Professor Dr Muhammad Ibrahim (প্রোফেসর ডাক্তার ইব্রাহিম ) took the chair of principal and under his direct supervision SSMC started its journey as a full-fledged medical college. On 8 February 1973, the first batch of undergraduates started their classes.

In 1974, the Civil Surgeon of Dhaka was relieved of his duty and appointed as the Superintendent of SSMCH (Sir Sollimullam Medical College & Hospital ) and the Position was upgraded to Director in 1984.

In February 1973 Prof. Dr.Kamarul Zamman (প্রোফেসর ডাক্তার কামাউ জা্মাল ) was appointed as The Principal of SSMC.


The postgraduate courses were introduced in January 2002. In May 2008, the college was suffering from a shortage of classrooms.[6] In 2011, a Dental unit was established as a part of the medical college and the first batch of students of BDS course enrolled in 2012.
 

************This information updated by Dr.Mahbubul Azim , on 24-Jan-26