Sri Venkateswara Medical College is a medical college in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India. The college was established in the year 1960. It has 200 Undergraduate and 125 postgraduate seats….

For centuries, the shrine of Lord Venkateswara (Balaji) at Tirumala in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh has been an important place of pilgrimage and people from all over the world come to seek the Lord’s blessings. In the late 1950s, this town had meagre access to modern medical facilities. Sri Radhakrishna Ramnarain Ruia of Mumbai, a devotee of Lord Balaji, thought of starting a 100-bedded hospital at Tirupati, located at the foot of the Tirumala hills, to cater to the medical needs of the pilgrims and general public.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the trust that runs the holy shrine at Tirumala, supplemented his donation with a contribution and persuaded the Government of Andhra Pradesh to establish and run a hospital. The government sanctioned the establishment of a medical college at Tirupati on 9 April 1960. The TTD leased 200 acres of land and Sri Venkateswara Medical College (popularly called SVMC) was inaugurated on 25 July 1960. The inscription in the logo of the college says deo favente (?with the favour of God?), and the hope was that with the blessings of Lord Venkateswara (Balaji) and the cooperation of the government, this institution would offer the best healthcare in all fields of medicine to people from all over India.

Sri Venkateswara Medical College was located in the newly constructed Infectious Diseases hospital, 1961.

Dr Venkataramiah, the first principal, with foresight, secured the land allotted to the college by erecting a compound wall at a considerable cost. People jocularly likened it to the ?Great Wall of China?. Since then, the facilities of the institution have been upgraded step by step to cater to the increasing requirements to maintain standards.

First batch of students graduated in 1967. A formal recognition was granted in 1969. By 1964, the admission capacity was increased to 100, this was again increased to 150 in the year 2000 and enhanced to 200 in 2013. In 1975?76, postgraduate courses were started. At present, postgraduate degree and diploma courses are offered in almost all disciplines. In 1986, the affiliation of the college was transferred to the Andhra Pradesh University of Health Sciences (now renamed the Dr N.T.R. University of Health Sciences), Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh.

{Text quoted from Sri Venkateswara Medical College and Sri Venkateswara Ramnarain Ruia (SVRR) Government General Hospital, Tirupati- M. S. SRIDHAR, ALLADI MOHAN. THE NATIONAL MEDICAL JOURNAL OF INDIA VOL. 23, NO. 3, 2010}

From 2013-14, the college has an intake of 200 Under Graduates and 104 Post Graduate students every year.