The Christian Medical College (CMC) was founded in the beginning of the 20th century by Dr. Ida Sophia Scudder with the intention of providing health care services to women and children.
Although in her youth Dr. Ida had no intentions of following the family tradition of working as a missionary and dedicating her life for the welfare of others, a particular incident transformed her thoughts and motivated her to study medicine and come back to India to serve the needy.
On a fateful night in 1890, young Ida witnessed the deaths of three young Indian women during childbirth. Though her father, a doctor, was available to help these women, the constricting social norms in those days did not allow the husbands to permit him to assist them during their labor. Their sad deaths, which could easily have been prevented, affected young Ida very deeply.
Dr. Ida did her medical education at Philadelphia and Cornell. She returned to India in 1900 – an India where the average life expectancy was 24 years, and started a hospital with one bed, as the only doctor in that area.
Thus, the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, began as one of the several mission hospitals all over the country in the beginning of 20th century, offering mainly primary healthcare. Today, with 2,500 beds, 1700 doctors and nearly 3500 nurses and many noteworthy achievements, CMC is the beacon of excellent medical education, research and competent, compassionate patient care in India.
